...Comparison of the poems “The Flea” and “If we must die” Many authors use images to convey a message from their theme in their work, as well, to enhance the meaning behind their theme. In the poems “The Flea” by John Donne, and “If we must die” by Claude McKay, both authors use images of animals to convey the theme of death, but each poem uses a different approach to death, one being symbolized by two lovers being united through a flea using a metaphor, and the other being introduced by the brutality of a hog’s life by using a persona. John Donne’s “The Flea” is a poem illustrating the metaphor of a flea to represent the sexual act and relations between a man and a woman. Portrayed through the image of the flea, which is made to seem insignificant throughout the poem, the flea goes through a “sex” journey without even knowing it. The poem maintains one speaker until the end, but has two significant characters: the speaker and his lover. While he is trying to convince his female lover to see that her virginity isn’t all that it’s hyped to be, he compares a flea to sex in the process, “It suck'd me first, and now sucks thee, And in this flea our two bloods mingled be” (line 3), this quote suggests that the flea has united the two into one. Ultimately by comparing the flea to the bond between his lover and himself, the bond that “is you and I, and this Our marriage bed, and marriage temple is” (line 12), he tries to persuade his lover that if she kills this flea, she will not only...
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...the religion of Islam. All these themes have been discussed in Islam and the religion has provided answers to these problems. Following works will be discussed in the essay. 1. If we must die (poem) by Claude McKay 2. A Litany for Survival (poem) by Audre Lorde 3. I have a Dream (speech) by Martin Luther King Analysis # 1: If we must Die: Honor and honorable death is one such theme that is the main focus of the poem, “If we must die” by Claude Mackay. Claude McKay wants his people that are under threat from the white people and are being killed. He wants them to die nobly. Islam has given a huge distinction to the one who dies honorably i.e. in the way of Allah. This means if a person is doing something good, or is on his way to doing a going deed and dies, he dies a martyr. The Prophet [SAW] said: "Whoever fights to protect his wealth and is killed, he is a martyr. Whoever fights to protect himself, he is a martyr. Whoever fights to protect his family is a martyr." (Sunnah.com) The sayings of the Holy Prophet of Islam (PBUH), can be related to the deaths of the black people that were killed due to the color of their skin. They are dying protecting their families and their rights. So this is an honorable death, like the poet says, “If we must die—oh, let us nobly die,” (McKay) The killings of black people...
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...opportunities. This was the beginning of the Harlem Renaissance era where African American artist (musicians and poets) called themselves the “New Negro”. The two Poets I chose to discuss throughout this essay are Langston Hughes and Claude McKay. I will be discussing their roles during the Harlem Renaissance, The elements of double consciousness within their poetry, and the primary themes seen in poetry during this time period. Langston Hughes Langston Hughes was one of the most influential writers during the Harlem Renaissance. His unique style of writing incorporated Jazz and Blues music into poetry. Langston Hughes played a significant role during the Harlem Renaissance period, his work became the voice for the average African American struggling to deal with the stress / pressures of being racially discriminated against. His poems encouraged them to love their brown skin and accept who they are and not how they are seen by their white counterparts. Instead of African Americans sacrificing their identity (culture) to blend into the white society he encouraged Negroes to have a sense of pride in their ancestry and celebrate their spirituality and culture. His poems spoke against racism and acts of violence against Negroes. Claude McKay Claude McKay was born in a small predominately black town in Sunny Ville, Jamaica at 17 he moved to Kingston Jamaica where he had his first encounter with racism. He was disgusted at how blacks were thought to be inferior and only capable...
