I Shall Return (WJEC Eduqas GCSE English Literature): Revision Note

I Shall Return

Here, you’ll find a guide to Claude McKay’s poem ‘I Shall Return’ to help prepare you for the Eduqas GCSE English Literature exam. It includes:

• Overview: a breakdown of the poem, including its possible meanings and interpretations

• Writer’s methods: an exploration of McKay’s techniques and methods

• Historical and literary context: an exploration of connections between contextual aspects and the themes and ideas within McKay’s poem

• Linking the poems: an understanding of how ‘I Shall Return’ connects to other poems in the Eduqas GCSE English Literature Poetry Anthology 

Overview

In order to answer questions on any poem it is important that you understand what it is about. This section includes:

• An overview of the poem

• A ‘translation’ of the poem, section-by-section

• A commentary of each of these sections, outlining Claude McKay’s intention and message

‘I Shall Return’ overview

Claude McKay’s nostalgic poem ‘I Shall Return’ examines themes of identity and belonging. It expresses an individual’s yearning for home and their deep emotional connection to familiar, natural landscapes and cultural traditions. The poem presents the restorative power of nature as a means to soothe suffering and mental fatigue.

‘I Shall Return’ translation

Lines 1-4

Translation

• The speaker repeats a promise that they will return to their homeland

• They describe a place and a time that was filled with wonder and joy

• The place they long for is vibrant from the sun, the sky, fire, and smoke

McKay’s intention

• The poem opens with a repetitive vow, establishing a rhythmic and determined tone:

  • The modal verb “shall” implies strong intentions to “return” home

• The speaker expresses a desire to reclaim their curiosity ("wonder-eyes") which has been lost in their current life far from their native land:

  • The verbal phrase “laugh and love and watch” connects joy and curiosity with their land

• Contrasting imagery describes a place that is intense and vibrant, raising the theme of the power of nature 

Lines 5-8

Translation

• The speaker promises that they will return to a homeland where life is calmer:

  • There is time to relax (“loiter”) by “streams”, “grasses” and waterfalls

• The speaker wants to dream again like they used to

McKay’s intention

• McKay’s speaker longs to reconnect with a dynamic natural world of “rushing” waterfalls and “bending” grasses: this is reflected by present continuous verbs

• McKay creates a reflective tone as he connects nature with dreams:

  • Hyperbole in “my thousand dreams” creates a sense of abundant hope

Lines 9-12

Translation

• The focus shifts from natural imagery to describing a community

• In the speaker’s homeland, the people play instruments (“fiddle and fife”) and dance to traditional music

• The speaker may be forgetting their “native life” and language:

  • The “runes” are “dim remembered”, suggesting they are fading

  • The use of the word "runes" connotes to an ancient language or traditions

McKay’s intention

• McKay refers to a community that is rich in cultural tradition

• The alliteration in “fiddle and fife” and “dear delicious” presents a community spiritually connected to music and joyful, festive customs

• McKay describes the significance of heritage and memories of cultural identity 

Lines 13-14

Translation

• The speaker repeats their promise to go back home

• The poem’s last line concludes that this is the only way the speaker will end their long period of suffering 

McKay’s intention

• The rhyming couplet to end the poem brings a sense of finality and resolution

• The refrain of “I shall return” expresses the determined speaker’s vow to go back to their homeland

• McKay creates a sense of nostalgia for homeland, concluding that being true to one’s cultural identity is a form of healing

Writer’s methods

This section is divided into three sections: form, structure and language. When you write about a poem, aim to expand your interpretation of what the poet is writing about by exploring how they present their ideas and why they have made the technical choices they have.

Focusing on the poet’s ideas and how they express them will gain you far more marks than examining individual poetic techniques. Look at the analysis in the sections below, which is organised by the main themes of ‘I Shall Return’ and demonstrates the methods and reasons for Claude McKay’s choices of:

• Form

• Structure

• Language

Form

McKay’s poem is an intimate and personal expression of emotion, highlighting themes of belonging and heritage. The speaker describes nostalgic memories and a determination to return to their homeland.

