Selected Poems of Claude McKay

Selected Poems of Claude McKay PDF Author: Claude McKay
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Black people
Languages : en
Pages : 120

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Book Description

Selected Poems of Claude McKay

Selected Poems of Claude McKay PDF Author: Claude McKay
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Black people
Languages : en
Pages : 120

Get Book Here

Book Description


Selected Poems

Selected Poems PDF Author: Claude McKay
Publisher: Courier Corporation
ISBN: 0486147649
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 67

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Book Description
New compilation of verse by an important Jamaican-American poet. Dialect verse, standard English poems from Harlem Shadows, uncollected works, more. Edited and with an introduction by Joan R. Sherman.

Harlem Shadows

Harlem Shadows PDF Author: Claude McKay
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : African Americans
Languages : en
Pages : 134

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Book Description


Songs of Jamaica

Songs of Jamaica PDF Author: Claude McKay
Publisher: Graphic Arts Books
ISBN: 1513224050
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 93

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Book Description
Songs of Jamaica (1912) is a poetry collection by Claude McKay. Published before the poet left Jamaica for the United States, Songs of Jamaica is a pioneering collection of verse written in Jamaican Patois, the first of its kind. As a committed leftist, McKay was a keen observer of the Black experience in the Caribbean, the American South, and later in New York, where he gained a reputation during the Harlem Renaissance for celebrating the resilience and cultural achievement of the African American community while lamenting the poverty and violence they faced every day. “Quashie to Buccra,” the opening poem, frames this schism in terms of labor, as one class labors to fulfill the desires of another: “You tas’e petater an’ you say it sweet, / But you no know how hard we wuk fe it; / You want a basketful fe quattiewut, / ‘Cause you no know how ‘tiff de bush fe cut.” Addressing himself to a white audience, he exposes the schism inherent to colonial society between white and black, rich and poor. Advising his white reader to question their privileged consumption, dependent as it is on the subjugation of Jamaica’s black community, McKay warns that “hardship always melt away / Wheneber it comes roun’ to reapin’ day.” This revolutionary sentiment carries throughout Songs of Jamaica, finding an echo in the brilliant poem “Whe’ fe do?” Addressed to his own people, McKay offers hope for a brighter future to come: “We needn’ fold we han’ an’ cry, / Nor vex we heart wid groan and sigh; / De best we can do is fe try / To fight de despair drawin’ night: / Den we might conquer by an’ by— / Dat we might do.” With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Claude McKay’s Songs of Jamaica is a classic of Jamaican literature reimagined for modern readers.

Home To Harlem

Home To Harlem PDF Author: Claude McKay
Publisher: Aegitas
ISBN: 0369411420
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 164

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Book Description
Home to Harlem is a groundbreaking novel written by Claude McKay, a prominent figure of the Harlem Renaissance. Published in 1928, it is considered as one of the earliest works of the Harlem Renaissance movement, which sought to celebrate African American culture and identity through literature, art, and music. McKay's novel is a powerful and thought-provoking depiction of the lives of African Americans living in the urban city of Harlem during the 1920s. The novel follows the story of Jake Brown, a young black man who returns to Harlem after serving in World War I. Through Jake's eyes, McKay portrays the vibrant and complex world of Harlem, with its jazz clubs, speakeasies, and bustling streets. The city is a melting pot of different cultures, with people from all walks of life coexisting and struggling to survive in a society that is hostile towards them. One of the main themes of the novel is the search for identity and belonging. Jake, like many other African Americans, is torn between his rural Southern roots and the urban lifestyle of Harlem. He is constantly trying to find his place in a city that is both alluring and rejecting, facing the dilemma of whether to conform to societal expectations or embrace his true self. This struggle is further highlighted through the character of Ray, Jake's friend, who is trying to pass as white to gain acceptance and privilege in society. McKay's writing is raw and unapologetic, as he fearlessly addresses issues of race, class, and gender. He exposes the harsh realities of racism and discrimination faced by African Americans, both in the North and the South. The novel also delves into the complexities of relationships, particularly between men and women, and the impact of societal expectations on them. Moreover, Home to Harlem is a celebration of African American culture and traditions. McKay effortlessly weaves in elements of jazz, blues, and folklore into the narrative, giving readers a glimpse into the rich and vibrant culture of Harlem. He also highlights the resilience and strength of the African American community, who despite facing numerous challenges, continue to thrive and create their own spaces of freedom and joy. In addition to its literary significance, Home to Harlem is also a social commentary on the limitations and restrictions placed on African Americans during the 1920s. McKay's novel is a call for social and political change, urging readers to challenge the status quo and fight for equality and justice. Home to Harlem is a powerful and thought-provoking novel that provides a unique and authentic perspective on the African American experience during the Harlem Renaissance. It is a timeless classic that continues to inspire and educate readers about the struggles and triumphs of a community that fought for their place in American society.

