A Contradiction of Form and Feeling

Claude Mckay’s “America” follows almost every rule of the traditional English sonnet perfectly. It contains three quatrains with a couplet that follow the proper rhyme scheme (ababcdcdefefgg). Also, the poem is written in perfect iambic pentameter. However, upon looking at the poem closely, one can find that there are several differences defying traditional form.

I immediately noticed that the “concluding couplet” provided no real resolution at all. The poem as a whole is describing the speaker’s feelings toward America as both love and hate. As an African American surviving the Harlem Renaissance, America feeds the speaker “bread of bitterness” and “sinks into” his “throat her tiger’s tooth”. However, America also provides the speaker with “vigor” and gives “strength against her hate”. Though the speaker is being oppressed on all sides by America’s racism, even stealing his “breath of life”, he is still strengthened by America’s fast-paced energy and “bigness”. Perhaps the poem is accurately describing the life of an African American citizen in the 1920’s. Many most likely experienced contradicting feelings of love and pride in their country, but hate in their constant oppression. The final couplet ends as, “Beneath the touch of Time’s unerring hand / Like priceless treasures sinking in the sand”. This is a prophetic vision of America’s future rise and decline. It does not clearly conclude or provide resolutions to the speaker’s troubles. Also, the first line of the couplet is merely a continuation of the above lines. It could not be a statement by itself.

Another defiance of traditional form is found in the major turning point of the poem. It occurs in the last line of the second quatrain. It is easy to see that though Mckay’s quatrains may be connected by rhyme scheme, his ideas are somewhat strewn throughout the poem. The first quatrain discusses the speaker’s hate of America, and the first three lines of the second quatrain voices the speaker’s love for America. The fourth line of the second quatrain begins an entirely new subject of protest. The speaker compares himself to a “rebel” who “fronts a king in state”. The speaker is “with not a shred/ Of terror” to stand up for his rights. This only seems to further contradict the feelings of the speaker.

I believe the poem’s defiance of traditional sonnet form and contradicting tones are used purposely to express the feelings of African Americans during a time of both freedom and oppression. Mckay’s consistent use of personification and successive similes and metaphors contribute to both the beauty and ugliness associated with the time. Overall, I think Mckay’s “America” is a beautifully written poem of imagery that captures the confused feelings of the speaker perfectly.