The White Witch
O, brothers mine, take care! Take care!The great white witch rides out to-night,Trust not your prowess nor your strength;Your only safety lies in flight;For in her glance there is a snare,And in her smile there is a blight.
The great white witch you have not seen?Then, younger brothers mine, forsooth,Like nursery children you have lookedFor ancient hag and snaggled tooth;But no, not so; the witch appearsIn all the glowing charms of youth.
Her lips are like carnations red,Her face like new-born lilies fair,Her eyes like ocean waters blue,She moves with subtle grace and air,And all about her head there floatsThe golden glory of her hair.
But though she always thus appearsIn form of youth and mood of mirth,Unnumbered centuries are hers,The infant planets saw her birth;The child of throbbing Life is she,Twin sister to the greedy earth.
And back behind those smiling lips,And down within those laughing eyes,And underneath the soft caressOf hand and voice and purring sighs,The shadow of the panther lurks,The spirit of the vampire lies.
For I have seen the great white witch,And she has led me to her lair,And I have kissed her red, red lipsAnd cruel face so white and fair;Around me she has twined her arms,And bound me with her yellow hair.
I felt those red lips burn and searMy body like a living coal;Obeyed the power of those eyesAs the needle trembles to the pole;And did not care although I feltThe strength go ebbing from my soul.
Oh! she has seen your strong young limbs,And heard your laughter loud and gay,And in your voices she has caughtThe echo of a far-off day,When man was closer to the earth;And she has marked you for her prey.
She feels the old Antaean strengthIn you, the great dynamic beatOf primal passions, and she seesIn you the last besieged retreatOf love relentless, lusty, fierce,Love pain-ecstatic, cruel-sweet.
O, brothers mine, take care! Take care!The great white witch rides out to-night.O, younger brothers mine, beware!Look not upon her beauty bright;For in her glance there is a snare,And in her smile there is a blight.
Words in this poem
- prowess n.
- Distinguished bravery; valor; especially, military bravery and skill; gallantry; intrepidity; fearlessness. Chaucer. Sir P. Sidney. [OF. proece, proesce, F. prouesse. See Prow, a.]
- forsooth v. t.
- To address respectfully with the term forsooth.
- nursery n.
- The act of nursing. [Cf. F. nourricerie.]
- unnumbered a.
- Not numbered; not counted or estimated; innumerable.
- caress n.
- An act of endearment; any act or expression of affection; an embracing, or touching, with tenderness. [F. caresse, It. carezza, LL. caritia dearness, fr. L. carus dear. See Charity.]
- lair n.
- A place in which to lie or rest; especially, the bed or couch of a wild beast. [OE. leir, AS. leger; akin to D. leger, G. lager couch, lair, OHG. laga, Goth. ligrs, and to E. lie. See Lie to be prostrate, and cf. Layer, Leaguer.]
- closer n.
- One who, or that which, closes; specifically, a boot closer. See under Boot.
- antaean a.
- Pertaining to Antæus, a giant athlete slain by Hercules.
- dynamic a.
- Of or pertaining to dynamics; belonging to energy or power; characterized by energy or production of force. [Gr. durus hard, E. dure: cf. F. dynamique.]
- primal a.
- First; primary; original; chief. [LL. primalis, fr. L. primus the first. See Prime, a.]
- relentless a.
- Unmoved by appeals for sympathy or forgiveness; insensible to the distresses of others; destitute of tenderness; unrelenting; unyielding; unpitying; as, a prey to relentless despotism.
- beware v. t.
- To avoid; to take care of; to have a care for.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The White Witch 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 White Witch, in Fifty Years and Other Poems (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17884, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/johnson-fifty-years/the-white-witch.html, id L08296.
Form and metre
The White Witch is 60 lines in 10 stanzas of 6 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 23% 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 AB-BAB careA · nightB · strength · flightB · snareA · blightB
- 2 -A-A-A seen · forsoothA · looked · toothA · appears · youthA
- 3 -A-A-A red · fairA · blue · airA · floats · hairA
- 4 -A-A-A appears · mirthA · hers · birthA · she · earthA
- 5 -A-A-A lips · eyesA · caress · sighsA · lurks · liesA
- 6 -A-A-A witch · lairA · lips · fairA · arms · hairA
- 7 -A-A-A sear · coalA · eyes · poleA · felt · soulA
- 8 -A-A-A limbs · gayA · caught · dayA · earth · preyA
- 9 -A-A-A strength · beatA · sees · retreatA · fierce · sweetA
- 10 ABABAB careA · nightB · bewareA · brightB · snareA · blightB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| O, brothers mine, take care! Take care! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The great white witch rides out to-night, | 8 | ········ |
| Trust not your prowess nor your strength; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Your only safety lies in flight; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| For in her glance there is a snare, | 8 | ········ |
| And in her smile there is a blight. | 8 | ········ |
| The great white witch you have not seen? | 8 | ········ |
| Then, younger brothers mine, forsooth, | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Like nursery children you have looked | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| For ancient hag and snaggled tooth; | 8 | ·/˘···˘· |
| But no, not so; the witch appears | 8 | ······˘/ |
| In all the glowing charms of youth. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Her lips are like carnations red, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Her face like new-born lilies fair, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Her eyes like ocean waters blue, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| She moves with subtle grace and air, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And all about her head there floats | 8 | ········ |
| The golden glory of her hair. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| But though she always thus appears | 8 | ···/··˘/ |
| In form of youth and mood of mirth, | 8 | ········ |
| Unnumbered centuries are hers, | 8 | ˘/˘/˘˘·· |
| The infant planets saw her birth; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| The child of throbbing Life is she, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Twin sister to the greedy earth. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And back behind those smiling lips, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And down within those laughing eyes, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And underneath the soft caress | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| Of hand and voice and purring sighs, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The shadow of the panther lurks, | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| The spirit of the vampire lies. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| For I have seen the great white witch, | 8 | ········ |
| And she has led me to her lair, | 8 | ········ |
| And I have kissed her red, red lips | 8 | ········ |
| And cruel face so white and fair; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Around me she has twined her arms, | 8 | ········ |
| And bound me with her yellow hair. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I felt those red lips burn and sear | 8 | ········ |
| My body like a living coal; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Obeyed the power of those eyes | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| As the needle trembles to the pole; | 9 | ··/˘/˘··· |
| And did not care although I felt | 8 | ········ |
| The strength go ebbing from my soul. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Oh! she has seen your strong young limbs, | 8 | ········ |
| And heard your laughter loud and gay, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And in your voices she has caught | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The echo of a far-off day, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| When man was closer to the earth; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And she has marked you for her prey. | 8 | ········ |
| She feels the old Antaean strength | 7 | ······· |
| In you, the great dynamic beat | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Of primal passions, and she sees | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| In you the last besieged retreat | 8 | ····˘/˘/ |
| Of love relentless, lusty, fierce, | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| Love pain-ecstatic, cruel-sweet. | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| O, brothers mine, take care! Take care! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The great white witch rides out to-night. | 8 | ········ |
| O, younger brothers mine, beware! | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Look not upon her beauty bright; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| For in her glance there is a snare, | 8 | ········ |
| And in her smile there is a blight. | 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.