In Genesis the way God creates the Heavens and the Earth, differs from the way any other piece of literature. The tone is more serious and deepening. In James Weldon Johnson's "The Creation" his tone is more passionate and emotional than it is deep. This passionate and emotional tone is seen in Johnson's use of imagery, diction, and language. .
Johnson relies heavily on imagery. He expresses himself in a very religious way using biblical imagery. One way Johnson displays his imagery is the pine tree pointing "his finger to the sky." In reality it is the branches of the pine tree that point to the sky but by using the word fingers, the poet evokes an image of growth because the branches are sprouting out. Another example is "The lakes cuddled down in the hollows of the ground." Normally when you think of cuddling you think of a baby cuddling in its mother's lap. So the lakes "cuddling" makes the setting seem cozy.
Johnson uses phrases that sound biblical to show his diction. For example, "And the sun was on his right hand, and the moon was on his left , the stars were clustered about his hand" or "and God said: That's good." Later on in the poem, the words "Like a mammy bending over her baby" make me think that this figurative farmer is black. The poet's diction here using the word "mammy" makes the figure seem to be very caring.
One way Johnson displays his language is through the use of synonyms. "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." The use of the word "trod" instead of repeating "walk" makes God's actions seem more significant. "The pine tree pointed his finger to the sky and the oak spread out his arms" is another example of using language in different ways to express similar ideas.
James Weldon Johnson's "The Creation" is quite different from the traditional biblical creation story. His passionate and emotional tone exemplifies by his use of imagery, diction, and language make the poem compelling to read.
