FROM THE POETRY SHELF1922

Dawn In New York

The Dawn! The Dawn! The crimson-tinted, comes Out of the low still skies, over the hills, Manhattan’s roofs and spires and cheerless domes! The Dawn! My spirit to its spirit thrills. Almost the mighty city is asleep, No pushing crowd, no tramping, tramping feet. But here and there a few cars groaning creep Along, above, and underneath the street, Bearing their strangely-ghostly burdens by, The women and the men of garish nights, Their eyes wine-weakened and their clothes awry, Grotesques beneath the strong electric lights. The shadows wane. The Dawn comes to New York. And I go darkly-rebel to my work.

Collection and author context

The linked Project Gutenberg text places this poem in Harlem Shadows (1922), the collection closely associated with McKay’s place in the Harlem Renaissance. His biography and linked references give more context for the collection and its moment.

Source text: Harlem Shadows (1922) · Project Gutenberg. Further reading: all poems by Claude McKay · Academy of American Poets: Claude McKay · Poetry Foundation: Claude McKay.

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