Jack Lavey Due 2/7/12 W6 Poetry Essay: America

From Outcast to Insider Made popular by famous author and playwright William Shakespeare, the sonnet form and the poetic devices that accompany it have long been ways of expressing ones inner emotions. The ability to harness these notions was realized by Harlem Renaissance poet Claude McKay. Born to an impoverished family on the island of Jamaica, McKay soon became mature enough to emigrate to the United States. During his early years in the nation he experienced great prejudice and hardship, yet soon found a career as an author, a tale of which he writes in many of his poems. In his sonnet America, Claude McKay uses poetic devices to show that even in Americas harsh environment, an immigrant may grow to become patriotic, and eventually find contentment within the nations grandeur. Throughout his sonnet, McKay uses poetic devices such as metaphors, tone, and sonnet form to detail one immigrants attitudes about their new life in the United States. At the beginning of the sonnet,

the speaker conveys that, ...she feeds me the bread of bitterness and sinks into my throat her tigers tooth...(Lines 1-2). Using phrases like bread of bitterness and tigers tooth, McKay fabricates strong metaphors to relate the speakers troubles such as hunger, poverty, and oppression to physically painful things. This comparison helps the reader better understand the speakers efforts to find a prosperous life in America by showing the degree of distress that person is feeling. Later on in the poem the speaker vibrantly exclaims, Her vigor flows like tides into my blood giving me strength erect against her hate. (Lines 5-6) By implementing words such as vigor, McKay establishes a highly patriotic tone. This allows us to see that the speakers opinion has changed from loathing to admiration of the nation. As the poem concludes the speaker forebodingly whispers, Darkly I gaze into the days ahead and see her might and granite wonders there. (Lines 11-12) In a sonnet, the last quatrain details the but statement of the poem. This particular poems but statement is that bad things may be in store for America, but she will prevail. McKay has realized that fact and has used sonnet form to his advantage to show it. Claude McKays ability to wield poetic devices stands true

in the context of his sonnet America. Claude McKay employs poetic devices such as metaphors, tone, and sonnet form to exemplify the struggles and triumphs of a person who has recently immigrated to America. In the poem, the speaker experiences extreme disdain upon arrival in their new home country, yet eventually finds a sense of patriotism within the nations magnificence. McKay has composed this work using experiences of his own life, such as immigrating to America at an early age. He found strength and worth while becoming acclimated to this new environment. This mindset of perseverance through strife is a fine example of how one should behave when placed in a difficult situation.

Citations: Redding, Saunders. "McKay, Claude (1890-1948)." Encyclopedia of World

Biography. Ed. Suzanne M. Bourgoin. 2nd ed. Detroit: Gale Research, 1998. 17 vols.Discovering Collection. Gale. Ladue School District. 6 Feb. 2012<http://find.galegroup.com/srcx/infomark.do?&source=gale&srcprod=DISC&userG roupName=moreladue3&prodId=DC&tabID=T001&docId=EK1631004425&type=retrie ve&contentSet=GBRC&version=1.0>.