This post is a little different than my usual discussions. Courtesy of the literary representative for the works of claude mckay, schombourg center for research in black culture, the new york public library, astor, lenox and tildeen foundations. Claude mckay 18891948 was a jamaicanamerican writer, poet, and a seminal figure during the harlem renaissance. The opening lines of america focus on the bitterness which the country inspires. Dont be scared away by the word essay no matter how terrifying it looks its. Created using powtoon free sign up at youtube create animated. In the eyes of its author, however, the sonnet was unveiled before a group andy razaf might have styled as the renaissances chefs. Pdf downloads of all 1285 litcharts literature guides, and of every new one we publish. It made up of three quatrains, or sets of four lines. Mckay constructs the setting of soldiers in battle, but the circumstances and the creative mind of the reader informs that the fight is to free a displaced and enslaved nation. Claude mckay spans national boundaries, literary genres poems, essays, novels, memoirs, etc. Mckay dedicated his life to fighting for the rights of oppressed people.
This was among a page of his poetry which signaled the commencement of his life as a professional writer. This poem first appeared in the liberator july, 1919. Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot, while round us bark the mad and. About the author festus claudius claude mckay was a jamaican writer and poet, who was a seminal figure in the harlem renaissance. To analyze the presentation of the problem of racism in the country, it is necessary to refer to the poems strong men written by sterling a. His poem reflects his feelings on the conflict over black versus white, thus characterizing this as a poem that discusses struggle.
The first line of the poem speaks of it quite eloquently. Indeed a thorough analysis following a sociocriticism. I am especially having trouble with the meaning of the line, what though before us lies. Mckay wrote the poem as a response to mob attacks by white americans upon. Claude mckay, who was born in jamaica in 1889, wrote about social and political concerns from his perspective as a black man in the united states, as well as a variety of subjects ranging from his jamaican homeland to romantic love. The white city is not an attack on white people but rather a critique of racebased economic and political power. Pdfs, linebyline analysis, and poetic device explanations for all 226 poems we cover. From urging black men to fight back against white men looking.
A letter claude mckay wrote to richard wright in part explaining this poem. Even this small selection gives us a rich and multifaceted portrait of race in america, but the poems demand careful reading. The sonnet form, as we have seen with earlier claude mckay poems, seems to be used in an ironic or sarcastic sense, expressing the speaker as someone versed in the more classic intellectual forms of poetry. These first four lines establish the basic premise of the. One in which, the speaker likely hopes, they wont have to keep fighting. In jamaica, mckay met walter jekyll, a white british expriest and folklorist, who encouraged mckay to write in his native jamaican dialect. In america, claude mckay expresses the struggles that african american people have faced at the hands of the country that they call their home, but also the strength they find in it as well. There were 28 public lynching killings in the first half of the year and the following summer and fall came to be known as the red summer of 1919. It was during these years that riots related to race were experienced in the united states of america. Analysis of the poem america by claude mckay essay 1893 words 8 pages. Mckay was, in fact, wellacquainted with such forms, despite his poor background and the stereotypes of his race.
Or will they turn, stand together and demand a better life. Indeed a thorough analysis following a sociocriticism and a psychoanalytic. Mckay s poem is a 14 line shakespearean sonnet, heavily endstopped and broken up into three quatrains 4 line stanzas and a final couplet. The daily moments which are horrible, the country being personified and feeding the poet bread of bitterness. It was a response to the attacks on african american communities by mobs of white americans. Born in jamaica in 1890, mckay was a restless and talented young man. This is a selfmade student assignment for my composition ii class. Mckay composed the poem in response to the outburst of racial violence in the summer of 1919, dubbed the red summer because of the many urban race riots that took place then. Historical context authors information themes tone form and meter symbolism and metaphor judgments conclusion works cited form and meter shakespearean sonnet 14 lines rhyme scheme of. He also implies that men are violent, but also assumes that real. Mckay was attracted to communism in his early life, but he always asserted that he never became an official member of the communist party usa. Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot, while round us bark the mad and hungry dogs. Mckay became involved with a group of black radicals who were unhappy both.