by James Weldon Johnson

    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 cypress¹ 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 hurled² 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 bulged³ 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 spat⁴ 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 sprouted⁵，

    And the little red flowers blossomed，

    The pine tree pointed⁶ 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 forth⁷！ Bring forth！

    And quicker than God could drop his hand，

    Fishes and fowls⁸

    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 scooped⁹ the clay；

    And by the bank of the river

    He kneeled him down；

    And there the great God Almighty¹⁰

    Who lit the sun and fixed¹¹ 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

    Toiling¹² 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.

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