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...Harlem Renaissance Poets Martha Harris Strayer University World Cultures Stephen Ripley May 27, 2013 The Harlem Renaissance was a period in history of the United States in which a group of individuals such as, poets, authors, and artists came together to express themselves. Two of the poets that I would be talking about are W.E.B Du Bois, and Claude McKay, and how they contributed to the Harlem Renaissance era. In the social roots of the Harlem Renaissance can be tracked back to the Great Migration during the First World War, the philosophical roots reach back to the turn of the century and the work of black historian and sociologist W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963), whose The Philadelphia Negro (1899) was the first sociological text on a black community published in the United States. In 1903, in his book The Souls of Black Folk, Du Bois had proposed that the identity of African Americans was fraught with ambiguity. (Sayre, 2012, pg. 1174) When in 1909 the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded to advance the rights of black, Du Bois became editor of its magazine, The Crisis. Du Bois sense of the double-consciousness informing African American experience (a double-consciousness that informs the very term “African American”) was often expressed in the magazine’s pages. In this role he wielded an unequaled influence among middle-class black and progressive whites as the propagandist for the black protest from 1910 until 1934. (Rudwick...
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...The Harlem Renaissance Poets XXX XXXX Strayer University HUM 112 August 17, 2014 XXX XXXX The Harlem Renaissance Poets The Harlem Renaissance, notably deemed as the “New Negro Movement” by Alain Locke, aggrandized the creativity in literature and music from the African American culture. Much of the art from this era mostly portrayed their experiences of inequality and their search for better quality of life in the North and Midwest, henceforth the Great Migration. Some of the most prominent names during this time was African American poets Langston Hughes and Claude McKay, both playing an essential role to the literary movement. As stated by McKay, “their poems are full of hushes, whispers, sighs, songs, tongues, throats, wails, moans, voices, speech, music, hymns, blues, sobs, cries, lashes, yowls, jazz, scatting, drums, thunder, drones, shouts, trumpets, trains, whistles, choirs, horns, and all sorts of other raucous sound” (1926). Langston Hughes was notably known as the leader of the Harlem Renaissance and also deemed as the “Father of Harlem Renaissance poetry”. Hughes solidified his legacy in the Harlem Renaissance subsequently after the publishing of his first poem “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”, which is one of his most notable poems. The Negro Speaks of Rivers, which was influenced from his time passing the Mississippi River to visit his family, was later published in 1926 in his first book of poetry, The Weary Blues. In regards to the poem, Phillipson...
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... Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, and Sterling Brown. All these poets had different items illustrated in their poems, though they all pointed the oppression of the minority race in America, and their fight to achieve freedom. The focus of this essay is to analyze poems by two different poets during the Harlem Renaissance period, describing the role played by each author in this period. The poems to be analyzed are If We Must Die by Claude McKay and Let America be America Again by Langston Hughes. These two poems pass different messages and show the different wishes of the two poets. McKay and Hughes each contributed to the Harlem Renaissance poetry in varying ways. Hughes was a well-known artist who wrote essays, short stories, poems, and children’s books. He used his poetry to celebrate the African American community and tried to capture the life of the African Americans in his work. His major focus is on dreams, and he gives suggestions of what happens when dreams are ignored and postponed. He, therefore, played a role in airing the dreams of the black Americans who lived in Harlem, and how these dreams were shattered (Bloom, 2004). His poetry is a way of showing that the black Americans had dreams, which if they did not come true would lead to social unrest. Some people consider his poetry as a warning of what might occur if the hopes and dreams of the black American for equity did not come to pass. On the other hand, McKay also contributed to...
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...injustices There are many similar but different views on Claude McKay’s “If We Must Die.” Many have noticed that Claude wrote this poem in the form of a Shakespearean sonnet, using an iambic pentameter and ending it with a couplet as well as including imagery. The speaker is a sort of leader, calling out to others to overcome the “common foe” and live and die with meaning and bravery. The theme is honor, the speaker says “if we must die, O let us nobly die” (McKay 514), encouraging the audience to go forth and fight what is holding them back. Honor is earned, a privilege that is only obtained when effort is put towards it. The poem hints towards racial prejudice which had been a social issue during the time of the Harlem Renaissance....
