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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! O kinsmen! we must meet the common foe! Though far outnumbered let us show us brave, And for their thousand blows deal one death-blow! What though before us lies the open grave?
- Constrained to Honor: A Discussion of Claude McKay's "If We Must Die"
So today, we're here, the four of us, to talk about a super...
- On Claude McKay’s “If We Must Die” - Poetry Foundation
Grappling with death and white supremacist assaults on Black...
- Constrained to Honor: A Discussion of Claude McKay's "If We Must Die"
A Shakespearean sonnet that calls for oppressed people to fight bravely against their oppressors, even if they die. Learn about the poem's themes, symbols, poetic devices, context, and more from LitCharts.
- Summary
- Structure
- Poetic Techniques
- Analysis of If We Must Die
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The poem begins with the speaker addressing his “kinsmen,” telling them they need to avoid the fate of hogs. They do not want to spend the rest of their short lives in a pen, waiting to be slaughtered at any moment. This metaphoris a complex one, but it alludes to oppression, control, and injustice. The speaker is seeking out a way to fight back ag...
‘If We Must Die’ by Claude McKay is a fourteen-line Shakespearean sonnet that is structured in the form which has come to be synonymous with the poet’s name. It made up of three quatrains, or sets of four lines, and one concluding couplet or set of two rhyming lines. The poem follows a consistent rhyme scheme that conforms to the pattern of ABAB CD...
McKay makes use of several poetic techniques in ‘If We Must Die’. These include alliteration, enjambment, metaphor, and repetition. The latter, repetition, is the use and reuse of a specific technique, word, tone, or phrase within a poem. It can be seen in phrases likes “If we must die, O let us nobly die,” in which the word, and imagery around the...
Lines 1-4
In the first quatrain of ‘If We Must Die’ the speaker begins by telling the listeners, his kinsmen (aka, the Black community which McKay played an important role in) that they should not be “be like hogs”. The moodis rousing and inspirational. It is a call to action, encouraging the listeners, whoever they may be, to avoid cowardly actions and techniques of avoidance that might in the end only benefit their oppressors. The speaker does not want his listeners to be hunted and penned up inglori...
Lines 5-8
In the second quatrains, the speaker reuses the phrase “If we must die”. This time though, he adds that if they are going to die, he hopes they’ll die “nobly” with honor. They can’t accomplish this feat if they are trapped like hogs. “We” must stand up and fight back so that when “our” blood is on the ground it is not in vain. He hopes that through “our” efforts to be seen and heard, and respected. Then, that the monsters that killed, or want to kill, they feel as though they should “honor us...
Lines 9-14
The final section of the poem is six lines long. The speaker addresses his “kinsmen” clearly in the first line. He encourages them to stand up and meet their “common foe” together. It is through their numbers and unity that they are going to show their bravery ad determination. He hopes, that this will lead them to a victory as well. They’ll deal a “death-blow” to the foe that is oppression. They will, “Like men,” face the “murderous, cowardly pack” and face the “open grave”. These things are...
A poem that encourages the Black community to resist oppression and fight back with courage and honor. The poem uses a Shakespearean sonnet form, metaphor, repetition, and enjambment to convey its message.
- Female
- October 9, 1995
- Poetry Analyst And Editor
27 de jun. de 2023 · 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. In vain; then even the monsters we defy.
"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.
- English
- The Liberator
- Self-assertion under oppression
- Sonnet
If We Must Die Lyrics. 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...
