Similarities and Differences Between 'Yet Do I Marvel' and 'If We Must Die'

They are both free verse poems and enjambed in a various places, Hernandez’s seems to enjamb to emphasis being out of breadth and having to answer a stream of questions very quickly and easily. While McKay’s poem appears to want you to stop for a minute and have you assume one thing before telling you another. They are both frustrated but love the ideals that come with where they live and know that if things do not change everything will be lost.The poems are both different because they are a product of the time they were written, McKay’s is a product of a black immigrant who came to America in the 1930’s while racism was prevalent and active part of the American culture; while Hernandez’s was written in 2016 and touches upon sexuality, skin color, abortion and how uncertain people’s moral compass is.Both these poems are complex studies of what it is like to be different in America and they celebrate that differences are good and important things to

Clearly provocative and even chilling, “If We Must Die” by Claude McKay stirs deep and powerful emotions in any who reads it. A poem inspired by violent race riots, it serves as a motivating anthem representative of an entire culture. Graphic and full of vengeance this poem is demanding action, not telling a story. McKay utilizes imagery to its fullest extent creating an end result which any man or woman, black or white, who has ever felt the hard and hateful hand of oppression can relate to.

The poem America by Claude McKay is on its surface a poem combining what America should be and what this country stands for, with what it actually is, and the attitude it projects amongst the people. Mckay uses the form of poetry to express how he, as a Jamaican immigrant, feels about America. He characterizes the bittersweet relationship between striving for the American dream, and being denied that dream due to racism. While the America we are meant to see is a beautiful land of opportunity, McKay see’s as an ugly, flawed, system that crushes the hopes and dreams of the African-American people.

Claude McKay’s poems reflect on American culture during a specific time in history, known as Harlem Renaissance. A time where racism was predominately a way of living for many, this was a beneficial time in history for African Americans. Bringing blacks together in a new movement that had not been present in America. Development in which blacks emphasized themselves by taking on their racial identity. It was a time period in which the black community helped each other to be able to express themselves as who they truly are, creating a true African American visual doing so

The first poet I chose from the Harlem Renaissance was the American poet, Countee Cullen This 1920s artistic movement produced the first large body of work in the United States written by African Americans. (Brown, 2012) The work, Yet Do I Marvel, took a racial theme, lynching of a black youth for a crime he did not commit. The poem is stark and makes reference to Sisyphus and speaks of how life is a struggle up a never ending stair. It speaks to God as if to wonder why, knowing that God is benevolent he does not stop the unreasoning actions of brutes against, “flesh that mirrors him”, meaning the black race. (Brown, 2012) This line is important as it shows that the black consciousness is coming to recognition of their own worth taken

The Harlem Renaissance was a time of revival and awakening in which the African American community produced a new form of cultural identity. After years of oppression and slavery, African Americans struggled to discover their own distinctive culture. It was through the literature and artistry of the Harlem Renaissance that the African American community began to express the suffering and resentment they truly experienced. In addition, the movement allowed them to find a way to escape their hardships. James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” and Langston Hughes’ “The Weary Blues” address the addiction, poverty, and violence that surrounded African Americans and the triumph of life that was captured in their attempt to escape the suffering.

In the poem ,“America”, Claude McKay uses figurative language and diction to create a dark tone, a powerful empowering tone, and an optimistic tone. The theme of double consciousness of African-Americans is supported in the poem and the poem itself also connects to the purpose of the Harlem Renaissance which was to fight back racial hate and stereotypes with black empowerment.

Langston Hughes and Claude McKay share similar qualities in their respective poems “I, Too, Sing America” written by Hughes and “America” written by McKay. These poems, though different and unique in style, share common characteristics that make each poem a classic piece of American literature. Hughes and McKay, both African American males, were very notable during the Harlem Renaissance period. Both writers express their views on their individual African Americans perceptions in America in these poems, through their use of diction, tone, theme.

