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

Quick analysis:

Scheme XABBA XACCA XADDA
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 469
Words 94
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 5, 5, 5

James Weldon Johnson

James Weldon Johnson was an American author, educator, lawyer, diplomat, songwriter, and early civil rights activist. Johnson is best remembered for his leadership within the NAACP as well as for his writing, which includes novels, poems, and anthologies. He was also the first African-American professor at New York University. Later in life he was a professor of creative literature and writing at Fisk University. more…

All James Weldon Johnson poems | James Weldon Johnson Books

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