Hello sea !

Sweet life! how lovely to be here
And feel the soft sea-laden breeze.
WInter in the Country, Claude McKay

Life serene, divine, Claude McKay

Music that every heart could bless,
And thoughts of life serene, divine,
Beyond my power to express,
Crowd round this lifted heart of mine!

Claude McKay, excerpt from Winter in the Country in Harlem Shadows (1922)

I know my soul, Claude McKay

If I can comprehend but not control,
I need not gloom my days with futile dread,
Because I see a part and not the whole.
Contemplating the strange, I’m comforted
By this narcotic thought: I know my soul.

Claude McKay, excerpt from I know my soul in Harlem Shadows (1922)

But, oh! they dance, Claude McKay

But, oh! they dance with poetry in their eyes
Whose dreamy loveliness no sorrow dims,
And parted lips and eager, gleeful cries,
And perfect rhythm in their nimble limbs.
The gifts divine are theirs, music and laughter:
All other things, however great, come after.

Claude McKay, excerpt from The Negro Dancers

And drink the passion burning in your frame, Claude McKay

To clasp you now and feel your head close-pressed,
Scented and warm against my beating breast;
To whisper soft and quivering your name,
And drink the passion burning in your frame

Charles McKay, excerpt from Romance published in Harlem Shadows (1922)