The Awakening
I dreamed that I was a roseThat grew beside a lonely way,Close by a path none ever chose,And there I lingered day by day.Beneath the sunshine and the show'rI grew and waited there apart,Gathering perfume hour by hour,And storing it within my heart,Yet, never knew,Just why I waited there and grew.
I dreamed that you were a beeThat one day gaily flew along,You came across the hedge to me,And sang a soft, love-burdened song.You brushed my petals with a kiss,I woke to gladness with a start,And yielded up to you in blissThe treasured fragrance of my heart;And then I knewThat I had waited there for you.
Words in this poem
- sunshine n.
- The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
- gaily adv.
- Merrily; showily. See gaily. [From Gay.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Awakening 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, The Awakening, in Fifty Years and Other Poems (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17884, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/johnson-fifty-years/the-awakening.html, id L08329.
Form and metre
The Awakening is 20 lines in 2 stanzas of 10 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.7 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 25% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 ABAB-C-CDD roseA · wayB · choseA · dayB · show'r · apartC · hour · heartC · knewD · grewD
- 2 ABABCDCDEE beeA · alongB · meA · songB · kissC · startD · blissC · heartD · knewE · youE
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I dreamed that I was a rose | 8 | ··˘····· |
| That grew beside a lonely way, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Close by a path none ever chose, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And there I lingered day by day. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Beneath the sunshine and the show'r | 8 | ···/···· |
| I grew and waited there apart, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Gathering perfume hour by hour, | 9 | /˘˘˘//·/˘ |
| And storing it within my heart, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Yet, never knew, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Just why I waited there and grew. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I dreamed that you were a bee | 8 | ··˘····· |
| That one day gaily flew along, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| You came across the hedge to me, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| And sang a soft, love-burdened song. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| You brushed my petals with a kiss, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I woke to gladness with a start, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And yielded up to you in bliss | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The treasured fragrance of my heart; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And then I knew | 4 | ···· |
| That I had waited there for you. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
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.