Claude+Mckay

Claude McKay By Jason Tey Biography At the age of 4, McKay started basic school at a church he attended. When he was seven years old, he was sent to live with his brother, whose occupation is a teacher, hoping that he would receive the best education. McKay then became an avid reader of classical and British literature, and he started to write peotry at the age of 10.

In 1907, a man named Walter Jekyll became McKay's mentor. Jekyll convinced him to write in his native dialect. After that, Songs of Jamaica was his first book of poems to be published with the help from his mentor in 1912.

During the Harlem Renaissance, McKay was considered to be one of the major poets. Some of his famous poems during that time period include If We Must Die, Outcast, and Harlem Shadows. He also wrote lyrics reminiscent of his Jamaican homeland. It was his pride in his culture and racial awareness that helped stimulate expression in the African American literacy.

Poem **Outcast**

For the dim regions whence my fathers came My spirit, bondaged by the body, longs. Words felt, but never heard, my lips would frame; My soul would sing forgotten jungle songs. I would go back to darkness and to peace, But the great western world holds me in fee, And I may never hope for full release While to its alien gods I bend my knee. Something in me is lost, forever lost, Some vital thing has gone out of my heart, And I must walk the way of life a ghost Among the sons of earth, a thing apart; For I was born, far from my native clime, Under the white man's menace, out of time.

Poem Analysis

My initial reaction after I finished reading it for the first time is that I thought of the person as being held or forced to do something. This would surely take me back to the period of slavery. There are some symbolism used in this poem; for example, darkness and forgotten jungle songs. I wondered that why is it darkness but not light; therefore, in this case darkness could symbolize death, the soul is set free and will forever in peace. Secondly, the phrase forgotten jungle songs could mean that the person is using it to remember his homeland. The tone behind this poem could include sadness. The speaker could also be the poet himself or other African Americans. Finally, this theme of this poem would simply be just slavery. “The great western world holds me in fee”, “to its alien gods I bend my knee”, these lines would probably give out some hints. African Americans were deported to the United States and sold as slaves, so to them, the people there are considered to be unfamiliar to them, and that could replaced the word “alien”. Reference
 * "Claude McKay Information, Claude McKay Reference Articles - CanadaSpace Reference." //Canadian Online Encyclopedia - Information Articles & Reference Resources - CanadaSpace Reference//. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2011. [].
 * "Outcast by Claude McKay." //PoemHunter.Com - Thousands of poems and poets.. Poetry Search Engine//. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2011. []