Can anyone praphrase this poem?

Question

It's "America" by Claude Mckay
I really don't get this poem. i would really love some help! please and thank you :)
Here it is:

Although she feeds me bread of bitterness,
And sinks into my throat her tiger's tooth,
Stealing my breath of life, I will confess
I love this cultured hell that tests my youth!
Her vigor flows like tides into my blood,
Giving me strength erect against her hate.
Her bigness sweeps my being like a flood.
Yet as a rebel fronts a king in state,
I stand within her walls with not a shred
Of terror, malice, not a word of jeer.
Darkly I gaze into the days ahead,
And see her might and granite wonders there,
Beneath the touch of Time's unerring hand,
Like priceless treasures sinking in the sand.

Answer 1

Here's how I interpret it:
"Although she feeds me bread of bitterness,
And sinks into my throat her tiger's tooth,
Stealing my breath of life, I will confess
I love this cultured hell that tests my youth!"

These for lines I take as a metaphor (of course), for what is the apparent attempt on behalf of the elites, through the government and media, to put up a façade to keep the people fat and happy, when in fact the people are merely pawns to be used to make the ruling elite fat and happy. The bread is the façade, the bitterness is the reality. The tigers tooth and stealing breath… also metaphores for the same. The "cultured hell that tests my youth" sounds like a reference to the author's past, when perhaps he was a more politically active person.

"Her vigor flows like tides into my blood,
Giving me strength erect against her hate.
Her bigness sweeps my being like a flood.
Yet as a rebel fronts a king in state,
I stand within her walls with not a shred
Of terror, malice, not a word of jeer."


These six lines basically describe a "David Vs. Goliath" analogy for the Author Vs. US Policies of hatred (the author being David).

"Darkly I gaze into the days ahead,
And see her might and granite wonders there,
Beneath the touch of Time's unerring hand,
Like priceless treasures sinking in the sand."

Those last few lines serve as a warning or prediction of a falling empire.