Before a Painting
I knew not who had wrought with skill so fineWhat I beheld; nor by what laws of artHe had created life and love and heartOn 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 toThe deep-voiced organ breathing out a hymn;Or as on one who kneels, his beads to tell,There falls the aureate glory filtered throughThe windows in some old cathedral dim.
Words in this poem
- reverently adv.
- In a reverent manner; in respectful regard.
- mutely adv.
- Without uttering words or sounds; in a mute manner; silently.
- aureate a.
- Golden; gilded. Skelton. [L. aureatus, fr. aureus golden, fr. aurum gold.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Before a Painting 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, Before a Painting, in Fifty Years and Other Poems (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17884, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/johnson-fifty-years/before-a-painting.html, id L08303.
Form and metre
Before a Painting is 14 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.9 syllables. 36% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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.
- 1 ABBAABBA fineA · artB · heartB · lineA · signA · apartB · startB · divineA
- 2 ABCABC fellA · toB · hymnC · tellA · throughB · dimC
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 iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I knew not who had wrought with skill so fine | 10 | ·········· |
| What I beheld; nor by what laws of art | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| He had created life and love and heart | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| On canvas, from mere color, curve and line. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Silent I stood and made no move or sign; | 10 | /˘········ |
| Not with the crowd, but reverently apart; | 10 | ·····/˘˘˘/ |
| Nor felt the power my rooted limbs to start, | 10 | ···/·/˘··· |
| But mutely gazed upon that face divine. | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| And over me the sense of beauty fell, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| As music over a raptured listener to | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| The deep-voiced organ breathing out a hymn; | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Or as on one who kneels, his beads to tell, | 10 | ·········· |
| There falls the aureate glory filtered through | 11 | ···/˘˘/˘/˘· |
| The windows in some old cathedral dim. | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.