In "America," written as a sonnet in 1921, Claude McKay, a poet born in Jamaica, compares America in an extended metaphor to a woman who is energetic but cruel. She "feeds me bread of bitterness" and "sinks into my throat her tiger’s tooth." These images are striking contrasts with the way America is often portrayed in poetry, as a noble Lady Liberty who stands for freedom and equality.
McKay has mixed emotions about America. While she is cruel, there are parts of America he loves, such as her "vigor." In a simile, he compares America's energy to the forceful flow of tides. She gives him strength to combat her own hatred, and her size is compared, in another simile, to a flood. Then, McKay compares himself to a rebel who stands before a king, and he finds himself suddenly without hate or fear when he does so. In the last few lines, he gazes into America's future and sees her, in a metaphor, like statues sinking into the sand.
The America that McKay presents represents a duality. The country has both energy and power, as America did during the 1920s, but it also was filled with racism and hatred for African Americans. In the end, McKay predicts that America's promise will be unfulfilled, describing its statues sink into the sand and decay.
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