Analysis of Nobody's Lookin' But De Owl An' De Moon

James Weldon Johnson 1871 (Jacksonville) – 1938 (Wiscasset)



(A Negro Serenade)

De river is a-glistenin' in de moonlight,
De owl is set'n high up in de tree;
De little stars am twinklin' wid a sof' light,
De night seems only jes fu' you an' me.
Thoo de trees de breezes am a-sighin',
Breathin' out a sort o' lover's croon,
Der's nobody lookin' or a-spyin',
Nobody but de owl an' de moon.

Nobody's lookin' but de owl an' de moon,
An' de night is balmy; fu' de month is June;
Come den, Honey, won't you? Come to meet me soon,
W'ile nobody's lookin' but de owl an' de moon.

I feel so kinder lonely all de daytime,
It seems I raly don't know what to do;
I jes keep sort a-longin' fu' de night-time,
'Cause den I know dat I can be wid you.
An' de thought jes sets my brain a-swayin',
An' my heart a-beatin' to a tune;
Come, de owl won't tell w'at we's a-sayin',
An' cose you know we kin trus' de moon.


Scheme X ABABCCCC CCCC DEDECCCC
Poetic Form
Metre 01001 110101011 1111111011 1101111011 1111011111 111110101 11011101 111101 1111111 11111111 11111011111 11101111111 111111111 1111010111 111111111 1111011111 1111111111 111111101 11101101 111111001101 111111111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 824
Words 169
Sentences 7
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 1, 8, 4, 8
Lines Amount 21
Letters per line (avg) 28
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 149
Words per stanza (avg) 42
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

54 sec read
119

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…

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