After the Winter By: Claude Mckay Anastasia Parks

Information about McKay Jamaican-American writer and poet At seven years old Mckay was sent to live with his brother to get the best education Mckay started to write poetry at the age of ten In 1977 Mckay was named National Poet He sometimes wrote about social and political concerns that he had

Structure of Poem 2 stanzas 16 lines End rhyme Ballad Some day, when trees have shed their leaves      And against the morning’s white The shivering birds beneath the eaves      Have sheltered for the night, We’ll turn our faces southward, love,      Toward the summer isle Where bamboos spire the shafted grove      And wide-mouthed orchids smile. And we will seek the quiet hill      Where towers the cotton tree, And leaps the laughing crystal rill,      And works the droning bee. And we will build a cottage there      Beside an open glade, With black-ribbed blue-bells blowing near,      And ferns that never fade. 2 stanzas 16 lines End rhyme Ballad

Speaker of Poem The speaker could be McKay talking about when he moved from Jamaica to America and had to begin a new life.

Literary elements Personification- when animals, or objects are given human qualities. Imagery- gives images of some lines in a poem. End Rhyme- the last words in the end Of each line rhyme

IMAGERY “And we will build a cottage there, beside and open glade” Connection might be that this might be the house he wants

Imagery “Some day, when the trees have shed their leaves And against the mornings white” Connection might be that the speaker is staring over.

Literal meaning The literal meaning in this poem is that seasons change.

Figurative Meaning The first stanza represents the process from when they were young to when they age. The second stanza represents an afterlife that’s never ending.

Authors Purpose McKay was showing that everything will age, his purpose was to show a life cycle.

Theme The theme of this poem is that everything eventually grows old and passes on.

Websites Used https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_McKay#Unknown_manuscript http://www.biography.com/people/claude-mckay-9392654 https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/claude-mckay