Poetry · A way to begin
Songs of Jamaica
Claude McKay · 1912
Synopsis
Twenty-four poems in Jamaican Creole, spoken for the most part by peasants from the hills. The first, “Quashie to Buccra”, has the black cultivator speak to the white man who buys his yams without knowing the toil they cost; others speak of hard times, market day, love, the native land and faith, and in “Cudjoe Fresh from de Lecture”, a peasant enthusiastically reports to his cousin what he heard at a lecture on evolution.
Context
The collection appeared in January 1912 in Kingston, from Aston W. Gardner, and in London, with a preface and notes by Walter Jekyll, an English folklorist who had encouraged the author to write in the language he spoke rather than in the English of the schools. It was dedicated to the island's governor, Sydney Olivier. The same year a second collection appeared, Constab Ballads, drawn from its author's experience in the island's police.
Who it is for
Short poems in Creole, with a translation or glossary depending on the edition. They are meant to be read aloud, like songs.
Prizes and reception
First book of verse written in the language of the island; the Institute of Jamaica awarded it, together with the following collection, its silver Musgrave Medal.