Shamarlon+Yates

=="Poetry ... is ... a speaking picture, with this end: to teach and delight."- Sir Philip Sydney ==



=Artist Statement =

The theme of everyday life exists in three of my four poems. It was quite easy to find inspiration from the things that I used everyday, and the people I encounter. When I write about everyday life, it's like the lines are already in my head but I just have to write them down. I wrote my ode about ichat because it is something that I used everyday from when I wake up, until I go to bed. In my "raised by" poem, I wrote about my family and in my original poem, I talked about my masks and how they influence my life. These are things in my life and that influences my identity. For all three of my poems (except for my sonnet), I experimented with enjambments. This was something new for me because I had always written end-stopped lines but from reading multiple poems form Claude McKay, I noticed that enjambments make the poem more unique because of the "flow" it produces. Writing the sonnet was the most challenging part of this project because I did not understand iambic pentameter. I got some inspiration from reading some of Shakespeare’s famous sonnets and then used these as examples to write my own. The only specific structure that I had for all of my poems is that most of the lines rhymed. This is something that I am good a naturally and the rhymes added a layer of complexity. I did not follow any other particular structure because I wanted to free write so that I did not limit my creativity. When I started this unit, I did not like poetry. I am now more appreciative of poetry because I have found poets that I like and people like the poems that I wrote.

= Ode =


 * A Part of My Life, A Part of My Dock **

 Ichat, oh, ichat!  There has been so much negativity towards you  "I can't do my homework"  "I get distracted" Is all that they say  But I see you in a completely different way

 The fun that you bring to my life is invaluable  The video chats, the audio chats They are also so memorable.  Chatting with my friends and Meeting new people  There is so much to do, <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">A range of emotions

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> A pinch of laughter <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> A dash of comedy <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> A tad of sarcasm <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> A hint of joy and <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> A drop of relaxation

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> These all combine to put <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">A smile on my face <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> The ingredients of a happy life, <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> One that I love to embrace. <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Ichat, you are one awesome application <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> The sight of you on my dock <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Just brings jubilation <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> The experiences that you <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Have given me are precious <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> To brighten my day is your number one focus <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Ichat, oh, ichat!

=<span style="color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 150%; text-align: center;">Sonnet =


 * <span style="color: #800000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;"> A Lost Fantasy **

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Her face so bright with succulent laughter, <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Her long hair so radiant like the sun. <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Her charisma makes my heart beat faster, <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> A place in my soul she has surely won <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> She is too good for me, I am too poor, <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> At me she would look with such great disgrace. <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> A crude soul filled with nothing but bedsore <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> I can feel well with one look at her face <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Her existence just wash the pain away. <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Those ocean blue eyes throw me in a trance, <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> That flawless face I will caress some day <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Everyday I see you I take a glance, <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> I hope one day I tell you how I feel <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> My strong intense desires I will reveal. <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">

=<span style="color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 150%; text-align: center;">"Raised by" =


 * <span style="color: #800000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">The Brave Ones **

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">I was raised by <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Horse riding <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Long black hair <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Church going <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Dancing like a dying giraffe <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> "Please stop before you hurt yo' self" <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Kind of grandma.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Some pork eating <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Cooked or roasted <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Bike riding <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Flower growing <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Reptile loving <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> "Go, hold it! It don't bite" <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Sorta dad.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Some city loving <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Shopaholic <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Bug fearing <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Chicken loving <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Late night working <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> "I'll be home at 2" <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Type of mom.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Some cookie stealing <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Talk way too much <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Disney channel watching <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">"I can't wait to leave this house!" <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Don't do her homework <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> "I'm telling mom!" <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Kind of sister.

=<span style="color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 150%; text-align: center;">Original Poem =


 * <span style="color: #800000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">Me, Myself, My Mask and I **

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">My masks are an extension <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">of my being, <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Always present when I <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> need to hide the true me. <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> That was so awkward, I'm so sad with low self-esteem, <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> These traits are hidden under masks <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> filled with harmony. <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Why wear a mask? You might ask, <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">It is all about the way it makes you feel, <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">You want it to last. <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">A new character, <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">A new identity, <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">My mask protect me <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">from any heartache.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> I have millions of masks, <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> I can pick the right one. <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> One size does not fit all, <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> This is not a bandwagon <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> I pick the right one <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">for each person, <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> I pick the right one <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">for each place, <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> In every situation I can put on a new face. <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> If a mask does not fit <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> I just throw it out <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> It is like an addiction <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> I can't live without.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Every human wears a mask, <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Sometimes expressing yourself is too hard of a task. <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> You feel in command <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> You feel secure <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Are you comfortable? <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> I'm not so sure

