| James Weldon Johnson, ed. (1871–1938). The Book of American Negro Poetry. 1922. |
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| If We Must Die |
| | | Claude McKay (1890–1948) |
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| 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, | 5 |
| 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! | |
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| Oh, Kinsmen! We must meet the common foe; | |
| Though far outnumbered, let us still be brave, | 10 |
| 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! | |
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