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...Equality Equality is something doesn’t come easy. It can have different meanings to different people. In “Harrison Bergeron” (Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.), “I Have a Dream” (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.), and “If We Must Die” (Claude McKay) equality is the missing piece of the puzzle. These three writing pieces show different ways that equality can affect and change a person’s life. It shows that without equality big disasters in society may happen. To start off, in “I Have a Dream” Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a heartwarming speech that convinced many people across the United States to fight for equal rights. Some of the rights that African American people were fighting for where for example the right for freedom and justice. Although they were fighting for equal rights they were also fighting for a change in people’s hearts towards African American people. This is stated in speech when Martin Luther King Jr. states “…where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” Martin Luther King Jr. is trying to tell us that even...
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...Running Head: THE CRY FOR NEW BIRTH The Cry for New Birth Tammy Wilkins Dr. Nancy Barlar HUM112 May 21, 2012 The Cry for New Birth President Lincoln’s fiery compassion to save the Union by ending slavery produced the Emancipation Proclamation, ending the drudgery and dehumanization of African Americans in 1863. Lincoln had a passion for the newly released slaves and with the best of intentions, planned to construct colonies for them to live in after they were released but these intentions were never realized. It wasn’t until 1920 that a group of literary writers began their own cry for emancipation and through their compassion for their fellow African Americans, began putting those feelings and thoughts on paper in the form of writings and poetry. This cry of lamentation, expressed through heart rending writings and heart felt poetry, was known as the Harlem Renaissance, and otherwise referred to as the “New Negro Movement.” There were many changes that were to be seen during this rebirth that lasted twenty four years. The writings were not only the lament of men and women voicing their rage and empathy for their fellow African Americans plight of slavery, but were writings that would sooth the wounds of former slavery and take the former slaves trough the far reaching effects of a stock market crash and the further woes of the ensuing Great Depression. The renaissance period brought forth the movement that changed the entire...
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...2011 Harlem Renaissance Poets The first poem I choose from the Harlem Renaissance time belongs to Claude Mckay, “If We Must Die” (1919). 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 dongs, Making their mock at our accursed lot. If we must dir—oh, 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 Oh, kinsman! We must meet the common foe; Though far outnumbered, let us show us brave, And for their thousand blows deal one deathblow! What though before us lies the open grave? Like men we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack, Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!(Mckay, 1919). To describe Clause Mckay’s role and importance within the Harlem Renaissance we shall look at his poems. Overall the author is expressing anger over the whites being racist and killing the slaves who fought back, also is unhappy about the war that is taking place and is trying to express his feelings trough his poems. Poems such as If we must die gave a sense of moving forward and pursuing the dream of freedom to the slaves who had started fighting back the whites. The evidence of “double-consciousness” in the poem If we must die, is apparent throughout the poem for example where the author says “If we must die—let it not be like hogs” the author gives and impression as if he is talking about a hunting game...
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...Project 2 If We Must Die Close Reading Claude McKays poem “If we must Die” has a strong underlying meaning that is brought out by a few lines within the middle of the poem. The quote goes from line 5 till the end of line 8. The quote has some serious power behind it and brings the whole meaning of the poem together. It develops the idea that if one were to die that it be a noble and honorable death as if you were to die a hero. If a hero were to die that is exactly the way there would go out, holding their head high and proud. McKays poem develops the idea of a hero and if one were to die a hero that they would let it be a nobly proud and honorable death. When the poem is first read it is vague exactly what McKay is referring to. But after rereading and analyzing specific parts of the poem lots of conclusions can be derived. Certain lines in the poem are what can make the argument so strong. The main quote that allows one to believe in such argument is on line 5 through 8. “If we must die—oh, 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!”(CITE***) This quote has a lot of meaning behind it in the sense that it highlights the main idea of the whole poem about noble and honorable death as a hero. There are certain word within the quote that help defy the main idea of the poem. They are certain words that really exemplify the main meaning of the poem as a whole. Mckay clearly chose...