“He became aware of the beauty of the great European cathedrals, especially the Catholic ones in Spain.” He later realized that he believed in God in the early 1930s. In his poem “Outcast” he refers to religion. It is first brought up in the beginning of the poem “My spirit bondaged by the body, longs”. He is referring back to his heritage and his beliefs that he is further questioning. In the article “Home At Last”, it states how Claude McKay became involved with the communist party, but later began to find the religious outlooks of Christianity that were beneficial and inspirational.It is stated that McKay made the decision to turn his political views into art that later turned into Christianity. Later on in the poem, on lines 7-8, he states “While to its alien gods I bend my knee”. In the analysis this poem in the article “Thematic Trends in Claude McKay’s Selected Poems of the Harlem Era”, it is stated under the topic of religion “The persona having been taken away from the shores of Africa is made to embrace alien gods in a foreign land.” This states how he was stuck in the memory of his heritage and felt imprisoned in a foreign land. A novel that Claude McKay wrote close to the end of the Harlem Renaissance was discovered and showed the influence Communism had on his writing. The manuscript was called “Amiable With Big Teeth”. According to News York Times, the manuscript was “A novel of

The Kansas City Call summed up the general mentality of African Americans during the 1920s with the statement “The New Negro does not fear the face of day.” (pg 118) Unlike the old days of slavery, African Americans had become more radical towards their oppressor and were beginning to organize as a people. Harlem Renaissance poet Claude Mckay embraced the “New Negro” archetype in his work by stating “If we must die, let it not be like hogs/ Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot….. Like men we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack/ Pressed

All three of the poems discussed in this essay relate to the struggles suffered by African Americans in the late 18th century to the early 19th century in many different ways. They had to live under harsh

The Harlem Renaissance was a time where creativity flourished throughout the African American community. At the time many African Americans were treated as second class citizens. The Harlem Renaissance acted as artistic and cultural outlet for the African-American community. The Harlem Renaissance, otherwise known as “The New Negro Movement” was an unexpected outburst of creative activity among African Americans In the poems Harlem by Langston Hughes, America by Claude McKay, and Incident by Countee Cullen all use frustration and hope as reoccurring themes to help empower the African-American population and realize the injustices they face day to day. The Harlem Renaissance was a period marked by great change and forever altered the

During the 1920’s a new movement began to arise. This movement known as the Harlem Renaissance expressed the new African American culture. The new African American culture was expressed through the writing of books, poetry, essays, the playing of music, and through sculptures and paintings. Three poems and their poets express the new African American culture with ease. (Jordan 848-891) The poems also express the position of themselves and other African Americans during this time. “You and Your Whole Race”, “Yet Do I Marvel”, and “The Lynching” are the three poems whose themes are the same. The poets of these poems are, as in order, Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, and Claude Mckay.

The Harlem Renaissance was an evolutionary period in terms of African-American cultural expression; in fact, the movement changed the way that black musicians, poets, authors, and even ordinary people perceived themselves. One of the most influential poets of the time was Langston Hughes. Hughes’ works display a pride in being black that most African-Americans are too afraid to show, even today. Moreover, he adamantly refused to submit to the sentiment that he should be ashamed of his heritage, instead believing that “no great poet has ever been afraid of being himself.”(p1990 From the Negro Artist). In the article “‘Don’t Turn Back’: Langston Hughes, Barack Obama, and Martin Luther King, Jr.” by Jason Miller, Miller analyzes how Hughes’ poetry has been used by Martin Luther King, Jr. and Barack Obama and how the House of Un-american Activities Committee affected that use.

McKay uses hopeful words and exclamation marks to rally his people to fight back for the cause. McKay used this tactic when he says, “We must meet the common foe!” (l. 9), to show that the oppressors are equal to them. This in turn encourages the African-Americans that they do have a chance to fight back. The emphasis with the exclamation points, and the encouraging words give the reader a sense of hope that the fight is possible. In the poem, exclamations serve the purpose of motivating the people to fight for freedom of oppression. While hopeful words encourage them that the cause is manageable and that they can change the future. An example of this is when McKay says, “even the monsters we defy/Shall be constrained to honor us though dead!” (l. 7-8). McKay shows that even the oppressors will have to honor them for dying nobilly with