by Claude Mckay (1890 - 1948)
If we must die
Language: English
If we must die -- let it not be like hogs Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot, While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs, Making their mock at our accursed lot. If we must die -- oh, let us nobly die, So that our precious blood may not be shed In vain; then even the monsters we defy Shall be constrained to honor us though dead! Oh, Kinsmen! We must meet the common foe; Though far outnumbered, let us still be brave, And for their thousand blows deal one death-blow! What though before us lies the open grave? Like men we'll face the murderous, cowardly pack, Pressed to the wall, dying, but -- fighting back!
Text Authorship:
- by Claude Mckay (1890 - 1948), "If we must die", appears in Harlem Shadows, The Poems of Claude McKay, first published 1922 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "If we must die", 2010 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Adolphus Cunningham Hailstork (b. 1941), "If We Must Die", 1978 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Robert Owens (1925 - 2017), "If we must die ", op. 41 no. 2 [ baritone and piano ], from 3 Songs for Baritone and Piano, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2010-10-26
Line count: 14
Word count: 115