Informal Commentary: The Harlem Dancer

The Harlem Dancer is a sonnet written by Claude McKay that focuses on an amazing dancer performing in front of a large group of young people. Through the use of diction, imagery, and the speaker of the poem, McKay is able to illustrate to the reader the beauty associated with the girl’s dancing.

McKay utilizes diction to portray of amazing the girl really is while dancing. He uses words like Perfect, Gracefully, Calm, Lovelier, and Passionate to show the audience how talented she is at what she does. These words help the audience understand why the crowd adores her so much, she’s flawless when she starts dancing. Furthermore, McKay also uses imagery to illustrate the mood and atmosphere in the room when the girl commences her dancing. Lines such as, “Profusely fell; and, tossing coins in her praise,”, “Devoured her with eager, passionate gaze;”, and “Applauding youths laughed with young prostitutes,” arouses a sense of understanding of the ruthless crowd in the room.  Their eyes are struck to her beauty and they cannot help but strive for more of her dancing. The word Prostitute; however, makes us feel as though the setting takes place in a room full of young, dirty, and unappreciative people. They objectify her, they don’t care about who she is or what she cares about; they just care about what she has to offer, as long as she’s dancing they are happy. The irony is that although she’s making everyone else happy, she’s miserable. Moreover, we can acknowledge that fact because of the speaker of the poem. Unlike everyone else he isn’t focused on the dance of the young girl, but on the expressions on her face and the manner in which she conducts herself. The poem says:

“But looking at her falsely-smiling face

I knew her self was not it that strange place.”

This shows that the speaker of the poem can observes the girl rather than her dancing, and expresses the fact that she may be perfect at dancing but that doesn’t mean she’s happy. He says falsely-smiling face which shows the reader that she isn’t happy dancing in front of all these people. Furthermore, he says I knew herself was not in that strange place clearly expressing that the girl does not wish to be where she is. You may be amazing at what you do, but that doesn’t mean it will bring you happiness.