Poem Analysis: McKay’s If We Must Die

Answer

Poem Analysis: McKay’s If We Must Die

If We Must Die, a poem by Claude McKay, encourages black people in Jamaica to be brave even if they will not succeed in the quest for equality in the country. Notably, McKay was born on September 15, 1889, in Clarendon, Jamaica (Cooper 3). Educated by his elder brother, McKay took advantage of the library of English and novels as well as poetry and scientific text possessed by his brother to start the publication of books and poems. His first book in 1912 titled Songs of Jamaica (Gardner) served to document his impression about black life in Jamaica, especially in dialect. However, he travelled to the United States in the same year to study at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. After a few months, he moved to Kansas State University and studied agriculture (Cooper 4). Five years later in 1917, McKay published sonnets such as The Harlem Dancer and Invocation. On May 22 1948, McKay died. One of his greatest works is If We Must Die. In this poem, McKay uses structure, similes, alliteration, and repetition to create tone and rhythm and evoke emotions on the readers especially on the back people in Jamaica as to why they should sustain their struggles despite the odds against them.

McKay structures the poem in such a manner that some of the phrases are repeated to emphasize his main point. In specific, the phrase “if we must die” has been stated in the first line of the poem and the fifth line (McKay 1). The aim of the use of such repetition in the structure of the poem is to emphasize the idea of death, especially for the black people in Jamaica. McKay intends to create rhythm in the poem and also the feeling of the people that death might be inevitable. Such a phrase prepares the readers and gives them a real understanding of how death is a common occurrence especially if the blacks are to liberate themselves in Jamaica. The various events in the poem have been arranged sequentially in the poem structure. In specific, McKay starts by warning the readers that it might be the case that they must die. However, he proceeds to urge them they must die nobly (McKay 5). Additionally, in the middle of the poem, the poet warns people that they might be outnumbered but they out to show braveness. In the end, he calls upon people to fight back irrespective of whether they are pressed to the wall (McKay 14). The use of such a structure ensured that the main points and emphasized and the events are arranged sequentially.

The poet uses imagery in the form of simile to arouse the five senses in the poem and bring visual representation. Notably, whereas a simile makes a comparison with words such as “like” and “as,” metaphors are used to show the similarity of two things which are in no way similar, Mckay deploys simile in the first line where he tells fellow black Jamaicans “If we must die—let it not be like hogs” (McKay 1). In this case, he brings forth how a hog dies and warns the readers that they must not experience the same death but rather should be brave and courageous even in the face of adversity. Additionally, McKay compares the efforts of the courage and brave people to those of men. In specific, he states “Like men, we’ll face the murderous” (McKay 13). McKay compares how the liberators should confront the murderers as men which implies that men are not cowards. The aim of using similes in the poem was to liken some of the actions and events and provide a comparison and hence clearly make the audience differentiate between aspects. Moreover, the use of simile creates certain imagery in the minds of the readers especially when they make comparisons between the two elements stated in the poem.

McKay deploys alliteration in the poem to create rhythm and mood which makes the poem interesting and captivating to read for the audience. Notably, alliteration refers to the repetition of sounds, especially consonants, and words near each other. For instance, McKay uses the words “blood” and “shed” in the same line which created a specific rhythm and change the tone especially when the readers understand that the two words which combine to imply bloodshed (McKay 6). The “d” sound at the end of each of the two words is meant to create a rhythm and tone when the readers continue to engage with the poem. Additionally, the words “blow” and “deathblow” are used to create the “o” sound and create a particular rhythm in the poem (McKay 11). Moreover, the two instances where alliteration has been used can also be said to be a rhyming word which McKay uses to create a rhythm. In specific, the use of rhyming words- which refers to two or more words having the same or similar ending sound, creates rhythm. For instance. The end words in the first and third lines end with “ogs” which creates a tome in the poem (McKay 1). Similarly, lines six and eight ends with “ed” sounds which are a demonstration of the various efforts by McKay to create rhythm and tone in the poem (McKay 6).

In conclusion, McKay used the poetic techniques of structure, simile, alliteration, and rhyming to create a specific tone and rhythm in the poem and make it attractive to the readers. In particular, the structure uses repetition of words to emphasize specific aspects of the poem. The repetition of the word “die” is meant to emphasize the word in the poem. Additionally, McKay uses similes by comparing aspects in the poem via the use of “like.” A perfect example is in the first paragraph where he warns people not to die like dogs. Moreover, alliteration has been used with similar sounds being used in different lines of the poem to create a good tone and rhythm and make the poem interesting to read by the audience. Lastly, the poet has rhymed some of the words at the end of the different lines which creates a specific structure in the poem. For instance, in the first and third lines, the end sounds of the words are similar which gives the poem an extra excitement. The use of the different poetic techniques serves to heighten the mood of the readers and hence make the poem interesting to read.