Enslaved
Oh when I think of my long-suffering race,For weary centuries despised, oppressed,Enslaved and lynched, denied a human placeIn the great life line of the Christian West;And in the Black Land disinherited,Robbed in the ancient country of its birth,My heart grows sick with hate, becomes as lead,For this my race that has no home on earth.Then from the dark depths of my soul I cryTo the avenging angel to consumeThe white man’s world of wonders utterly:Let it be swallowed up in earth’s vast womb,Or upward roll as sacrificial smokeTo liberate my people from its yoke!
Words in this poem
- womb n.
- The belly; the abdomen. [OE. wombe, wambe, AS. wamb, womb; akin to D. wam belly, OS. & OHG. wamba, G. wamme, wampe, Icel. vömb, Sw. v&mb, Dan. vom, Goth. wamba.]
- sacrificial a.
- Of or pertaining to sacrifice or sacrifices; consisting in sacrifice; performing sacrifice.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Enslaved is in the public domain. This text is taken from Harlem shadows, Project Gutenberg ebook #64989; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Claude McKay, Enslaved, in Harlem Shadows (1922), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #64989, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/mckay-harlem-shadows/enslaved.html, id L01360.
Form and metre
Enslaved is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 29% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABAB-C-C-D-DEE raceA · oppressedB · placeA · westB · disinherited · birthC · lead · earthC · cry · consumeD · utterly · wombD · smokeE · yokeE
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Oh when I think of my long-suffering race, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| For weary centuries despised, oppressed, | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘˘/˘/ |
| Enslaved and lynched, denied a human place | 10 | ˘/··˘/·/˘· |
| In the great life line of the Christian West; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And in the Black Land disinherited, | 10 | ·········· |
| Robbed in the ancient country of its birth, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| My heart grows sick with hate, becomes as lead, | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| For this my race that has no home on earth. | 10 | ·········· |
| Then from the dark depths of my soul I cry | 10 | ·········· |
| To the avenging angel to consume | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘·˘/ |
| The white man’s world of wonders utterly: | 10 | ·····/˘/˘˘ |
| Let it be swallowed up in earth’s vast womb, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Or upward roll as sacrificial smoke | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
| To liberate my people from its yoke! | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.