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I Shall Return by Claude McKay

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Claude McKay's "I Shall Return" is a sonnet expressing a deep yearning to return to his homeland of Jamaica after being away for many years.

Poet
Claude McKay
Composed
1920 · Modernist
Core theme
Exile

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The PoemFull text

I Shall Return

Claude McKay, 1920

I SHALL RETURN I shall return again; I shall return To laugh and love and watch with wonder-eyes At golden noon the forest fires burn, Wafting their blue-black smoke to sapphire skies. I shall return to loiter by the streams That bathe the brown blades of the bending grasses, And realize once more my thousand dreams Of waters rushing down the mountain passes. I shall return to hear the fiddle and fife Of village dances, dear delicious tunes That stir the hidden depths of native life, Stray melodies of dim remembered runes. I shall return, I shall return again, To ease my mind of long, long years of pain.

Public domain

Sourced from Project Gutenberg

§01Quick summary

What this poem is about

Claude McKay's "I Shall Return" is a sonnet expressing a deep yearning to return to his homeland of Jamaica after being away for many years. The speaker recounts the sights, sounds, and emotions he longs for — like forests, streams, and the music of the village — and vows to experience them once more. The poem concludes by showing that this longing goes beyond mere nostalgia; it represents a path to healing from the pain of living in exile.

§02Themes

Recurring themes

§03Line by line

Stanza by stanza, with notes

  1. I shall return again; I shall return / To laugh and love and watch with wonder-eyes

    Editor's note

    McKay begins with a strong, repeated promise. The phrase "I shall return" echoes twice in the first line, making it feel more like a commitment than a mere hope. The term "wonder-eyes" suggests he wishes to view his homeland not as someone weary from familiarity but with a renewed, almost childlike wonder—as if his time away has given him a new appreciation for what he once overlooked.

  2. At golden noon the forest fires burn, / Wafting their blue-black smoke to sapphire skies.

    Editor's note

    These two lines create a rich, sensory image of the Jamaican landscape. The practice of controlled burning in forest areas was typical in Caribbean agriculture, making this scene one of familiarity rather than destruction — it's a comforting sight from his childhood. The contrasting colors (golden, blue-black, sapphire) reveal how deeply this image has been etched in his memory.

  3. I shall return to loiter by the streams / That bathe the brown blades of the bending grasses,

    Editor's note

    The word "loiter" carries significant weight here—it refers to hanging around aimlessly, contrasting sharply with the driven, high-pressure life McKay experienced in New York and London. The streams and grasses are depicted with tender, sensory detail, and the alliteration of "brown blades" and "bending" creates a gentle, unhurried flow that reflects the relaxation he longs for.

  4. And realize once more my thousand dreams / Of waters rushing down the mountain passes.

    Editor's note

    "Realize" here reflects its older meaning: to make real, to experience firsthand. His dreams of Jamaica aren't vague—they're specific and abundant ("a thousand"). The rushing mountain water contrasts with the stillness of the streams above, illustrating that his memory of home embodies both tranquility and energy, both rest and vitality.

  5. I shall return to hear the fiddle and fife / Of village dances, dear delicious tunes

    Editor's note

    The poem transitions from vivid imagery of nature to a focus on sound and community. The fiddle and fife represent folk celebrations, grounding the poem in the everyday life of working-class villages instead of an idealized or elite view of Jamaica. The phrase "dear delicious tunes" feels warm and almost tangible—McKay expresses a desire to savor this music, not merely listen to it.

  6. That stir the hidden depths of native life, / Stray melodies of dim remembered runes.

    Editor's note

    "Native life" captures the rich cultural identity that McKay sensed was overlooked or hidden in the predominantly white cities of America and Europe. "Runes" evokes something ancient and cryptic—these melodies offer more than just entertainment; they link him to his ancestral roots. The term "dim" acknowledges that time and distance have obscured these memories, intensifying the sense of longing.

  7. I shall return, I shall return again, / To ease my mind of long, long years of pain.

    Editor's note

    The closing couplet reveals what has been lurking beneath the surface of the poem: pain. The repetition of "long, long" extends the line, allowing you to sense the weight of his suffering. The vivid imagery from the previous twelve lines now feels like the remedy he’s seeking for himself. Home isn’t just a beloved place — it’s the only thing he thinks can truly heal him.

§04Tone & mood

How this poem feels

The tone combines determination with tenderness. McKay writes with the quiet confidence of someone who is resolute — the repeated "I shall return" feels like a promise rather than a mere fantasy. Beneath that certainty lies a profound sadness. The rich, affectionate imagery of Jamaica shows the loss inflicted by distance and time, and the closing couplet allows that grief to emerge fully. It never veers into self-pity; the speaker remains too focused on what lies ahead for that.

§05Symbols & metaphors

Symbols & metaphors

Forest fires
Instead of destruction, the controlled burning reflects the familiar patterns of Jamaican agricultural life. For McKay, this scene symbolizes home — ordinary to locals but vibrant and cherished for someone who has been away for years.
Streams and mountain waters
Water in the poem symbolizes natural freedom and emotional renewal. The gentle streams are soothing and restorative, while the rushing mountain passes invigorate. Together, they capture the complete emotional spectrum of what home provides—rest and vitality—that exile takes away.
Fiddle and fife
These folk instruments embody a sense of community and cultural identity. They capture the joyous sounds of people coming together in celebration, contrasting sharply with the isolation McKay felt as a Black immigrant in the United States and Europe.
Runes
Ancient symbols or inscriptions are used here to imply that the folk melodies of Jamaica hold a profound, almost hidden cultural memory. The music goes beyond mere entertainment — it links the speaker to an ancestral identity that years of exile have faded but not completely erased.
Golden noon / Sapphire skies
The vibrant colors serve as a quick way for McKay to express beauty and abundance. They represent a world that seemed complete and vibrant to him, contrasting sharply with the dullness of his life in exile.

§06Historical context

Historical context

Claude McKay was born in Jamaica in 1889 and moved to the United States in 1912, ultimately settling in New York City, where he became a key figure in the Harlem Renaissance. "I Shall Return" appeared in his 1920 collection *Spring in New Hampshire*. Throughout much of his adult life, McKay traveled between the U.S., England, and Europe, facing racial discrimination and the unique isolation of being a Black Caribbean man in mostly white cities. He never went back to Jamaica for good. The poem is part of a rich tradition of Caribbean exile writing, but it also has a deeply personal touch—McKay poured his feelings of homesickness and the mental strain of racism into a Shakespearean sonnet form. This choice is significant: by using such a prestigious style of English poetry, he asserted the importance of his non-English homeland.

§07FAQ

Questions readers ask

Claude McKay expresses a deep yearning to return to his homeland of Jamaica. He reminisces about distinct sights, sounds, and emotions he longs for — the burning forests, the mountain streams, and the music of the villages. He concludes by stating that returning home is the only way he can find healing from the years of pain that come from being in exile.

Citation

Cite this poem

MLA

McKay, Claude. "I Shall Return." 1920. Storgy, https://storgy.com/poems/i-shall-return-claude-mckay/.

APA

McKay, C. (1920). I shall return. Storgy. https://storgy.com/poems/i-shall-return-claude-mckay/

TeacherEduqas C720 scaffold — preview

AO1 — Interpretation + textual reference

McKay constructs the speaker as someone whose identity is inseparable from the Jamaican landscape he has been forced to leave, making the poem an act of psychological self-preservation as much as a promise of homecoming. The relentless …

  • AO2 — Language, form, structure (with effect)
  • AO3 — Context woven into close reading
  • Comparison hooks
  • Common student errors
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