When one thinks of poetry, what often comes to mind is a world of free thinking and individual expression. The work of African American poet Claude McKay tells a different story. McKay, in his poetry, talks about the struggles of being a black man in an oppressive 1920’s America. His use of the sonnet form is extremely interesting to me. The constrictions of the sonnet, coupled with the subject matter that fills his poems, are almost a comment to society. McKay seems to intentionally wall himself in with the poem as if to fit into a neat little box that society has set up for him. To them, he is not just a poet; he is a “black poet” and is pigeonholed by that label. McKay fights this label however by pushing against the boundaries set by the sonnet by filling his work with themes that would be less than pleasing to a white audience. While this can be seen in most of his work, it is also prevalent in his poems “America” and “The White City”.
“America” paints the picture of lady liberty sinking her teeth into McKay, letting the
Courtesy of Wake Forrest School of Law
troubles and obstacles he faces everyday poison his bloodstream (ll. 1-3). He yearns however to rebel against the hate which he encounters, to combat that which holds him down, to speak out and be heard in way like never before. There is a sense of fear in that though. His only action is to hope for better days to come (ll. 8-12). The poem “The White City”, while along the same train of thought, takes a slightly different approach the idea of feeling caged by America. This poem is somewhat of a rallying cry, a call to arms against the forces that oppress him. In lines six and seven McKay makes evident by saying “If this dark passion that fills my every mood/ and makes my heaven in the white world’s hell” (ll. 6-7). He is not letting the world he is trapped in keep him down. McKay is willing to fight for happiness in the world that he feels a stranger to. He is going to set up camp within the walls of hate filled land, and go to battle with constraints; whether they are societal or poetic in nature.
I think it is very interesting to point out that McKay may be fighting the sense of oppression he faces in society by trying to bring fourth his realities in the world of his poems. I do find it somewhat ironic that he uses the sonnet form to preform this sort of radical thinking, since it is notoriously tedious and strict in it’s rules. By utilizing the precise form of a standard Shakespearean sonnet, McKay may be paralleling the way he feels as a black poet in a white society: one faced with the challenge of existing within a predetermined world which urges him to fit neatly into “little boxes” as you say. I like the idea that McKay lives within the structure by adhering to the sonnet form, yet challenges the norms by filling that tidy structure with unconventional images and themes. I’ve got to admit, if McKay intentionally chose to challenge society and the way they “pigeonholed” him into a label by cleverly filling a neatly structured sonnet with socially radical ideas, he is kind of the man. So cheers to Claude McKay on this snow day.
I definitely think that McKay is very intentional in his use of the sonnet form to, in Connor’s words, “intentionally wall himself in with the poem as if to fit into a neat little box that society has set up for him.” Once he has this formal representation of the ways in which he is bound by a white-washed society set up, he can then militate against and meditate upon those bounds. Great conversation here!