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...Riasad Chowdhury ENG 112 Prof: Stephen Clark 12/17/2015 Daily Working Life Poems are short or long paragraphs written by poets to impact largely on people's way of thinking. Claude McKay is a poet whose most of the poems are not always happy poems but they do give a nudge to people to think about normal daily stuffs in a very different perspective. I have read his poem called "Enslaved" and I have never felt so sympathy about the slavery that the African American people had to go through and how they felt about it. Then it was his another poem "If We Must Die" and it was so much filled with sorrow. I am writing about Claude McKay's poem "The Tired Worker" which actually touched me greatly though it was nothing related to my life style but still I could relate my daily life style to it and that is how Claude McKay's poems can really affect people. The poet in the poem "The Tired Worker" kept a lack of details which allows the readers to reflect themselves in a focus way, he also used a developing tone and imagery to guide the readers to think of their own life. The poet kept a convinient lack of details in the poem to help the readers fit themselves anywhere in the poem. "O whisper, O my soul! The afternoon. Is waning into evening, whisper soft! Peace, O my rebel heart! for soon the moon. From out its misty veil will swing aloft!", these are the first four lines of the poem and it is about a persom who is eagerly comforting himself or herself that it will soon be...
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...African American Literature ENG/301 Kristina Brooks March 12, 2012 The African American Literature and its history was an interesting subject or ethnic literary to learn about. This literature’s readings showed a great deal of different moments or life events that the different authors experienced as well as tragic events, and heart felt pain they endured over their lifetime. Some authors talked about the wonderful life they lived and how blessed they were to be a white man’s slave. I will be discussing the different views and relations in each of the readings along with the racist remarks and overall way they were treated as an African American over different periods of time. The first reading I want to talk about is, “White Folks Treated Us Good,” by Marriah Hines. In this reading Hines talks about how life as a slave for the white folks was great, so great, that when slavery ended and African Americans were given their freedom, she stayed because of the way her master treated her and stayed loyal to him and his family until he passed away. During the time of slavery, Hines, was never treated bad, nor was she ever beaten or raped by her masters. While some people were starved, and treated like cats and dogs, Hines, was fed and clothed and kept them on a higher level (Hines, M p.34). The next reading I will be talking about is, “To my old Master,” by Jourdan Anderson. This story is a great message about how...
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...“If We Must Die” was written to illustrate the amount of violence against African-Americans during the Red Summer of 1919, where racial tension lead to blood riots across the country. This poem begins saying that if they must die, let it not be messy and awful but to let them “nobly die.” “In vain; then even the monsters we defy shall be constrained to honor us though dead,” this shows that even the people that don't like the African Americans will be forced to like them in the end when they're dead because they matter too. The author, Claude McKay ends this selection with saying that they (African Americans) must be brave and fight back. The purpose of “ A Black Man Talks of Reaping” was to express the bitterness felt by African...
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...Student Name Professor Name Name of school The Harlem Renaissance: A review of how the works in the oral tradition reflect key social, political, economic and artistic aims of the Harlem Renaissance. “Originally called the New Negro Movement, the Harlem Renaissance was a literary and intellectual flowering that fostered a new black cultural identity.” (Rowen and Brunner). It was the African-American boom of cultural expression that peaked in the 1920s. Though it was centred in the Harlem neighbourhood of New York, many French-speaking black writers from African and Caribbean colonies that lived in Pairs were also influenced by the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance was a celebration of African-American heritage expressed through an outpouring of art, literature, music and dance. It was also described as a “spiritual coming of age” in which the black community was able to seize upon its “first chances for group expression and self determination.” (Rowen and Brunner). With racism still rampant and economic opportunities scarce, creative expression was one of the few avenues available to African-Americans in the early twentieth century. The timing of the coming of age was perfect. The years between World War I and the Great Depression were boom times for the United States, and jobs were plentiful. The Harlem Renaissance was helped along by intellectuals and the expansion of urban cultures. Artistic expression and articulated appreciation of African-American culture...
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