Poem-A-Day: America by Claude McKay

October 13, 2013 America by Claude McKay     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!  Her vigor flows like tides into my blood,  Giving me strength erect against her hate.  Her bigness sweeps my being like a flood.  Yet as a rebel fronts a king in state,  I stand within her walls with not a shred  Of terror, malice, not a word of jeer.  Darkly I gaze into the days ahead,  And see her might and granite wonders there,  Beneath the touch of Time's unerring hand,  Like priceless treasures sinking in the sand.          Today's poem is in the public domain.  About This Poem Claude McKay used the sonnet form in a number of his poems, often writing about social and political concerns from his perspective as a black man in the United States. McKay also wrote about a wide range of subjects, from his Jamaican homeland to romantic love.  Poetry by McKay Complete Poems: Claude McKay (University of Illinois Press, 2004)   Poem-A-Day Launched during National Poetry Month in 2006, Poem-A-Day features new and previously unpublished poems by contemporary poets on weekdays and classic poems on weekends. Browse the Poem-A-Day Archive.     Claude McKay was born in Jamaica, West Indies, in 1889. At the age of twenty, McKay published a book of verse called Songs of Jamaica, recording his impressions of black life in Jamaica in dialect. In 1912, he travelled to the United States to attend Tuskegee Institute. After a few months, he left Tuskegee to study agriculture at Kansas State University. McKay's viewpoints and poetic achievements set the tone for the Harlem Renaissance and gained the deep respect of younger black poets of the time. He died in 1948.   Related Poems I am the People, the Mob by Carl Sandburg Handshake Histories by Jeff Hoffman The Blank of America by Terese Svoboda  __________________________ Love reading Poem-A-Day? Help support it today.     Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org.

Forward this email This email was sent to prentice654.allsms@blogger.com by poetnews@poets.org |   Update Profile/Email Address | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | Privacy Policy. Academy of American Poets | 75 Maiden Lane | Suite 901 | New York | NY | 10038