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"If We Must Die" is a poem by Jamaican-American writer Claude McKay (1890–1948) published in the July 1919 issue of The Liberator magazine. McKay wrote the poem in response to mob attacks by white Americans upon African-American communities during the Red Summer.
Claude McKay. 1889 –. 1948. If we must die—let it not be like hogs. Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot, While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs, Making their mock at our accursed lot. If we must die—oh, let us nobly die, So that our precious blood may not be shed.
Claude McKay. Summary & Analysis. Claude McKay had been living in the United States for seven years when he wrote “If We Must Die.” The year was 1919, and as he himself has indicated, he wrote the poem in response to the brutal anti-Black violence that took place throughout America that summer—what became known as the “Red Summer” of 1919 .
If we must die, O let us nobly die, So that our precious blood may not be shed. In vain; then even the monsters we defy. Shall be constrained to honor us though dead! If death is to be the fate of Black Americans, McKay continues, then their deaths should be noble and dignified.
If We Must Die. Claude McKay. Track 82 on Emily Dickinson. A Shakespearean sonnet and one of the signature poems of Harlem Renaissance poet Claude McKay. A-3 minute discussion of this poem:...
If We Must Die. If we must die, let it not be like hogs. Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot, While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs, Making their mock at our accursed lot. If we must die, O let us nobly die, So that our precious blood may not be shed. In vain; then even the monsters we defy.
Benjamin Mangelsdorf. | Certified Educator. Last Updated September 5, 2023. To begin an analysis of the rhetorical and stylistic choices in "If We Must Die" by Claude McKay, it's...
