THE CREATION
And God stepped out on space,
And he looked around and said:
I'm lonely--
I'll make me a world.
And far as the eye of God could see
Darkness covered everything,
Blacker than a hundred midnights
Down in a cypress swamp.
Then God smiled,
And the light broke,
And the darkness rolled up on one side,
And the light stood shining on the other,
And God said: That's good!
Then God reached out and took the light in his hands,
And God rolled the light around in his hands
Until he made the sun;
And he set that sun a-blazing in the heavens.
And the light that was left from making the sun
God gathered it up in a shining ball
And flung it against the darkness,
Spangling the night with the moon and stars.
Then down between
The darkness and the light
He hurled the world;
And God said: That's good!
Then God himself stepped down--
And the sun was on his right hand,
And the moon was on his left;
The stars were clustered about his head,
And the earth was under his feet.
And God walked, and where he trod
His footsteps hollowed the valleys out
And bulged the mountains up.
Then he stopped and looked and saw
That the earth was hot and barren.
So God stepped over to the edge of the world
And he spat out the seven seas--
He batted his eyes, and the lightnings flashed--
He clapped his hands, and the thunders rolled--
And the waters above the earth came down,
The cooling waters came down.
Then the green grass sprouted,
And the little red flowers blossomed,
The pine tree pointed his finger to the sky,
And the oak spread out his arms,
The lakes cuddled down in the hollows of the ground,
And the rivers ran down to the sea;
And God smiled again,
And the rainbow appeared,
And curled itself around his shoulder.
Then God raised his arm and he waved his hand
Over the sea and over the land,
And he said: Bring forth! Bring forth!
And quicker than God could drop his hand,
Fishes and fowls
And beasts and birds
Swam the rivers and the seas,
Roamed the forests and the woods,
And split the air with their wings.
And God said: That's good!
Then God walked around,
And God looked around
On all that he had made.
He looked at his sun,
And he looked at his moon,
And he looked at his little stars;
He looked on his world
With all its living things,
And God said: I'm lonely still.
Then God sat down--
On the side of a hill where he could think;
By a deep, wide river he sat down;
With his head in his hands,
God thought and thought,
Till he thought: I'll make me a man!
Up from the bed of the river
God scooped the clay;
And by the bank of the river
He kneeled him down;
And there the great God Almighty
Who lit the sun and fixed it in the sky,
Who flung the stars to the most far corner of the night,
Who rounded the earth in the middle of his hand;
This great God,
Like a mammy bending over her baby,
Kneeled down in the dust
Toiling over a lump of clay
Till he shaped it in is his own image;
Then into it he blew the breath of life,
And man became a living soul.
Amen.Amen.
James Weldon Johnson
The light reaches in
Spreading through the room
Sending the dark
Fleeing for cover
The dark cowers there
Before the light's brightness
But the light can't win
The night will come
The light will retreat
And the dark recover
This battle
Of night and day
Of dark and light
Will not end - ever
By This Girl
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/lightand-dark-poem.html
Thursday, May 13, 2010
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ReplyDelete-I really like the one about the light and dark because it can be interpreted in multiple ways. It could be simply day and night, or life and death, or a battle between good and evil
ReplyDelete-The "dark" always seems to win, even thought the "battle...will not end - ever"
-The signature "by this girl" adds personality, even though she remains anonymous.
this poem is closely related to the christian creation story. its very lengthy and with the length comes a ton of metaphors such as "like a mammy bending over her baby" which hints at the authors race and where the author lives. i also like the way the poem starts off. its as if god just one day got up and decide to do this big project just because
ReplyDeleteThe poem that caught my attention the most was the one "By This Girl"... I find the whole light and dark theme closely related to life and death. Like we were discussing in class, light signifies life and darkness signifies death. If you think about it, light could signify birth too where birth brings new beginning and sends death for "cover", but darkness/death will always eventually win ("but the light can't win") because death is inevitable.
ReplyDeleteWhat I love about the poem by This Girl is the way that it is done. I must say I find it myself inexplicably drawn toward it and I just like it a lot. Its amazing how the author was able to put in place such an abstract idea of such struggle that lasts for eternity in a matter of a few lines that has approximately 5 syllables each. I cannot help but feel proud for light for trying to win and hurting the darkness and a sense of sadness that the darkness will recover and light will start all over again. An interesting poem to say the least.
ReplyDeleteThe one dealing with the Christian view of creation relates the most to me. I love the imagery and the simplicity of the text. He doesn't use overly dramtaic words but makes it understandable. I can picture God just-a-moseying along and doing his thing.
ReplyDeleteThis poem like many other draws on the idea of Dusk/Dawn or light/dark. This two things the author says are inevitable and like the light and darkness of a full day. At one point of the day the light will win(afternoon) at the other the dark will(night). The author goes further then that by almost suggesting light and dark as good and evil having a battle that will never end. In my opinion this draws on the fact that there will always be a battle for good and evil the same as there will always be a dawn and dusk.
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