Structure

McKay’s sonnet, which is traditionally associated with themes of love, describes a yearning longing for homeland and native identity. 

Language

McKay’s poem describes an abundant and natural world full of wonder and joy. In this place, McKay’s speaker feels a sense of belonging amongst a close community that is rooted in mystical, cultural traditions.

Historical and literary context

Context offers you a different perspective on a poem and can enrich your engagement with it. However, examiners don’t want contextual information added on at the end of your essay, or even in your introduction. Instead, your knowledge of Claude McKay’s life should be used to explore themes and support an analysis of the poem.

The ideas explored in 'I Shall Return’ focus on memories, the power of nature to bring healing, as well as the sense of disconnection that comes from being separated from one’s cultural identity. Therefore, this section has been bullet-pointed under the following themes:

• Memory and longing 

• Identity 

• The power of nature and place 

Memory and longing

• Claude McKay was born in rural Jamaica in 1889

• After his well-received collection of poetry, ‘Songs of Jamaica’ (published in 1912), he moved to Harlem in the United States of America

• The poem ‘I Shall Return’ may be interpreted as semi-autobiographical:

  • The first person speaker recalls memories of childhood in a tropical land with a “golden noon” and “sapphire skies”

  • He recalls “dim remembered runes”

• McKay’s early literary influences include the Romantic poets

• ‘I Shall Return’ raises similar themes to Romantic poetry, such as the power of introspection and imagination:

  • The poem suggests that in their “native life” they can “realize” their “thousand dreams”

Identity 

• Claude McKay was a key figure in the Harlem Renaissance, a literary movement that celebrated African American culture, literature, art, and music:

  • The poem ‘I Shall Return’ is part of his collection ‘Harlem Shadows’, which was written in 1922

•  This poem explores themes of belonging, diaspora, and dual-culture:

  • The speaker expresses a longing to return to their homeland

  • The poem examines the speaker’s disconnect (described as “long, long years of pain”) with their native culture

  • McKay’s poem ‘I Shall Return’ references Jamaican folk traditions such as the “fiddle and fife”, “village dances”, and “native life”

• However, McKay’s literary education focused on English literature which explains, perhaps, his choice to write ‘I Shall Return’ in sonnet form

The power of nature and place 

• Claude McKay’s poetry often explores the beauty of the natural world, specifically related to his homeland Jamaica

• In ‘I Shall Return’, McKay describes the vibrancy of a tropical landscape:

  • He describes “waters rushing down” “mountain passes”

• McKay’s poem presents the powerful impact of nature to bring about healing and improve well-being:

  • His speaker describes a connection with nature that allows them to “laugh and love and watch with wonder-eyes” or “loiter by the streams”

• McKay’s poem, in typical Romantic style, uses simple but vivid imagery that portrays nature as alive:

  • In the poem, he describes “streams/That bathe the brown blades of the bending grasses” and “forest fires” that “burn”

Linking the poems

The Eduqas GCSE English Literature exam asks you to compare two poems from the anthology. You will be given the text of one poem in the question paper, but you will need to compare this with another poem of your choice, one that comments on the particular theme in the question. It stands to reason, then, that it will be a good idea to understand your anthology poems according to their themes.

Here, you will find a guided list of poems that work well together, and how they are linked by a common theme. Do remember, though, the list below is not exhaustive and themes and ideas often overlap.

The poems you could link with Claude Mckay’s poem ‘I Shall Return’ are:

• ‘I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud’ by William Wordsworth

• ‘Blackberry Picking’ by Seamus Heaney

• ‘The Schoolboy’ by William Blake

• ‘Kamikaze’ by Beatrice Garland

• ‘Sonnet 29’ by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

• ‘Cousin Kate’ by Christina Rossetti

• ‘Catrin’ by Gillian Clarke

• ‘War photographer’ by Carol Ann Duffy

• ‘Dusting the phone’ by Jackie Kay

• ‘Decomposition’ by Zulfikar Ghose

• ‘Drummer Hodge’ by Thomas Hardy

Sources:

Poetry Anthology (C720) (opens in a new tab)