= **<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">Claude McKay ** =



<span style="color: #800000; display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 150%; text-align: left;">Flame-Heart <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">So much have I forgotten in ten years, <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> So much in ten brief years! I have forgot <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> What time the purple apples come to juice, <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> And what month brings the shy forget-me-not. <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> I have forgot the special, startling season <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Of the pimento's flowering and fruiting; <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> What time of year the ground doves brown the fields <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> And fill the noonday with their curious fluting. <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> I have forgotten much, but still remember <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> The poinsettia's red, blood-red, in warm December.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> I still recall the honey-fever grass, <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> But cannot recollect the high days when <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> We rooted them out of the ping-wing path <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> To stop the mad bees in the rabbit pen. <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> I often try to think in what sweet month <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> The languid painted ladies used to dapple <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> The yellow by-road mazing from the main, <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Sweet with the golden threads of the rose-apple. <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> I have forgotten—strange—but quite remember <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> The poinsettia's red, blood-red, in warm December.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> What weeks, what months, what time of the mild year <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> We cheated school to have our fling at tops? <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> What days our wine-thrilled bodies pulsed with joy <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Feasting upon blackberries in the copse? <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Oh some I know! I have embalmed the days, <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Even the sacred moments when we played, <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> All innocent of passion, uncorrupt, <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> At noon and evening in the flame-heart's shade. <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> We were so happy, happy, I remember, <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Beneath the poinsettia's red in warm December.


 * <span style="color: #800000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">Close reading analysis: **

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">The poet's use of imagery and iambic pentameter creates a fast flowing poem that captures the reader's senses and allows them to enter the warm majestic world he's describing. McKay manages to open up his poem with a line that appeals to the reader's sense of curiosity. This first line also gives a general understanding about what the poem is about and what is to come in the later stanzas. McKay then moves from a broad idea to a more specific one, like he is writing an introduction for an essay. The use of specific nouns and adjectives offers the descriptive power that traps the reader in a beautiful utopian world with lavish sensory details appealing to all senses. The sense of smell is arrested by the fragrant and soothing smell of the "pimento's flowering and fruiting," while at the same time, the reader is invited to hear the "curious fluting" of the brown doves in the field. McKay also ends each stanza with the same line so there is a consistent thought ringing in the reader's head. "The poinsettia red, blood-red, in warm December" is arguably the most powerful imagery in the entire poem. The punctuation also brings out the emotions and meaning of this line because of the pauses. The ending of this poem is certainly ingenious. The first two stanzas and the first 4 lines of the third stanza express a more jubilant and celebratory tone. Almost like someone visiting and exotic country and then returning home to describe it to their friends and family in a passionate tone. The last six lines of the third stanza express a more wishful and sorrowful tone:

//<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Oh some I know! I have embalmed the days,  // //<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Even the sacred moments when we played,  // //<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> All innocent of passion, uncorrupt,  // //<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> At noon and evening in the flame-heart's shade. // //<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> We were so happy, happy, I remember,  // //<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Beneath the poinsettia's red, in warm December. //

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> McKay uses these lines to close his argument by stating how he "embalmed" his precious childhood days. In the other parts of the poem, he tells the reader what he had forgotten but in these lines, he specify how he felt about them. From the imagery and the specific nouns about nature, the reader knows that McKay is describing a particular part of the world. The interesting thing is that McKay only describes the place but does not mention a location or region. McKay essentially closes off the poem without entirely closing it off. The reader is left with this question: Which place is he describing? In this case, I will save you the trouble of finding out; he is describing his homeland of Jamaica.

<span style="color: #800000; display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 150%; text-align: left;">America <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Although she feeds me bread of bitterness, <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> And sinks into my throat her tiger's tooth, <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Stealing my breath of life, I will confess <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> I love this cultured hell that tests my youth!

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Her vigor flows like tides into my blood, <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Giving me strength erect against her hate. <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Her bigness sweeps my being like a flood. <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Yet as a rebel fronts a king in state,

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> I stand within her walls with not a shred <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Of terror, malice, not a word of jeer. <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Darkly I gaze into the days ahead, <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> And see her might and granite wonders there, <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Beneath the touch of Time's unerring hand, <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Like priceless treasures sinking in the sand.


