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"Mackey" by James L. Allen is in the public domain.
If We Must Die by Claude McKay is in the public domain.
If We Must Die
By Claude McKay
1919
Claude McKay (1889-1948) was a Jamaican-American writer and poet who was a seminal figure during the
Harlem Renaissance. McKay dedicated his life to fighting for the rights of oppressed people through his
writing, and “If We Must Die” reflects McKay’s perspective on the black experience in America during the
early 20th century. As you read, pay attention to how McKay’s use of aural and figurative language conveys
his themes.
If we must die, let it not be like hogs
Hunted and penned in an inglorious1spot,
While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,
Making their mock at our accursèd lot.
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 constrained2to honor us though dead!
O kinsmen!3we 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?
Like men we'll face the murderous, cowardly
pack,
Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!
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[5]
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1. Inglorious (adjective): causing shame, loss of honor
2. Constrain (verb): to compel or force someone to do something
3. refers to men who or of blood relation to the speaker or a part of the group of people fighting
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