The Lynching

LITERAL MEANING
The poem is about a black male who has been lynched. The morning brings with it spectators that have come to see the body. These are women and children who show no remorse for the scene before them. ​
His spirit in smoke ascended to high heaven.
1.His father, by the cruellest way of  pain, 
Had bidden him to his bosom once again;
The 3.awful sin remained still unforgiven.
1.All night a bright and solitary star
(Perchance the one that ever guided him,
Yet gave him up at last to Fate's wild whim)
Hung pitifully o'er the swinging 4.char.
Day dawned, and soon the 5.mixed crowds came to view
The 6.ghastly body swaying in the sun:
The women thronged to look, but never a one
2.Showed sorrow in her eyes of 7.steely blue;
And little lads, lynchers that were to be,
Danced round the dreadful thing in  8.fiendish glee.
 
Poet: Claude McKay
LITERARY DEVICES
1. ALLUSION
  • This alludes to the death of the individual, presumably a Black person, who is now in heaven. This seen in the reference to being bidden, or called, to his father's 'bosom'.
  • This star alludes to the one that guided the three wise men to baby Jesus. In this context, it highlights that this star has, possibly, provided illumination in the night for the victim of the lynching, but also served to lead others to him as well.  

2. ALLITERATION / METAPHOR
  • The alliteration serves the purpose of drawing the readers' eye to this particular passage in the poem. This line also doubles as a metaphor. In this case, the metaphor tells the reader that the woman is white, because blue eyes are a feature of the Caucasian race. It also highlights the level of racism in the society. This is the case because if women, who are suppose to be nurturing and caring, show steel (unfeeling, clinical) in their eyes, then it is an echo of the views of the society. 
IMPORTANT WORDS / PHRASES
3. 'awful sin' (line 4)
This 'awful sin' refers to the state of being Black. This term serves to highlight that racism was the basis on which this individual was lynched. The use of the word awful also lends a sarcastic edge to the tone of the persona because it implies that colour is something that can be controlled, when that is not the case. people do awful acts, people cannot be awful based on race.  
4. 'char' (line 8)
This word implies that the body was blackened on the outside. This highlights the horrific pain that the person must have endured during the process of being lynched.
5.'mixed crowds' (line 9)
This tells the reader that different races were present to view the body after the event.
6.'ghastly' (line 10)
This word implies extreme disgust. The body is in a deplorable state that is not pleasing to the eye. A few synonyms for this word are: horror, fear, frightful, macabre. This emphasizes, or is the manifestation, of the level of hate that it takes to lynch some-one.
7.'steely' (line 12)
The root word in this context is steel. Characteristics of steel are hard and impersonal. Therefore,
the eyes of the women, supposedly representative of soft and nurturing qualities, are, instead, impersonal and cold.
8. 'fiendish' (line 14)
This literally means to be devilish, or intentionally cruel. The fact that children can dance around in this type of glee implies that innocence is lost. They, like the women, are steeped in the racist values of the society in which they live.                                                                                                     
MOOD/ ATMOSPHERE
The mood of the poem is reflective.
The tone of the poem is reflective.

Contributor: Leisa Samuels-Thomas
McKay, Claude. 'The Lynching' in A World of Poetry. Edited by Mark McWatt and Hazel Simmonds McDonald. Pearson Education Ltd, 2005            ​
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