 * <span style="color: #800000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">Close reading analysis: **

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">The poet's use of imagery, multiple literary devises, and iambic pentameter highlight the love/hate relationship that he has with America. One key aspect about this poem that a reader may not always comprehend from reading it is that this poem was influenced by the society that McKay was a part of. This poem was originally published in 1921, during the Harlem Renaissance and the Roaring Twenties where it was a time of great enthusiasm but also struggle. McKay opens up his poem by describing his negative and harsh perceptions of America by using a mixture of personification and metaphors to paint a unique picture for the reader. When McKay states "She feeds me bread of bitterness," the reader can get the perception that he depends on America for his survival, but he is battered and bruised form all the hardship and pain America has thrown on him. McKay then moves on to use a very graphic piece of imagery that states: "[America] sinks into my throat her tiger's tooth." This scene is so graphic that it evokes several emotions to the reader, and it forces them to see that America is literally sucking the life out of him, like a tiger does to their prey. The reader is then taken by surprise when McKay brings up the conflicting idea about him loving "…this cultured hell that tests my youth!" This is shocking because McKay was just visualizing the imagery with the tiger's tooth but now he is saying that he loves the place that is responsible for this affliction. In the second quatrain, McKay then shifts his focus to the more positive aspects about America. The positive aspects allows the reader to begin to draw conclusions into whether he loves America, hate it or both. Claude then moves on to end the poem by making a prediction about America in the following couplet:

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> //Beneath the touch of Time's unerring hand,// <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> //Like priceless treasures sinking in the sand.//

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> These lines make the prediction that in the future, America will begin to fade away and crumble like all great civilizations. This prediction describes a debatable idea that the reader might not agree with so the poem will resonate with him/her long after it is read. The tone of this poem shifts from morbid and resentful to jubilant and celebratory. This mix message intrigues the reader. McKay also uses personification and metaphors to bring the poem to life and help the reader to connect with the poem on an emotional level, especially if they live in America.

<span style="color: #800000; display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 150%; text-align: left;"> Harlem Shadows <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">I hear the halting footsteps of a lass <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">In Negro Harlem when the night lets fall <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">It's veil. I see the shapes of girls who pass <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">To bend and barter at desire's call. <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Ah, little dark girls who in slippered feet <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Grow prowling through the night from street to street!

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Through the long night until the silver break <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Of day the little gray feet know no rest; <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Through the lone night until the last snow-flake <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Has dropped from heaven upon the earth's white breast <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">The dusky half-clad girls of tired feet <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Are trudging, thinly shod, from street to street.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Ah, stern harsh world, that in the wretched way <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Of poverty, dishonor and disgrace, <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Has pushed the timid little feet of clay, <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">The sacred brown feet of my fallen race! <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Ah, heart of me, the weary, weary feet <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">In Harlem wandering from street to street.


 * <span style="color: #800000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">Close reading analysis: **

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">The poet's use of strong, descriptive nouns and multiple literary devices allows the reader to enter the underbelly of the Harlem nightlife as he describes prostitution in a lavish way. McKay uses the flow of the enjambments to distract the reader from prostitution, although it is the central idea in the poem. McKay starts of his poem by holding the reader captive in a separate world as he describes "the halting footsteps of a lass." McKay perceive that the reader can relate the "clop, clop, clop, clop" sound of a woman walking in high heels on a concrete sidewalk. McKay then moves on to describe the dark side of Harlem by comparing it to lifting a veil. By day, Harlem is a city that is bustling with life because of the Harlem Renaissance but at night, that veil of purity is lifted and the prostitutes come out to work. In the second stanza, McKay then explains to the reader how long the prostitutes work in these lines:

//<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Through the long night until the silver break // //<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Of day the little gray feet know no rest //

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">These lines show that although these women are prostitutes, they are still working as hard as someone with a regular job. This is just an example of how McKay chooses his lines carefully, so that the reader can relate his descriptions and ideas back to their life. McKay then concludes this poem by explaining how he feels about little black girls prostituting themselves. He uses a very sorrowful and remorseful tone so that he reader can the feel the disappointment and disgrace that the prostitutes bring to the black race. This is clearly seen in the line: "The sacred brown feet of my fallen race!"