America Claude Mckay

America: A Poem by Claude Mckay

Claude McKay was a Jamaican poet who contributed to the Harlem Renaissance. Born in Sunny Ville, Clarendon Parish, Jamaica, in 1889, McKay was raised by parents of Ashanti and Malagasy descent.

McKay published his first book of poetry, titled Songs of Jamaica, in 2012. It was written in the Jamaican dialect. That same year, he attended the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, USA, and later Kansas State University, where he studied for two years. After completing his studies, McKay continued to write and publish poetry that expressed various social and political experiences from his perspective as a black man.

Claude McKay is one of the main names from the Harlem Renaissance.

America by Claude McKay: Analysis

Now that we've covered Claude McKay's background, it's time to analyse his 1921 poem, 'America'. We will consider both structural and linguistic features of the poem, from McKay's choice of meter to the poem's major themes.

Full poem

Read the full poem:

Title

The poem's title, 'America', directly refers to the nation of America, highlighting it as the poem's focus. The noun 'America' is not complemented by an adjective, causing the poem's title to come across as neutral. This allows the reader to be informed of the narrator's conflicted perception of America through the contents of the poem itself.

Form and structure

The poem 'America' is written in a sonnet form. This form and structure give the poem a regular structure, creating a considerate and thoughtful tone.

'America' is a Shakespearean sonnet, which is a sonnet form consisting of fourteen lines, usually in a single stanza, and written in iambic pentameter. The fourteen lines of a Shakespearean sonnet are typically divided into three quatrains (four lines) and a couplet, following an ABABCDCDEFEFGG rhyme scheme.

In the eighth line of the poem, there is a turning point, also known as a volta, causing the poem to change direction. In the first eight lines of the poem, the narrator focuses on America, which is personified as 'she'. In the final six lines of the poem, the narrator focuses on their presence in America; 'I stand within her walls'. This partially divides the poem into an octave and a sestet, although not in the traditional way we see in Petrarchan sonnets.

America by Claude McKay: Literary Devices

McKay employs various poetic devices, such as enjambment and alliteration, to influence the rhythm and tone in which the poem is read. In addition to these structural features of the poem that contribute to how we, the reader, interpret the poem, McKay uses literary devices such as personification and oxymoron to portray America and his perception of the nation.

Enjambment

Enjambment is used only twice within the poem, causing it to have a notable effect on the poem's rhythm. As the poem is written in iambic pentameter, McKay's use of enjambment creates unnatural pauses, for instance:

Here, the enjambment causes the narrator to pause as they describe how they exist within America without 'terror' or 'malice'. The pause emphasises that the narrator does not resent or fear America despite its cruelty. A tone of consideration is created from this pause, as though the narrator is trying to be honest and open and is, therefore, taking their time with what they say.

Alliteration

McKay utilises alliteration to add a harsh note to the poem's pensive tone, suggesting a level of resentment expressed by the narrator. For instance, in the first stanza, McKay writes:

Here, the plosive 'b' sound creates a harsh and blunt sound, contributing to the resentment suggested by 'bitterness'.

Personification

Throughout the poem, America is personified. By giving the nation human attributes, McKay highlights how the majority of the issues he associates with the nation are related to the people who govern and live within it, rather than the nation as merely a mass of land. For instance, in the second and third stanzas, McKay writes:

By referring to America as 'her', the speaker personifies the nation.

Oxymoron

McKay utilises an oxymoron in the poem to demonstrate the narrator's conflicting stance on America. The most prominent use of an oxymoron is in the poem's fourth stanza, where McKay writes:

The contrast between the positive connotations of 'cultured' and negative connotations of 'hell' in the description of America indicates that, even though McKay views America as an overall negative place, he acknowledges that it has some benefits. This idea is carried through to McKay's use of another oxymoron in the poem's final line:

America by Claude McKay: Imagery and Tone

The poetic and literary devices we have reviewed contribute to the overall imagery and tone of 'America'.

Imagery

There are two dominant semantic fields within the poem that conflict with each other, cruelty and grandeur. These two juxtaposing semantic fields emphasise the vast and simultaneously cruel and grand nature of America.

Cruelty

McKay utilises a semantic field of cruelty throughout 'America' to present the country in a dark and dangerous way. This is evident through McKay's linguistic choices; 'bitterness', 'hell', 'terror', 'malice', and 'sinking'. Such language evokes negative imagery of a harsh and unfair landscape, indicating to the reader that America is not necessarily a kind or welcoming place. This is particularly evident in the second line, where America is metaphorically portrayed as a tiger;

Grandeur

The poem's semantic field of cruelty is juxtaposed by a semantic field of grandeur, suggesting that the narrator has conflicting views of America. Once again, McKay uses language to evoke a certain image in the reader's mind, this time a positive one, with the words ' vigor', 'strength', 'bigness', 'granite wonders', 'priceless treasures'. Here, America comes across as a land that is larger than life, which the narrator admires.

Tone

The poem has a pensive tone, as the narrator considers the nation of America for both its positive and negative aspects and tries to work out what sort of future the nation may hold.

This tone is mainly created through the poem's structure. It is written in iambic pentameter with a regular rhyme scheme, creating a controlled rhythm. This controlled rhythm suggests that the narrator has carefully considered what they are saying rather than speaking without thought.

The tone is also developed through the poem's juxtaposing semantic fields of cruelty and grandeur. These two opposing images contribute to the idea that the narrator is considering what their opinion is on America, weighing up the good and bad.

America by Claude McKay: Themes

As hinted at by the poem's title, 'America' presents the nation of America and McKay's perception of it to the reader. The most significant theme within the poem is conflict. However, this theme relies on the underlying theme of history.

Conflict

The central theme of 'America' is conflict, both in regard to the conflicted nature of America as a nation and the narrator's conflicting perceptions of the nation. This theme is encapsulated by lines three and four of the poem:

Although McKay acknowledges that America is 'hell', he also states that he loves the nation. This suggests that, despite being critical of America's flaws, McKay can not help how he feels, leaving him conflicted. This conflict is emphasised by the enjambment between the lines, creating a slight break in the rhythm as McKay confesses how he feels about America. This break could demonstrate how McKay is conflicted about his feelings as he struggles to say them outright.

History

History is an underlying theme throughout the poem. In 'America', McKay documents the political and social tensions of a moment in time in America, making the poem itself a piece of history. This theme is most evident in the final two lines of the poem:

This couplet is arguably an allusion to Percy Shelley's sonnet 'Ozymandias' (1818), which presents the decline of the Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses II, known as Ozymandias by the Greeks. Shelley's poem concludes with the lines:

Through alluding to Shelley's poem, which references the historic fall and decay of a ruler, McKay is suggesting that America, which is 'beneath the touch of Time's unerring hand', may meet the same fate. The personification of time emphasises the historical nature of this suggestion and suggests that America can not control the hand of time as it is inevitable and 'unerring'.

The imagery of 'priceless treasures sinking' also indicates that if America remains marked by the social and political issues of racism and xenophobia which influenced McKay's writing, then it will meet the fate of many other unequal societies present throughout history.