Claude McKay

thumb|Claude McKay Claude McKay (September 15, 1889 – May 22, 1948) was a writer and poet, who was a seminal figure in the Harlem Renaissance. Quotes The shivering birds beneath the eavesHave sheltered for the night. After the Winter l. 3-4 The pavement slabs burn loose beneath my feet,A chafing savage, down the decent street;And passion rends my vitals as I pass,Where boldly shines your shuttered door of glass. The White House, l. 5-8 Oh, I must keep my heart inviolateAgainst the potent poison of your hate. The White House, l. 13-14 If we must die, O let us nobly die,So that our precious blood may not be shedIn vain; then even the monsters we defyShall be constrained to honor us though dead! If We Must Die, l. 5-8 (1919) Although she feeds me bread of bitterness,And sinks into my throat her tiger’s tooth,Stealing my breath of life, I will confessI love this cultured hell that tests my youth! America, l. 1-4 The wine-flushed, bold-eyed boys, and even the girls,Devoured her with their eager, passionate gaze;But looking at her falsely-smiling face,I knew her self was not in that strange place. The Harlem Dancer, l. 11-14 Deep in the secret chambers of my heartI muse my life-long hate, and without flinchI bear it nobly as I live my part. The White City, l. 2-4 I have forgotten much, but still rememberThe poinsettia's red, blood-red in warm December. Flame-Heart, l. 9-10 Oh some I know! I have embalmed the days,Even the sacred moments when we played,All innocent of passion, uncorrupt,At noon and evening in the flame-heart’s shade. Flame-Heart, l. 26-29 Like men we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack,Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back! If We Must Die, l. 13-14 And, hungry for the old, familiar ways,I turned aside and bowed my head and wept. The Tropics in New York, l. 11-12 I know the dark delight of being strange,The penalty of difference in the crowd,The loneliness of wisdom among fools Complete Poems, University of Illinois Press, 2004, p. 348 External links Author:Claude McKay Category:Novelists from the United States Category:West Indian poets Category:Short story writers from the United States Category:Poets from Jamaica Category:LGBT people Category:Catholics from the United States Category:Communists from the United States Category:Marxists from the United States Category:1889 births Category:1948 deaths