Analysis of Go Down, Death
James Weldon Johnson 1871 (Jacksonville) – 1938 (Wiscasset)
Weep not, weep not,
She is not dead;
She's resting in the bosom of Jesus.
Heart-broken husband--weep no more;
Grief-stricken son--weep no more;
Left-lonesome daughter --weep no more;
She only just gone home.
Day before yesterday morning,
God was looking down from his great, high heaven,
Looking down on all his children,
And his eye fell of Sister Caroline,
Tossing on her bed of pain.
And God's big heart was touched with pity,
With the everlasting pity.
And God sat back on his throne,
And he commanded that tall, bright angel standing at his right hand:
Call me Death!
And that tall, bright angel cried in a voice
That broke like a clap of thunder:
Call Death!--Call Death!
And the echo sounded down the streets of heaven
Till it reached away back to that shadowy place,
Where Death waits with his pale, white horses.
And Death heard the summons,
And he leaped on his fastest horse,
Pale as a sheet in the moonlight.
Up the golden street Death galloped,
And the hooves of his horses struck fire from the gold,
But they didn't make no sound.
Up Death rode to the Great White Throne,
And waited for God's command.
And God said: Go down, Death, go down,
Go down to Savannah, Georgia,
Down in Yamacraw,
And find Sister Caroline.
She's borne the burden and heat of the day,
She's labored long in my vineyard,
And she's tired--
She's weary--
Do down, Death, and bring her to me.
And Death didn't say a word,
But he loosed the reins on his pale, white horse,
And he clamped the spurs to his bloodless sides,
And out and down he rode,
Through heaven's pearly gates,
Past suns and moons and stars;
on Death rode,
Leaving the lightning's flash behind;
Straight down he came.
While we were watching round her bed,
She turned her eyes and looked away,
She saw what we couldn't see;
She saw Old Death.She saw Old Death
Coming like a falling star.
But Death didn't frighten Sister Caroline;
He looked to her like a welcome friend.
And she whispered to us: I'm going home,
And she smiled and closed her eyes.
And Death took her up like a baby,
And she lay in his icy arms,
But she didn't feel no chill.
And death began to ride again--
Up beyond the evening star,
Into the glittering light of glory,
On to the Great White Throne.
And there he laid Sister Caroline
On the loving breast of Jesus.
And Jesus took his own hand and wiped away her tears,
And he smoothed the furrows from her face,
And the angels sang a little song,
And Jesus rocked her in his arms,
And kept a-saying: Take your rest,
Take your rest.
Weep not--weep not,
She is not dead;
She's resting in the bosom of Jesus.
Scheme | aBCddde xffgxhh ijkxxkflx xmxxxxij xxdgnoohh omxpxxpxx bnhkqgxex hrxxqhigc xlxrss aBC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111 1111 1100010110 11010111 1101111 11010111 110111 1011010 11101111110 10111110 011111010 1010111 011111110 1001010 0111111 0101011110101111 111 0111101001 11101110 1111 001010101110 111011111001 111111110 011010 01111101 1101001 10101110 0011110110101 1110111 11110111 0101101 01111111 11101010 101 011010 1101001101 11010110 0110 110 11101011 0110101 1110111111 0110111101 010111 110101 110101 111 1001101 1111 11010101 11010101 1111101 1111111 1010101 1110101010 111010101 0110111101 0110101 011011010 01101101 1110111 01011101 1010101 0101001110 110111 01111010 10101110 0101111010101 01101101 001010101 01010011 01010111 111 1111 1111 1100010110 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,506 |
Words | 477 |
Sentences | 24 |
Stanzas | 10 |
Stanza Lengths | 7, 7, 9, 8, 9, 9, 9, 9, 6, 3 |
Lines Amount | 76 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 198 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 47 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 27, 2023
- 2:28 min read
- 536 Views
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"Go Down, Death" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/20710/go-down%2C-death>.
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