Claude McKay

"The shivering birds beneath the eaves Have sheltered for the night."

"The pavement slabs burn loose beneath my feet, A chafing savage, down the decent street; And passion rends my vitals as I pass, Where boldly shines your shuttered door of glass."

"Oh, I must keep my heart inviolate Against the potent poison of your hate."

"If we must die, O let us nobly die, So that our precious blood may not be shed In vain; then even the monsters we defy Shall be constrained to honor us though dead!"

"Although she feeds me bread of bitterness, And sinks into my throat her tiger’s tooth, Stealing my breath of life, I will confess I love this cultured hell that tests my youth!"

"The wine-flushed, bold-eyed boys, and even the girls, Devoured her with their eager, passionate gaze; But looking at her falsely-smiling face, I knew her self was not in that strange place."

"Deep in the secret chambers of my heart I muse my life-long hate, and without flinch I bear it nobly as I live my part."

"I have forgotten much, but still remember The poinsettia's red, blood-red in warm December."

"Oh some I know! I have embalmed the days, Even the sacred moments when we played, All innocent of passion, uncorrupt, At noon and evening in the flame-heart’s shade."

"Like men we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack, Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!"

"And, hungry for the old, familiar ways, I turned aside and bowed my head and wept."

"I know the dark delight of being strange, The penalty of difference in the crowd, The loneliness of wisdom among fools"