In Bondage
Claude McKay 1889 (Clarendon Parish) – 1948 (Chicago)
I would be wandering in distant fields
Where man, and bird, and beast, lives leisurely,
And the old earth is kind, and ever yields
Her goodly gifts to all her children free;
Where life is fairer, lighter, less demanding,
And boys and girls have time and space for play
Before they come to years of understanding--
Somewhere I would be singing, far away.
For life is greater than the thousand wars
Men wage for it in their insatiate lust,
And will remain like the eternal stars,
When all that shines to-day is drift and dust
But I am bound with you in your mean graves,
O black men, simple slaves of ruthless slaves.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 17, 2023
- 34 sec read
- 377 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABABCDCDEFGFHH |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 623 |
Words | 115 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 14 |
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"In Bondage" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 24 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/6866/in-bondage>.
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