Excerpt from before a painting
james weldon johnson

i knew not who had wrought with skill so fine
what i beheld; nor by what laws of art
he had created life and love and heart
on canvas, from mere color, curve and line. 4
silent i stood and made no move or sign;
not with the crowd, but reverently apart;
nor felt the power my rooted limbs to start,
but mutely gazed upon that face divine. 8

and over me the sense of beauty fell,
as music over a raptured listener to
the deep-voiced organ breathing out a hymn;
or as on one who kneels, his beads to tell, 12
there falls the aureate glory filtered through
the windows in some old cathedral dim.

what is the main purpose of the poem?
a) to show how museums are like cathedrals
b) to reveal how works of art can be religious
c) to try and put into words the power of a painting
d) to explore the relationship between art and worship