To Think That I Might Die and Not Behold Again My City Poem
Verse became my passion afterward I fell in dear with Walter de la Mare's "Silvery" in Mrs. Edna Pickett'due south sophomore English course circa 1962.
Portrait of James Weldon Johnson
Laura Wheeler Waring
Introduction and Text of "My Metropolis"
James Weldon Johnson's "My City" is a Petrarchan (Italian) sonnet, with the traditional rime scheme: in the octave ABBACDDC and in the sestet DEDEGG. The poem features unexpected claims that diverge radically from what readers have come up anticipate in a poem offer a personal, heartfelt tribute.
(Please note: The spelling, "rhyme," was introduced into English past Dr. Samuel Johnson through an etymological error. For my explanation for using but the original form, delight see "Rime vs Rhyme: An Unfortunate Error.")
My Urban center
When I come up down to sleep death'due south endless night,
The threshold of the unknown night to cross,
What to me then will be the keenest loss,
When this bright world blurs on my fading sight?
Volition information technology be that no more I shall meet the trees
Or smell the flowers or hear the singing birds
Or watch the flashing streams or patient herds?
No, I am sure information technology will be none of these.
Only, ah! Manhattan'south sights and sounds, her smells,
Her crowds, her throbbing force, the thrill that comes
From being of her a part, her subtle spells,
Her shining towers, her avenues, her slums—
O God! the stark, unutterable pity,
To be dead, and never once more behold my city!
Reading of "My City"
Poet James Weldon Johnson was a native of Jacksonville, Florida, but this poem offers a tribute to his adopted city, New York City.
Octave: What Volition Be His Greatest Loss?
When I come downward to sleep death's endless nighttime,
The threshold of the unknown night to cross,
What to me then will be the keenest loss,
When this bright globe blurs on my fading sight?
Will it be that no more than I shall run across the trees
Or odour the flowers or hear the singing birds
Or watch the flashing streams or patient herds?
The speaker poses ii questions in the octave: the offset question seeks the answer to what he volition consider his greatest loss as he experiences expiry; the second question merely offers a suggestion every bit to what his great loss might entail. The speaker asks his outset question, posing it poetically: "What to me then will exist the keenest loss, / When this bright world blurs on my fading sight?"
He places on display his abiding love for this world, calling it "this bright world." By thus labeling the world "bright," the speaker makes articulate that he has a high regard for God'southward creation, which he volition regret leaving. He then dramatically and richly portrays death, labeling that land by expressing, "slumber expiry's endless nighttime, / The threshold of the unknown dark to cross."
The second query proposes that he might mourn the fact that he no longer has the ability to "run across trees," nor does he possesses the capability of "smell[ing] the flowers." He continues musing on the possibilities of his greatest losses and avers that the inability to listen to birds singing would also crusade him great pain, which might be his greatest loss.
The speaker then adds ii further possibilities: "lookout[ing] the flashing streams" or unhurriedly observing the "patient herds." The reader will take note that all of these many possible losses stem from the things of nature, commonly observed in a bucolic setting; thus recalling that the title of the poem is "My Metropolis," the reader will not be shocked that the speaker and so answers his own question asserting, "No, I am sure it volition exist none of these."
Sestet: Losing the Sights, Audio, Smells of His City
No, I am sure it will be none of these.
But, ah! Manhattan'due south sights and sounds, her smells,
Her crowds, her throbbing force, the thrill that comes
From existence of her a function, her subtle spells,
Her shining towers, her avenues, her slums—
O God! the stark, unutterable pity,
To be dead, and never again behold my metropolis!
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In the sestet, the speaker pronounces with an emphatic, fervent anguish that it is "Manhattan" that he volition most long for, after expiry has taken him from this globe. The speaker then enumerates the features that entice him and engender in him his deep honey for his city: "Manhattan's sights and sounds, her smells, / Her crowds, her throbbing force."
In improver to these, the speaker volition also feel the forfeiture of standing to experience, "Her shining towers, her avenues, her slums."
Although some of the items in this catalogue are not especially cute nor are they particularly inspiring, specifically to those engrossed in a rustic setting, this speaker possesses an abiding dear for those things and is dreading the fact that expiry volition dispossess him of the continued pleasure they accept so long afforded him.
In the speaker's final outcry, as he verbalizes his mourning, his readers/listeners will understand the melancholy dramatized in his voice: "O God! the stark, unutterable pity, / To be dead, and never once more behold my city!"
James Weldon Johnson: Harlem Renaissance
James Weldon Johnson - Commemorative Postage
A short biography of James Weldon Johnson
Questions & Answers
Question: What does "patient herds" represent in the poem, "My City"?
Reply: The phrase, "patient herds," is referring to the groups of cows, sheep, or other farm animals grazing leisurely in the fields.
Question: What is the main idea of each stanza of James Weldon Johnson's poem "My City"?
Respond: In the octave, the speaker asks the question regarding his state of listen as he dies, what will exist his greatest loss? In the sestet, he suggests the answer, losing the sights, sound, smells of his adopted city.
Question: What is the theme of James Weldon Johnson'southward "My City"?
Answer: This poem offers a tribute to the poet'due south adopted city of New York.
Question: Was the poet James Weldon Johnson a New York native?
Answer: Poet James Weldon Johnson was a native of Jacksonville, Florida, but this poem offers a tribute to his adopted metropolis, New York City.
Question: Who is the speaker in the sonnet, "My Urban center"?
Answer: The speaker is a resident of New York City, who is offer a tribute to his adopted urban center.
Question: What is the attitude in Johnson's poem, "My City"?
Reply: In James Weldon Johnson'south "My City," the speaker exudes a controlled melancholy, as he offers his tribute to his adoptive city.
Question: What "keenest loss" does Johnson refer to in "my city"?
Answer: The "keenest loss" refers to the speaker's death. And he wonders which of the fives sense—especially in reference to his enjoyment of his city—he will miss most later on he dies.
© 2015 Linda Sue Grimes
Source: https://owlcation.com/humanities/James-Weldon-Johnsons-My-City
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