The Harlem Dancer

“Invocation” by Claude McKay (1917)

When published in the October 1917 volume of Seven Arts, “Invocation” appeared just before “The Harlem Dancer.” "Invocation" is also a sonnet, but it is slightly more formal in tone as the speaker calls upon an “Ancestral Spirit” (Line 1) for help. The plea centers on the desire for inspiration to fall “upon my sable face” (Line 10) and to be raised up from “out of this alien place” (Line 12) in order to be “the worthy singer of my world and race” (Line 14). Concerns about art and race as well as a sense of alienation are present here like they are in “The Harlem Dancer.”

“On Broadway” by Claude McKay (1922)

First published in Harlem Shadows (1922), “On Broadway” shares similarities with “The Harlem Dancer.” The speaker is moving on Broadway, also in New York City, looking at the “hundred shouting signs” (Line 3) that cast their bright fantastic glow / [u]pon the merry crowd” (Lines 4-5). While the speaker notes its beauty, they also find it “garish” (Line 2). As in the environment of the Harlem dancer’s club, “Desire naked, linked with Passion / Goes trutting by in brazen fashion” (Lines 9-10).