Claude McKay's "America" is a sonnet first published in 1921, early in the arts and literary movement that became known as the Harlem Renaissance. It expresses the Jamaican-born McKay's ambivalent feelings about the United States (his adopted country), acknowledging the nation's vitality while criticizing its racism and violence. At the end of the poem, the speaker prophetically looks ahead to a time when this seemingly invincible country will fall to ruin.
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The Full Text of “America”
1Although she feeds me bread of bitterness,
2And sinks into my throat her tiger’s tooth,
3Stealing my breath of life, I will confess
4I love this cultured hell that tests my youth.
5Her vigor flows like tides into my blood,
6Giving me strength erect against her hate,
7Her bigness sweeps my being like a flood.
8Yet, as a rebel fronts a king in state,
9I stand within her walls with not a shred
10Of terror, malice, not a word of jeer.
11Darkly I gaze into the days ahead,
12And see her might and granite wonders there,
13Beneath the touch of Time’s unerring hand,
14Like priceless treasures sinking in the sand.
The Full Text of “America”
1Although she feeds me bread of bitterness,
2And sinks into my throat her tiger’s tooth,
3Stealing my breath of life, I will confess
4I love this cultured hell that tests my youth.
5Her vigor flows like tides into my blood,
6Giving me strength erect against her hate,
7Her bigness sweeps my being like a flood.
8Yet, as a rebel fronts a king in state,
9I stand within her walls with not a shred
10Of terror, malice, not a word of jeer.
11Darkly I gaze into the days ahead,
12And see her might and granite wonders there,
13Beneath the touch of Time’s unerring hand,
14Like priceless treasures sinking in the sand.
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“America” Summary
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“America” Themes
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American Bitterness and Love
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National vs. Individual Power
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “America”
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Lines 1-3
Although she feeds me bread of bitterness,
And sinks into my throat her tiger’s tooth,
Stealing my breath of life, -
Lines 3-4
I will confess
I love this cultured hell that tests my youth. -
Lines 5-7
Her vigor flows like tides into my blood,
Giving me strength erect against her hate,
Her bigness sweeps my being like a flood. -
Lines 8-10
Yet, as a rebel fronts a king in state,
I stand within her walls with not a shred
Of terror, malice, not a word of jeer. -
Line 11
Darkly I gaze into the days ahead,
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Lines 12-14
And see her might and granite wonders there,
Beneath the touch of Time’s unerring hand,
Like priceless treasures sinking in the sand.
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“America” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Personification
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Metaphor
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Simile
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Alliteration
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Assonance
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Consonance
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Irony
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Allusion
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“America” Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- Cultured
- Vigor
- Erect
- Fronts
- Jeer
- Darkly
- Unerring
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- See where this vocabulary word appears in the poem.
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “America”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“America” Speaker
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“America” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “America”
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More “America” Resources
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External Resources
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Biography of Claude McKay — Read a biography of Claude McKay at the Poetry Foundation.
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More Context on McKay — Read more about Claude McKay's life and work at the Encyclopedia Britannica.
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Introduction to the Harlem Renaissance — Read a brief guide to McKay and other writers of the Harlem Renaissance at the Academy of American Poets.
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The Poem Aloud — Listen to Tubyez Cropper of the Beinecke Library read the poem aloud.
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The Harlem Renaissance on Video — Watch a brief video introduction to the Harlem Renaissance and the 1920s cultural context in which McKay wrote "America."
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LitCharts on Other Poems by Claude McKay
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