Claude McKay (15 September 1889 – 22 May 1948 / Clarendon)

Alessia Maganuco. Claude McKay, the first major poet of the Harlem Renaissance. The main thing Claude McKay did to show imagery and description in the poem “If We Must Die” to convey feeling is to shape the trends that would later define that literary moment. He was able to indulge and arouse many black readers. Many African American were fascinated to his poetry by his frequently explosive condemnations of bigotry and oppression. He helped disclose some of the unifying principles underlying the major conflicting themes of the writers of them Harlem Renaissance. In addition, the Negro Renaissance gave voice to the new spirit awakening in the 1920’s; but the new militancy indicated that the long journey down the harsh years of history had ascended to read the good life ahead. My personal favorite line from the poem “If We Must Die” is: “like men we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack, pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back.” That line symbolizes strength and fortitude from Claude McKay.

Alessia Maganuco
Claude McKay, the first major poet of the Harlem Renaissance. The main thing Claude McKay did to show imagery and description in the poem “If We Must Die” to convey feeling is to shape the trends that would later define that literary moment. He was able to indulge and arouse many black readers. Many African American were fascinated to his poetry by his frequently explosive condemnations of bigotry and oppression. He helped disclose some of the unifying principles underlying the major conflicting themes of the writers of them Harlem Renaissance. In addition, the Negro Renaissance gave voice to the new spirit awakening in the 1920’s; but the new militancy indicated that the long journey down the harsh years of history had ascended to read the good life ahead. My personal favorite line from the poem “If We Must Die” is: “like men we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack, pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back.” That line symbolizes strength and fortitude from Claude McKay.

Claude McKay’s poem “If We Must Die” shows us that no one really wants to die, but if we must, we want to die fighting. Claude McKay’s imagery in this poem shows an awfully dreadful death of one dying like a “hog” said to be “hunted and penned” somewhere that it cannot get out. This is exactly how Claude McKay does not want to die. He wants to die gloriously and in some way that he will be honored for years to come. In all reality, he is simply portraying how everyone does not want to die, but instead how they want to be remembered after death and how they want to be fighting for their life until the very end not cornered somewhere where they are forced to surrender. He shows how we all want to be able to say that we were “brave” and “like men we’ll face the murderous” and fight back for as long as we can.

If We Must Die was a compelling poem by Claude McKay. This evoking sonnet was written during the “Red Summer” of 1919. Allied Forces in the World War II unofficially used it as a rallying cry. Although McKay said this poem was not particularly referred to blacks and whites, it is easy to see that it is, to me at least. The imagery of the sonnet shows the oppressed or the disadvantaged fight for their dignity against their opponents. He mentions to die in such honor that their adversaries would have no choice but to awe at their fearlessness. McKay’s sonnet is like a speech that is aimed to rally the crowd before battle. He uses vivid metaphors to convey feelings such as, “… let it not be like hogs [h]unted and penned in an inglorious spot, [w]hile round us bark the mad and hungry dogs, [m]aking their mock at our accursed lot[, ]” which means to not be like cowards against the oppressors while being sworn and jeered at. He conveys the feelings of what is literal in a metaphor to reality, or to the disadvantaged. This poem was widely accepted, for it speaks to the public in conflict.

This poem is a call to African American men to fight for their rights. McKay makes the reader not only see these developments in his or her mind’s eye, but also he empowers the reader to hear the sound. In If We Must Die, McKay represents the enemy in several ways, but especially as dogs. The barking of the hungry dogs is a like sound image, which intensifies the savagery of the tyrant. On the other side he refers the death as sacred and uses a hog metaphor to insist that death should be in a noble way and not like hog which are sometime killed without reason. In Christian theology, Jesus is a major example of death made meaningful; his death is seen as a noble sacrifice through which all Christians are redeemed from sin. So the overall message in the poem is to tell his brothers that Instead of sitting passively by and being treated like animals, they should fight bravely.

'During his address to the American Congress in his effort to encourage American aid and American entry in the fight against German Nazi, Winston Churchill, UK prime minister, concluded his speech by a reading of McKay's famous poem 'If We Must Die.'

http: /www.nathanielturner.com/claudemckay.htm

the poem is about dieing with honor sumting that many people have forgotten........... to look death deep in the eyes and not be afraid.it is black pride and wearing our color with respect even when faced with ridicule it is about dieing a man...... rather than living as a coward! ! ! !

This poem is in my english prep text book. The beginning started good, but the rest got me confuzzled......

This poem was written during the Harlem Renaissance period. It was written as a millitant response to a Harlem race riot. McKay expresses active resistance throughout the poem.