My smart padlet by Alexa Sanders

IF WE MUST DIE BY: CLAUDE MCKAY

asande71_ — 2023-11-13 03:44:40 UTC

If We Must Die

BY CLAUDE MCKAY

If we must die, let it not be like hogs (A)

Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot, (B)

While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs, (A)

Making their mock at our accursed lot. (B)

If we must die, O let us nobly die, (C)

So that our precious blood may not be shed (D)

In vain; then even the monsters we defy (C)

Shall be constrained to honor us though dead! (D)

O, kinsmen! we must meet the common foe! (E)

Though far outnumbered let us show us brave, (F)

And for their thousand blows deal one death blow! (E)

What though before us lies the open grave? (F)

Like men we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack, (G)

Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back! (G)

VOCABULARY

asande71_ — 2023-11-13 03:49:18 UTC

INGLORIOUS: (of an action or situation) causing shame or a loss of honor.

ACCURSED: used to express a strong dislike of or anger toward someone or something.

VAIN: producing no result; useless.

KINSMEN: a member of the same race, tribe, or ethnic stock.

REPETITIONS

asande71_ — 2023-11-13 03:56:23 UTC

The phrase "IF WE MUST DIE" is repeated twice.
The idea of fighting for their blood is repeated within this poem "SO THAT OUR PRECIOUS BLOOD MAY NOT BE SHED IN VAIN:" and "AND FOR THEIR THOUSNAD BLOWS DEAL ONE DEATHBLOW!"

TENTION

asande71_ — 2023-11-13 04:07:55 UTC

"MURDEROUS, COWARDLY PACK," these two descriptors contrast because we don't tend to see murderous people as cowards.
"DYING, BUT FIGHTING BACK!" These also contrast. Dying and fighting are two opposite actions.

IMAGES

asande71_ — 2023-11-13 04:15:30 UTC

I first see a bunch of men surrounding another group of men who are trapped in a pen covered in mud. The men surrounding the group are shouting insults and slurs at the men covered in mud.

I then see two groups of men fighting both sides fighting their best, but one side wins and before leaving the battlefield they bow their heads to honor their foes for the mighty battle they put up.

I see a man standing on a pallet addressing a field packed with misfit warriors who probably don't know how to fight. He is giving them a pep talk "THOUGH FAR OUT NUMBERED LET US SHOW US BRAVE, AND FOR THEIR THOUSAND BLOWS DEAL ONE DEATHBLOW!"

The men are not winning this fight but are not losing their conviction and are fighting just as hard as they did at the start of the battle.

MEMORIES

asande71_ — 2023-11-13 04:23:46 UTC

This poem made me think of the show Outlander. In this show, the Scotts fight against the British; people and clans that would otherwise not come together (kinsmen) fight to protect and preserve their land and culture.
"COMMON FOE" makes me remember a time when all my friends and I would grow closer to each other through our dislike of another person, or from defending one of us from the mean pre-teen girls at our middle school.
"IF WE MUST DIE, O LET US DIE NOBLY..." This reminds me of learning in a history class how nobles would sometimes kill themselves when their land was seized in war to keep their family from being subject to humiliation.

THE SPEAKER

asande71_ — 2023-11-13 04:27:20 UTC

I think the speaker is an older man who has been through many hardships. He seems headstrong and confident also very charismatic and persuasive. This man probably doesn't have much education and that increased the hard life he has had to live. He also has a lot of anger toward the group that is oppressing his people.

VALUE

asande71_ — 2023-11-13 04:28:58 UTC

The value of This poem is to give the world specifically its target audience a strong fight anthem and the confidence and resolve to fight for themselves and make themselves memorable to their foes.

FAVORITE LINES

asande71_ — 2023-11-13 04:30:58 UTC

"IF WE MUST DIE, O LET US NOBLY DIE,
SO THAT OUR PRECIOUS BLOOD MAY NOT BE SHEA DIN VAIN: "
"THOUGH WE ARE OUTNUMBERED LET US SHOW US BRAVE, AND FOR THEIR THOUSAND BLOWS DEAL ONE DEATHBLOW!"

asande71_ — 2023-11-13 04:34:32 UTC