Saturday, August 30, 2014

If We Must Die...

 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 in vain; then even the monsters we defy/ Shall be constrained to honor us though dead! Oh, Kinsmen! We must meet the common foe/ Though far outnumbered, let us show us brave/ And for their thousand blows deal one deathblow! What though before us lies the open grave? Like men we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack/ Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!
* Claude McKay was born in Jamaica, on September 15, 1889. He was a pivotal voice in the Harlem Renaissance. 
-

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

CREATURES OF A LESSER LOVE

Gods who think like mortals Indulge their passions In ruthless pursuit of their desires Expressing their whim With the split-second fiercene...

  • WITNESS
     …And I awoke in the arena of my intrigue To witness the dark tales of my surreal anticipation… A lion embracing a bear And littering realit...
  • BEYOND THE NOT SO INDELIBLE IMPRESSIONS OF OUR DOGMA
      The Challenges of Being and Becoming The tension between who we are and who we must become in order to realize our fullest human potential...
  • Forbidden Fruit
      Enters horned desire with bowing grace But scant regard for the thorned trunk That it must climb To touch and taste And pluck from its pla...