Poetry Analysis Notes

The Creation
by James Weldon Johnson
interpreted by Adrianna Amarillo [A]

And God stepped out on space,
And he looked around and said:
I'm lonely--
I'll make me a world

And far as the eye of God could see
Darkness covered everything,
Blacker than a hundred midnights
Down in a cypress swamp

Then God smiled,
And the light broke,
And the darkness rolled up on one side,
And the light stood shining on the other,
And God said: That's good!

Then God reached out and took the light in his hands,
And God rolled the light around in his hands
Until he made the sun;
And he set that sun a-blazing in the heavens.
And the light that was left from making the sun
God gathered it up in a shining ball
And flung it against the darkness,
Spangling the night with the moon and stars.
Then down between
The darkness and the light
He hurlded the world;
And God said: That's good!

Then God himself stepped down--
And the sun was on his right hand,
And the moon was on his left;
The stars were clustered about his head,
And the earth was under his feet.
And God walked, and where he trod
His footsteps hollowed the valleys out
And bulged the mountains up.

Then he stopped and looked and saw
That the earth was hot and barren.
So God stepped over to the edge of the world
And he spat out the seven seas--
He batted his eyes, and the lightnings flashed--
He clapped his hands, and the thunders rolled--
And the waters above the earth came down,
The cooling waters came down.

Then the green grass sprouted,
And the little red flowers blossomed,
The pine tree pointed his finger to the sky,
And the oak spread out his arms,
The lakes cuddled down in the hollows of the ground,
And the rivers ran down to the sea;
And God smiled again,
And the rainbow appeared,
And curled itself around his shoulder.

Then God raised his arm and he waved his hand
Over the sea and over the land,
And he said: Bring forth! Bring forth!
And uicker than God could drop his hand,
Fishes and fowls
And beasts and birds
Swam the rivers and the seas,
Roamed the forests and the woods,
And split the air with their wings.
And God said: That's good!

Then God walked around,
And God looked around
On all that he had made.
He looked at his sun,
And he looked at his moon,
And he looked at his stars;
He looked on his world
With all its living things,
And God said: I'm lonely still.

Then God sat down--
On the side of a hill where he could think;
By a deep, wide river he sat down;
With his head in his hands,
God thought and thought,
Till he thought: I'll make me a man!

Up from the bed of the river
God scooped the clay;
And by the bank of the river
He kneeled him down;
And there the great God Almighty
Who lit the sun and fixed it in the sky,
Who flung the stars to the most far corner of the night,
Who rounded the earth in the middle of his hand;
This Great God,
Like a mammy bending over her baby,
Kneeled down in the dust
Toiling over a lump of clay
Till he shaped it in his own image;

Then into it he blew the breath of life,
And man became a living soul.
Amen. Amen.

Poet: "TheCreation" is a poem by James Weldon Johnson, and it derives from
hisbest-selling book God's Trombones. Johnson was born in Florida in 1871,
and he died in 1938. Johnson held many titles throughout his life,consisting
of a professor, a songwriter, a United States consul, and manyothers. As a
poet, Johnson expresseshis work as spiritual sermons, as exemplified in "The
Creation."

Vocabulary: [NONE] - unless you're a goober

Type of poem: A narrative poem, because "The Creation" tells a
story

Speaker: Johnson

Audience: General Audience

Tone: Johnson takes on an informative tone in this poem. The poem flows
in a very informal manner, much like a conversation, or a sermon.

Meaning: The meaning of the poem is to explain the beginning of life,
as seen through a spiritual standpoint. Since the poem may also be interpreted
as a sermon, the purpose of this poem may be to inform a group about the
historical aspects of a certain religion.

Structure of poem: This poem is written in free verse. There is no
apparent rhyme scheme, and although the poem is segmented into stanzas,
the stanzas do not follow any particular pattern.

Examples of poetic techniques used in the poem:

Connection between the poem and the poet's life and/or times: Johnson was a very spiritual man and many of his poems are intended to be sermons. This poem is an example of that, and itunderlines Johnson's heavy spiritual background.

Most memorable quote from the poem: "Like a mammy bending over her baby"

© Smelli Notes 2001