The Gift to Sing
James Weldon Johnson 1871 (Jacksonville) – 1938 (Wiscasset)
Sometimes the mist overhangs my path,
And blackening clouds about me cling;
But, oh, I have a magic way
To turn the gloom to cheerful day —
I softly sing.
And if the way grows darker still,
Shadowed by Sorrow's somber wing,
With glad defiance in my throat,
I pierce the darkness with a note,
And sing, and sing.
I brood not over the broken past,
Nor dread whatever time may bring;
No nights are dark, no days are long,
While in my heart there swells a song,
And I can sing.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 03, 2023
- 28 sec read
- 303 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | XABBA XACCA XADDA |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 469 |
Words | 94 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 5, 5, 5 |
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"The Gift to Sing" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/20735/the-gift-to-sing>.
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