Claude McKay

(15 September 1889 – 22 May 1948 / Clarendon)

poet Claude McKay
#81 on top 500 poets
Claude McKay
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Claude McKay Poems

  • If We Must Die  If we must die, let it not be like ...
  • America  Although she feeds me bread of bitterness, And sinks...
  • Enslaved  Oh when I think of my long-suffering race, For ...
  • Courage  O lonely heart so timid of approach, Like the shy ...
  • Birds Of Prey  Their shadow dims the sunshine of our day, As...
  • A Memory Of June  When June comes dancing o'er the death of ...
  • Flame-Heart  So much have I forgotten in ten years, So much ...
All poems of Claude McKay »


Claude McKay was a Jamaican-American writer and poet. He was a seminal figure in the Harlem Renaissance and wrote three novels: Home to Harlem (1928), a best-seller which won the Harmon Gold Award for Literature, Banjo (1929), and Banana Bottom (1933). McKay also authored a collection of short stories, Gingertown (1932), and two autobiographical books, A Long Way from Home (1937) and Harlem: Negro Metropolis (1940). His book of poetry, Harlem Shadows (1922) was among the first books published during the Harlem Renaissance. His book of collected poems, Selected Poems (1953), was published posthumously.

McKay was attracted to communism in his early life, but he was never a member ... more »

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  • Ben Le (9/28/2018 8:09:00 PM)

    Why is some of Claude McKay's poems missing? I am very sure he wrote more than 80. It there any specific reason why To The White Fiends and My House is not included here?

    6 person liked.
    		1 person did not like.
  • Mason Alvarez (3/23/2018 2:08:00 PM)

    HEY! i like to run around the school

    7 person liked.
    		9 person did not like.
  • Rosebert Saul. (3/9/2018 7:31:00 PM)

    Please can you calling me tomorrow I have emergency. 305-684-5917. Call me any time.

    3 person liked.
    		13 person did not like.
  • Stecy Pitchen (2/8/2018 12:23:00 PM)

    I found these poem quite interesting!

    12 person liked.
    		9 person did not like.
  • Daniel Johnson (2/5/2018 12:47:00 PM)

    i believe he is my great grand uncle... my grandma passed on the news to me.. so inspired by him! ! !

    13 person liked.
    		9 person did not like.
  • Herb Jacobson (12/31/2014 2:19:00 PM)

    MCKAY WROTE A POEM CALLED MY HOUSE. WHY IS IT NOT INCLUDED IN THIS LIST OF 80. IT IS A MAGNIFICENT AND INSPIRATIONAL POEM I HAVE BEEN PASSING ALONG FOR OVER 60 YEARS

    63 person liked.
    		54 person did not like.
  • Zeenat Fatima (9/16/2012 6:48:00 AM)

    really romantic poem.. :)

    121 person liked.
    		90 person did not like.
  • Rue Palmer Rue Palmer (8/2/2012 8:48:00 AM)

    went to school reading claude, , we are from the same parish in jamaica nd i even know his home town, , yes indeed here i am right by his side, ,

    133 person liked.
    		86 person did not like.
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Best Poem of Claude McKay

If We Must Die

If we must die, let it not be like hogs
Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot,
While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,
Making their mock at our accursèd lot.
If we must die, O let us nobly die,
So that our precious blood may not be shed
In vain; then even the monsters we defy
Shall be constrained to honor us though dead!
O kinsmen! we must meet the common foe!
Though far outnumbered let us show us brave,
And for their thousand blows deal one death-blow!
What though before us lies the open grave?
Like men we'll face the murderous, cowardly ...

Read the full of If We Must Die

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