"Enslaved" by Claude McKay

Enslaved

OH when I think of my long-suffering race,

For weary centuries despised, oppressed,

Enslaved and lynched, denied a human place

In the great life line of the Christian West;

And in the Black Land disinherited,

Robbed in the ancient country of its birth,

My heart grows sick with hate, becomes as lead,

For this my race that has no home on earth.

Then from the dark depths of my soul I cry

To the avenging angel to consume

The white man's world of wonders utterly:

Let it be swallowed up in earth's vast womb,

Or upward roll as sacrificial smoke

To liberate my people from its yoke!




-Claude McKay

           McKay's word choice leads to most of the imagery in the poem. Strong word choice influences the reader and often helps a picture form in the mind of what the poem is about. The words "long-suffering race" helps the audience see slaves working on the plantation, being beaten by watchers and their master. This poem reminds the audience of the pain that slaves and their brethren have felt over the course of many centuries. "From the dark depths of my soul I cry" harbors a lot of desperation and agony, and the speaker is clearly trying to have his race be heard and for them to no longer have to hide who they are. 
           McKay has a love of rhyming in his poetry, so Enslaved has a Shakespearean sonnet rhyming structure (ABAB CDCD EFEF GG). It makes the poem flow beautifully and makes it cohesive. The lines seem very connected within the poem because of rhyming. He also uses consonance in line 11 with "w" saying "white man's world of wonders." For me, it leaves the line sounding bitter but yet still marveling at the world the white man built and how it seems so vastly different from Harlem at the time. 
           The poet uses figurative language to shape the main points of Enslaved. In line 10 he alludes to the angel of death and destruction that kills the first born sons in Egypt in the Bible. He prays to God that the white man will be overthrown and decimated, leaving the black man to raise himself up. The allusion leaves a very impressive picture in the mind of anyone who is familiar enough with The Old Testament. It is a metaphor saying that white people are the oppressing Egyptians and the black people are the Israeli slaves. McKay says "My heart grows sick with hate, becomes as lead" which is a simile saying his heart has hardened and grown cold from all the discrimination and animosity toward his race. Many people's hearts turned to lead and became unfeeling to the world around them, and it shows that anyone can turn hateful if enough hate is shown to them.