Answer to Prayer
Der ain't no use in sayin' de Lawd won't answer prah;If you knows how to ax Him, I knows He's bound to heah.
De trouble is, some people don't ax de proper way,Den w'en dey git's no answer dey doubts de use to pray.
You got to use egzac'ly de 'spressions an' de wordsTo show dat 'tween yo' faith an' works, you 'pends on works two-thirds.
Now, one time I remember--jes how long I won't say--I thought I'd like a turkey to eat on Chris'mus day.
Fu' weeks I dreamed 'bout turkeys, a-struttin' in der pride;But seed no way to get one--widout de Lawd pervide.
An' so I went to prayin', I pray'd wid all my might;"Lawd, sen' to me a turkey." I pray'd bofe day an' night.
"Lawd, sen' to me a turkey, a big one if you please."I 'clar to heaben I pray'd so much I mos' wore out ma knees.
I pray'd dat prah so often, I pray'd dat prah so long,Yet didn't git no turkey, I know'd 'twas sump'n wrong.
So on de night 'fore Chris'mus w'en I got down to pray,"Lawd, sen' me to a turkey," I had de sense to say.
"Lawd, sen' me to a turkey." I know dat prah was right,An' it was sholy answer'd; I got de bird dat night.
Words in this poem
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Answer to Prayer is in the public domain. This text is taken from Fifty Years, & Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #17884; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: James Weldon Johnson, Answer to Prayer, in Fifty Years and Other Poems (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17884, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/johnson-fifty-years/answer-to-prayer.html, id L08342.
Form and metre
Answer to Prayer is 20 lines in 10 stanzas of 2 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 90% of the lines. The metre is alexandrines, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 72%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 13.1 syllables. 5% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in rhyming couplets, other poems in alexandrines.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 2 AA wayA · prayA
- 3 AA wordsA · thirdsA
- 4 AA sayA · dayA
- 5 AA prideA · pervideA
- 6 AA mightA · nightA
- 7 AA pleaseA · kneesA
- 8 AA longA · wrongA
- 9 AA prayA · sayA
- 10 AA rightA · nightA
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against alexandrines. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Der ain't no use in sayin' de Lawd won't answer prah; | 13 | ·····/˘···/˘· |
| If you knows how to ax Him, I knows He's bound to heah. | 13 | ············· |
| De trouble is, some people don't ax de proper way, | 13 | ·/˘··/˘···/˘· |
| Den w'en dey git's no answer dey doubts de use to pray. | 13 | ·····/˘······ |
| You got to use egzac'ly de 'spressions an' de words | 13 | ············· |
| To show dat 'tween yo' faith an' works, you 'pends on works two-thirds. | 14 | ·············· |
| Now, one time I remember--jes how long I won't say-- | 13 | ····˘/˘······ |
| I thought I'd like a turkey to eat on Chris'mus day. | 13 | ·····/˘······ |
| Fu' weeks I dreamed 'bout turkeys, a-struttin' in der pride; | 13 | ·····/˘······ |
| But seed no way to get one--widout de Lawd pervide. | 13 | ············· |
| An' so I went to prayin', I pray'd wid all my might; | 12 | ············ |
| "Lawd, sen' to me a turkey." I pray'd bofe day an' night. | 13 | ·····/˘······ |
| "Lawd, sen' to me a turkey, a big one if you please." | 13 | ·····/˘······ |
| I 'clar to heaben I pray'd so much I mos' wore out ma knees. | 15 | ··············· |
| I pray'd dat prah so often, I pray'd dat prah so long, | 13 | ·····/˘······ |
| Yet didn't git no turkey, I know'd 'twas sump'n wrong. | 12 | ·/˘··/˘····· |
| So on de night 'fore Chris'mus w'en I got down to pray, | 13 | ············· |
| "Lawd, sen' me to a turkey," I had de sense to say. | 13 | ·····/˘······ |
| "Lawd, sen' me to a turkey." I know dat prah was right, | 13 | ·····/˘······ |
| An' it was sholy answer'd; I got de bird dat night. | 13 | ·····/˘······ |
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