Before a Painting by James Weldon Johnson

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend October 9, 2016   Before a Painting   James Weldon Johnson

I knew not who had wrought with skill so fine     What I beheld; nor by what laws of art     He had created life and love and heart On canvas, from mere color, curve and line. Silent I stood and made no move or sign;     Not with the crowd, but reverently apart;     Nor felt the power my rooted limbs to start, But mutely gazed upon that face divine.   And over me the sense of beauty fell,     As music over a raptured listener to         The deep-voiced organ breathing out a hymn; Or as on one who kneels, his beads to tell,     There falls the aureate glory filtered through         The windows in some old cathedral dim.            This poem is in the public domain. About This Poem   "Before a Painting" was published in Fifty Years & Other Poems (The Cornhill Company, 1917).   James Weldon Johnson was born on June 17, 1871, in Jacksonville, Florida. His collections of poetry include God's Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse (Viking Press, 1927) and Saint Peter Relates an Incident of the Resurrection Day (Viking Press, 1930). He died on June 26, 1938. Poetry by Johnson   James Weldon Johnson: Writings (Library of America, 2004)  "To S. M., A Young African Painter, on Seeing His Works" by Phillis Wheatley "To Joseph Lee" by Angelina Weld Grimké "Dirge Without Music" by Edna St. Vincent Millay Poem-a-Day   Launched during National Poetry Month in 2006, Poem-a-Day features new and previously unpublished poems by contemporary poets on weekdays and classic poems on weekends. Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org.   You are receiving this e-mail because you elected to subscribe to our mailing list. If you would like to unsubscribe, please click here.   © Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038

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