Within Claude McKay’s two sonnets, “Poetry” and “To A Poet,” the two sonnets, although thematically linked, share some differences throughout their body. The most obvious difference is that “To A Poet” lacks the rhyming couplet at the end of the sonnet form, which “Poetry” retains the normal Shakespearean sonnet form with the standard 14 lines, with a rhyming couplet at the end. Further, the speakers in the two sonnets are speaking to each other– thus they are two different speakers, one being a poet, and one being a poem. This is made evident in “Poetry” through “my truly human heart,” revealing the speaker, while in “To A Poet,” readers can infer that the sonnet is speaking back to the poet through the usage of the word “spirit,” where McKay writes the poem itself in a supernatural way, similar to how the poem is written in “Poetry,” where it is described in almost a religious, and thus supernatural way through “altar-stone of art.” Ironically, the poem’s sonnet lacks form, while the poet’s sticks to traditional sonnet form, telling readers that art has no bounds and is not restricted to form, while the artist (here, the poet) is confined to the bounds of normal Shakespearean sonnet form, perhaps trying to convey the suffocating nature of how restrictive art forms are, but since the poet is McKay, we can assume that it’s less so that the speaker finds the sonnet form restrictive, and more so that art does not have bounds. The two sonnets both have different speakers and variation in form, but otherwise, the sonnets have similar themes, where both speakers admire the opposite; both sonnets associate the other with some sort of power– “power,” “immortal,” “vital,” “kings,” and “glory.” The sonnets both place the poem and poetry on a pedestal, praising the other. The diction of both sonnets suggest that McKay intended to empower the art and artist, perhaps even putting himself on a pedestal by glorifying the poetry and poet. In lending power to both the art and artist, both sonnets also put a lot of pride in art.
Isaak Puth
Introduction to Poetry 