Spring in New Hampshire and Other Poems

Spring in New Hampshire and Other Poems PDF Author: Claude McKay
Publisher: Graphic Arts Books
ISBN: 151322350X
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 41

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Book Description
Spring in New Hampshire and Other Poems (1920) is a poetry collection by Claude McKay. Published toward the beginning of the Harlem Renaissance, Spring in New Hampshire and Other Poems is the first of McKay’s collections to appear in the United States. As a committed leftist, McKay—who grew up in Jamaica—captures the life of African Americans from a realist’s point of view, lamenting their exposure to poverty, racism, and violence while celebrating their resilience and cultural achievement. Several years before T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land (1922) and William Carlos Williams’ Spring and All (1923), modernist poet Claude McKay troubles the traditional symbol of springtime to accommodate the hardships of an increasingly industrialized world. In “Spring in New Hampshire,” the poet gives voice to a desperate laborer, for whom the beauty and harmony of the season of rebirth are not only sickening, but altogether inaccessible: “Too green the springing April grass, / Too blue the silver-speckled sky, / For me to linger here, alas, / While happy winds go laughing by, / Wasting the golden hours indoors, / Washing windows and scrubbing floors.” A master of traditional forms, McKay brings his experience as a black man to bear on a poem otherwise dedicated to descriptions of natural beauty, challenging the very tradition his language and style invoke. In “The Lynching,” he calls on the reader to witness the brutality of American racism while exposing the complicity of those who would look without feeling: “[S]oon the mixed crowds came to view / The ghastly body swaying in the sun: / The women thronged to look, but never a one / Showed sorrow in her eyes of steely blue...” As children dance around the victim’s body, “lynchers that were to be,” McKay raises a terrible, timeless question: how long will such violence endure? With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Claude McKay’s Spring in New Hampshire and Other Poems is a classic of Jamaican literature reimagined for modern readers.

Romance in Marseille

Romance in Marseille PDF Author: Claude McKay
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0143134221
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 226

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Book Description
The pioneering novel of physical disability, transatlantic travel, and black international politics. A vital document of black modernism and one of the earliest overtly queer fictions in the African American tradition. Published for the first time. A Penguin Classic A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice/Staff Pick Vulture's Ten Best Books of 2020 pick Buried in the archive for almost ninety years, Claude McKay's Romance in Marseille traces the adventures of a rowdy troupe of dockworkers, prostitutes, and political organizers--collectively straight and queer, disabled and able-bodied, African, European, Caribbean, and American. Set largely in the culture-blending Vieux Port of Marseille at the height of the Jazz Age, the novel takes flight along with Lafala, an acutely disabled but abruptly wealthy West African sailor. While stowing away on a transatlantic freighter, Lafala is discovered and locked in a frigid closet. Badly frostbitten by the time the boat docks, the once-nimble dancer loses both of his lower legs, emerging from life-saving surgery as what he terms "an amputated man." Thanks to an improbably successful lawsuit against the shipping line, however, Lafala scores big in the litigious United States. Feeling flush after his legal payout, Lafala doubles back to Marseille and resumes his trans-African affair with Aslima, a Moroccan courtesan. With its scenes of black bodies fighting for pleasure and liberty even when stolen, shipped, and sold for parts, McKay's novel explores the heritage of slavery amid an unforgiving modern economy. This first-ever edition of Romance in Marseille includes an introduction by McKay scholars Gary Edward Holcomb and William J. Maxwell that places the novel within both the "stowaway era" of black cultural politics and McKay's challenging career as a star and skeptic of the Harlem Renaissance.

Selected Poems of Langston Hughes

Selected Poems of Langston Hughes PDF Author: Langston Hughes
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 067972818X
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 311

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Book Description
Langston Hughes electrified readers and launched a renaissance in Black writing in America—the poems in this collection were chosen by Hughes himself shortly before his death and represent stunning work from his entire career. The poems Hughes wrote celebrated the experience of invisible men and women: of slaves who "rushed the boots of Washington"; of musicians on Lenox Avenue; of the poor and the lovesick; of losers in "the raffle of night." They conveyed that experience in a voice that blended the spoken with the sung, that turned poetic lines into the phrases of jazz and blues, and that ripped through the curtain separating high from popular culture. They spanned the range from the lyric to the polemic, ringing out "wonder and pain and terror—and the marrow of the bone of life." The collection includes "The Negro Speaks of Rivers," "The Weary Blues," "Still Here," "Song for a Dark Girl," "Montage of a Dream Deferred," and "Refugee in America." It gives us a poet of extraordinary range, directness, and stylistic virtuosity.

A Fierce Hatred of Injustice

A Fierce Hatred of Injustice PDF Author: Winston James
Publisher: Verso
ISBN: 9781859847404
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 300

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Book Description
The first detailed consideration of McKay's formative years, the themes and politics of his early poetry, and his pioneering use of Jamaican creole.

A Long Way from Home

A Long Way from Home PDF Author: Claude McKay
Publisher: Prabhat Prakashan
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 292

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Book Description
Welcome to the world of Claude McKay's "A Long Way from Home," a poignant journey of self-discovery, identity, and belonging. Follow the protagonist, who embarks on a transformative journey from Jamaica to America, navigating the complexities of race, culture, and personal identity. Claude McKay's evocative prose captures the struggles and triumphs of the immigrant experience, offering readers a profound exploration of the human spirit. Throughout the novel, McKay weaves a tapestry of themes including discrimination, resilience, and the pursuit of the American Dream. His rich character development and vivid descriptions paint a vivid picture of the early 20th-century landscape, inviting readers to reflect on the challenges faced by those who seek a better life in a new land. "A Long Way from Home" resonates with its powerful depiction of the immigrant experience, capturing the hopes and aspirations of those who dare to dream beyond their circumstances. McKay's keen observations and lyrical prose offer readers a window into a world where courage and determination shape destinies. Since its publication, "A Long Way from Home" has received acclaim for its insightful portrayal of race relations and its timeless relevance. It remains a classic work of literature that continues to inspire and provoke thought, making it essential reading for those interested in exploring the complexities of cultural identity and social justice. Join us on this unforgettable journey through Claude McKay's "A Long Way from Home," where the quest for belonging and self-fulfillment takes center stage. Discover why this novel has captivated readers for generations and experience the enduring power of McKay's storytelling. Don't miss your chance to delve into this masterpiece of literature. Grab your copy of "A Long Way from Home" today and embark on a literary adventure that will challenge your perceptions and touch your heart.