Claude McKay was a very influential writer during the Harlem Renaissance. As a man from Jamaica, he offered a different view of the black people of his time. Claude McKay has published 2 sonnets, one of which is called The Harlem Dancer. This poem offers a beautiful look at a scene many people might describe as dirty. “The Harlem Dancer” Applauding youths laughed with young prostitutes And watched her perfect, half-clothed body sway; Her voice was like the sound of blended flutes Blown by black players upon a picnic day. She sang and danced on gracefully and calm, The light gauze hanging loose about her form; To me she seemed a proudly-swaying palm Grown lovelier for passing through a storm. Upon her swarthy neck black shiny curls Luxuriant fell; and tossing coins in praise, The wine-flushed, bold-eyed boys, and even the girls, Devoured her shape with eager, passionate gaze; But looking at her falsely-smiling face, I knew her self was not in that strange place. Let’s discuss this poem in order. First McKay gives readers a look at what is happening in this bar, AROUND the girl who is the focal point of the poem. “Applauding youths laughed with young prostitutes” I think that sets up quite nicely what readers might call a “dirty” scene. Young people and prostitutes laughing and watching a “perfect, half clothed body sway” is the very definition of a strip club of today. Now from here, readers may expect McKay to go into a very negative description of this scene, but this is not the case. Instead he chooses to use words such as “perfect,” “gracefully,” “calm,” “proudly-swaying,” “lovlier,” “shiny,” and “luxuriant,” to describe what is essentially a stripper. But why does he do that? Why does he describe what is considered such a dirty and gross profession with such beautiful words. Is it because he also has been drawn under her spell? Is he too as engrossed by her dncing as the other drunken youth he no doubt attended the club with? I think not. McKay seems to be placing a bit of his own culture and heritage on The Harlem Dancer herself. I believe that the way he his seeing this woman, is also how he views his Jamaican people and culture. Many people in his time looked at black people as dirty, second best, and low life. But this view is simply the view that people get when looking at the things that surround his beautiful and exquisite culture. What McKay sees is the perfect, graceful, proud, lovely persons that make up his people, just like he focuses on the beautiful dancer in the middle of the club instead of the drunken young people and prostitutes that surround her. Through this poem, McKay is trying to make readers see the beauty that is hiding in the black people, instead of the squalor in which they live. He is trying to show that people are more than their possessions and where they live; because someone can be a “proudly-swaying palm Grown lovelier for passing through a storm”, and still work in a bar because they’re trying to make ends meet. Yet again, it is all about perspective, and I think McKay makes a pretty good argument for a paradigm shift through this lovely poem. Works Cited A Harlem Dancer. Bertke, Amy, et al. “Writing the Nation.” HopeJennings.Com, Weebly.com, 2019, http://www.hopejennings.com/uploads/3/1/0/9/31098595/writing_the_nation_fa_2019.pdf.
4 Comments
Sarah Bevan
9/22/2019 10:00:42 am
I really enjoyed your interpretation of this poem. I agree with your take on McKay's perspective of black culture, and how the speaker's focus on the black dancer in the room gives him a feeling of familiarity. I love that you pointed out that McKay wants to represent black people in a way that humanizes and identifies them, beyond their homes and possessions. Well done overall!
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Darlene W
9/22/2019 02:21:47 pm
I liked your thought of the location of the poem being a strip club because I did not think of the similarities during my first read. I love your reading of him trying to portray beauty in a different light than society followed at that time.
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sandra
9/22/2019 02:22:47 pm
A very interesting idea that McKay places his own culture on the dancer, I never thought about it that way. Rereading it, it makes it seem that the people there may be objectifying the dancer, but the speaker appreciates her in artful way.
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Madison Booher
9/22/2019 07:05:15 pm
It was really fascinating to see the point of view you have when you said Mckay added his own culture into the poem. I believe from living in the broken world, writers can propose luring writings based on their observations around them, especially racial corruptions during this time. My blog post was somewhat familiar, talking about the severity of racism. Great job!
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