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 eaves Have 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 inviolate Against 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 shed In vain; then even the monsters we defy Shall 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 confess I 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 heart I muse my life-long hate, and without flinch I bear it nobly as I live my part.
 * The White City, l. 2-4


 * I have forgotten much, but still remember The 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