The following version of this poem was used to create this guide: McKay, Claude. "The Harlem Dancer." https://poets.org/poem/harlem-dancer

Note that all parenthetical citations within the guide refer to the lines of the poem from which the quotations are taken.

“The Harlem Dancer” is a 14-line sonnet poem by Jamaican-American poet Claude McKay. It was originally published in 1917, but was later included in McKay's 1922 poetry collection Harlem Shadows. It was also included in James Weldon Johnson's The Book of American Negro Poetry published the same year. "The Harlem Dancer" has remained an important poem for how McKay treats issues of interiority versus exteriority, as well as the ways in which the racialized and gendered gaze is directed at Black women. That said, this poem has been a source of interest because it complicates expected gender dynamics.

The poem depicts a crowd of people watching a nightclub dancer. A diverse crowd of both “youths” and “young prostitutes” watch her (1). The dancer is “perfect” and “half-clothed,” putting on a seductive performance for the spectators. She is wearing loose-fitting “light gauze” (6) and “black shiny curls” (9) that fall around her neck. The speaker also describes her as a “proudly-swaying palm” (7) who has just survived a “storm” (8). Both the “boys” and girls” watch her eagerly and desire her. As they throw coins at her, the speaker describes them as “devouring” her with their eyes (12). Despite the dancer’s smile, the speaker can tell that her mind is elsewhere and “not in that strange place” (14).