In the poem “If We Must Die,” Claude McKay calls for racial pride against white oppression through his use of similes, metaphors, contradictions, and biblical allusions. Premium 12What though before us lies the open grave? This means dying with honour and meaning. LitCharts Teacher Editions. If we must die : A summary
If We Must Die study guide contains a biography of Claude McKay, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.
Charles Bailey
He was best known for the ballad ‘Waltzing Matilda’ and his book called ‘The Man from Snowy River and Other Verses’. At the beginning when I started reading the poem “If we must die” I spent a long time thinking what does this poem mean and then I had to read it a couple of times to understand every sense of each word. Race, Persecution, Racism 334 Words |
It means fighting back until the enemy must proclaim your valor even in your death. “If We Must Die” is a Shakespearean sonnet written by the Jamaican poet Claude McKay in 1919.
Essay, 6 pages. Some African Americans expressed their feelings at that time through poetry such as “Yet Do I Marvel” written by Countee Cullen and “If We Must Die” by Claude McKay.
In the rhetoric and logic of the poem, then, humanity—and its values of honor, glory, and worth—is ineluctably tied up with masculinity, and as the critic Marcellus Blount states, "whatever the position of women, for McKay this is a battle between men.". Simile, Rhetorical techniques, Harlem Renaissance 1502 Words | In "If We Must Die," the turn comes at line 9, where the speaker calls his kinsmen to action: "O kinsmen! This work of literature teaches the reader that if a group of people can come together as one they can be more powerful then a greater population. 3While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs, 6So that our precious blood may not be shed. Strikingly, and rather unusually for McKay, "If We Must Die" refuses the "I" of the modern lyric poem in favor of the plural pronouns "we," "us," and "our." Metaphors And Tone If We Must Die. McKay constructs the poem as the speaker's address to his allies, and the many first person plural pronouns (us, we, our) create a sense of fellowship between the speaker and his allies. The poet Melvin B. Tolson described the poem's theme as "ignobleness versus nobleness in man's tragedy," highlighting the imbrication of ideals of nobility and masculinity and invoking a classical sense of "tragedy." Rate this post Poet Maya Angelo aptly stated, “I am convinced that most people do not grow up… We carry accumulation of years in our bodies, and on our faces, but generally our real selves, the children inside, are innocent and shy as magnolias. During this summer, there was a rise in hate crime, race riots, and overall violence towards the black community. What does “pressed to the wall ,dying but fighting back “ mean. Through the use of symbolism, dialect, tone, and theme, the two literary inscriptions become one. Unlike many other works in the Harlem Renaissance that followed, "If We Must Die" encourages violent resistance, and the poem's powerful case for resistance has no doubt contributed to its broad and longstanding appeal.
— Listen to the poem read by the poet himself. Strikingly, and rather unusually for McKay, "If We Must Die" refuses the "I" of the modern lyric poem in favor of the plural pronouns "we," "us," and "our." True to the Shakespearean sonnet form, where the resolution comes in the sonnet's final couplet, the climax of the poem comes in its last two lines, where the speaker claims that he and his allies will face their enemy. Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot, So that our precious blood may not be shed Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/a-lesson-before-dying-if-we-must-die-by-claude-mckay-essay, This is just a sample. What does “pressed to the wall ,dying but fighting back “ mean. McKay's poem, If We Must Die, is a poem about racial inequality and persecution with a very angry tone.
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