Harlem Dancer First Attempt

The Harlem Dancer by Claude McKay is a sonnet describing a young women performing before a group of fans. This piece of work was published during the Harlem Renaissance and thus has a lot of references to the African American culture. McKay uses similes and alliteration to describe the beauty of the dancer, but also uses diction to describe the greediness of the audience.
McKay uses alliteration in the lines “blown by black players upon a picnic day” and “to me she seemed a proudly swaying palm.” Both these lines are used to describe the grace and beauty of the dancer. McKay said she sang like “blended flutes” and danced as good as a palm tree being moved by the wind. These alliterations are also integral to the setting in which this poem would take place. It would be in a club and the music in the background would be jazz. The repetition of consonance helps add to the sound of jazz and reminds me of the blowing off a trumpet. The use of alliteration gives the flow a poem that is similar to the music that the dancer would be dancing to.
To further demonstrate the beauty of the dancer, similes are used as well. McKay compares the dancer’s voice to that of “blended flutes.” Although this comparison helps demonstrate the beauty of the dancer, it also alludes to African American culture. The next line reads “Blown by black players upon a picnic day…” The author compares her voice to a joyous occasion. The dancer is also compared to a “proudly swaying palm.” This simile helps show the dancer’s gracefulness as well as beauty as the world proudly is used.
Unlike the way the dancer is described, McKay uses diction to show the greediness of the audience. The words “devoured” and “eager, passionate gaze” demonstrate the hunger of the audience. Devoured is a word that is generally used with food, however here, the audience is “devouring” the girl with their eyes. This makes it apparent that the audience cares solely for the dancing rather than for the girl. They want what she offers, not what she is. Contrasting to those words, the dancer has a “falsely-smiling face.” The difference between the audience and the dancer demonstrates their difference in happiness. Although on the exterior the dancer is beautiful, on the outside she “is not in that strange place” which is happiness.