Claude McKay's Early Poetry: A Digital CollectionMain MenuIntroduction: About this SiteAmardeep Singh, Lehigh UniversityConstab Ballads (1912) -- Digital EditionClaude McKay's "Constab Ballads"Songs of Jamaica (1912): Digital EditionBook of poetry by Claude McKay. Preface by Walter Jekyll.Early Uncollected Poetry (1911-1922)Uncollected Poems by Claude McKay published in Jamaican, British, and American magazinesWorkers Dreadnought PoetrySpring in New Hampshire (1920): Digital EditionHarlem Shadows (1922): Digital EditionHarlem Shadows Digital EditionSelected Poems of Claude McKay (1953)Approximating the Table of Contents of "Selected Poems of Claude McKay"Criticism and Contextual EssaysWorks CitedWorks Cited for "Claude McKay's Early Poetry (1912-1922)"TEI/XML Editions (in progress/coming soon)Links to TEI versions of these textsAmardeep Singhc185e79df2fca428277052b90841c4aba30044e1
Re-Affirmation
12016-11-14T14:09:15+00:00Amardeep Singhc185e79df2fca428277052b90841c4aba30044e1691Screen Capture of Re-Affirmation from Workers Dreadnoughtplain2016-11-14T14:09:15+00:00Amardeep Singhc185e79df2fca428277052b90841c4aba30044e1
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12016-11-11T16:26:56+00:00Re-Affirmation2Workers Dreadnought. July 3, 1920plain2016-11-14T14:09:51+00:00Communism, Class Warfare, RevolutionI am downhearted not, although it seems The new birth is abortive in the West, And men are turning from long-cherished dreams Of world-wide freedom to ignoble rest.
I am discouraged not, although the foe— Shameless, like boars disporting in the mud Of their foul fen where nothing fair can grow— Wallow obscenely in the workers' blood.
I am despairing not, though in our ranks, Hard-pressed and weak, are fools and fops and knaves, Who with their selfish aims and wanton pranks Would sell the Cause to be contented slaves.
What though I see the trusted and the tried For many a year turn traitor at the last, go over to the seeming stronger side!— My heart feels sick, but I am not downcast.
The babe bursts from the mother's womb in pain The night is darkest just before the dawn, The heavens turn black to bless the earth with rain, I am disheartened not, I will keep on.
(Workers Dreadnought, July 3, 1920. Signed as Hugh Hope) (Edited and Proofread by Amardeep Singh)
