By Claude McKay

Claude McKay was one of the twentieth century’s finest poets and Songs of Jamaica (1912) was his first published work. This is a pioneering collection written in Jamaican Patois, the first of its kind. In the opening poem ‘Quashie to Buccra’ he begins by asserting the labourer’s voice:

“You tas’e petater an’ you say it sweet,
But you no know how hard we wuk fe it;
You want a basketful fe quattiewut,
’Cause you no know how ’tiff de bush fe cut.”

This collection includes poems such as:
– QUASHIE TO BUCCRA
– KING BANANA
– SCHOOL-TEACHER NELL’S LUB-LETTER
– HARD TIMES
– CUDJOE FRESH FROM DE LECTURE
– MOTHER DEAR
– KILLIN’ NANNY
– MY NATIVE LAND, MY HOME
– BENEATH THE YAMPY SHADE
– TO CLARENDON HILLS AND H. A. H.
– WHEN YOU WANT A BELLYFUL
– STROKES OF THE TAMARIND SWITCH