# The Judgment Day explained — Poetry > Chapter companion for Poetry by James Weldon Johnson. ## What happens A vivid and apocalyptic sermon-like poem describing the Day of Judgment, where God commands Gabriel to blow his trumpet to wake the living and the dead, the graves burst open, the righteous are rewarded with heavenly bliss, and the wicked are cast into hell, culminating in the end of time and the beginning of eternity. ## Themes in this chapter ### Death and Mortality The chapter vividly depicts the resurrection of the dead, the judgment of souls, and the finality of death as the wicked are cast into hell. ### Faith and Spirituality The entire chapter is a spiritual meditation on divine judgment, salvation, and the power of God over life, death, and eternity. ### Resilience and Hope The righteous who have come through great tribulations are promised entry into God's kingdom, clothed in white with starry crowns, symbolizing enduring hope. ## Character check-ins ### Gabriel The tall, bright angel commanded by God to blow his silver trumpet to wake the living nations and the nations underground. ### Lawd God, who sits in the middle of the air to judge the quick and the dead, commands Gabriel, divides the sheep from the goats, and blots out time. ### Death Referenced indirectly through the valley of death and the army of the dead rising from bursting graves. ## Key lines > In that great day, People, in that great day, God’s a-going to rain down fire. On that momentous day, God will pour down fire from heaven. _Sets the apocalyptic tone of divine judgment._ > And I see the graves a-bursting⁠— And I hear a sound, A blood-chilling sound. What sound is that I hear? It’s the clicking together of the dry bones, Bone to bone⁠—the dry bones. I witness the graves breaking open and hear the terrifying sound of dry bones clicking together as they reconnect. _Evokes the resurrection of the dead from Ezekiel's vision._ > And the sun will go out like a candle in the wind, The moon will turn to dripping blood, The stars will fall like cinders, And the sea will burn like tar; And the earth shall melt away and be dissolved, And the sky will roll up like a scroll. The sun will extinguish, the moon will become blood, stars will fall as embers, the sea will burn, the earth will dissolve, and the sky will roll up like a scroll. _Describes the cosmic dissolution at the end of time._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_13_se/chapters/the-judgment-day - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_13_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_13_se/chapters