Poem #26: The White Witch by James Weldon Johnson

Estimated Reading Time:  4 minutes

Title: The White Witch

Author: James Weldon Johnson

Source:  African-American Poetry: An Anthology, 1773-1927. Dover Thrift Editions. Ed. Joan R. Sherman. 1997. ISBN:  978-0-486-29604-3.

Link: You can find this poem on this website.

Poem

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 looked

For ancient hag and snaggle-tooth;

But no, not so; the witch appears

In 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 floats

The golden glory of her hair. 

  

But though she always thus appears

In 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 caress

Of 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 lips

And 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 sear

My body like a living coal;

Obeyed the power of those eyes

As the needle trembles to the pole;

And did not care although I felt

The 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 caught

The 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 strength

In you, the great dynamic beat

Of primal passions, and she sees

In you the last besieged retreat

Of 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. 

Reflection

This poem reminds me a bit of folk tales that are told to warn people about the dangers of the world but not necessarily in the most straightforward of manners.  In this case, it's a bit less subtle but in many cases much more important for readers of Johnson's words. The poem itself though feels like a bit more temptation than warning given that the speaker claims knowledge of such an experience and has clearly survived, despite its costs.  

It raises many interesting thoughts. The first is that it seems to be a slightly veiled message to Black men to stay away from white women for the threats they represent. That threat is both the white woman the white culture that often demands violence and death for Black men transgressing white-designed racial lines, particularly around romantic and sexual relationships.  In that way, it's a fair warning but raises questions about the speaker (who readers may also assume is Johnson) claiming such knowledge and continuing to exist without harm.  This says nothing to say the alluring description that Johnson provides which is mean to seduce, which also makes one wonder if while the goal was to deter, the result is to entice (akin to how people might describe the experience of drugs that might actually encourage experimentation).  

Those are my thoughts.  What did you find interesting about the poem?

About the reflections
This poem is part of a 365 day challenge project that focuses on a poem a day.  Similar projects have included short shorties and photo reflections. Part of the intention of this year's project is to develop a better appreciation and means of reflecting on poetry, something that has never been a strong suit for me.  These reflections therefore do not represent a definitive assessment of the work by me. They are merely an opportunity for me to have a public conversation about what they mean in order to help myself better understand them and mayhaps have a conversation with readers for further insight.  

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