Songs of Jamaica (1912) is a poetry collection by Claude McKay. Published before the poet left Jamaica for the United States, Songs of Jamaica is a pioneering collection of verse written in Jamaican Patois, the first of its kind. As a committed leftist, McKay was a keen observer of the Black experience in the Caribbean, the American South, and later in New York, where he gained a reputation during the Harlem Renaissance for celebrating the resilience and cultural achievement of the African American community while lamenting the poverty and violence they faced every day. "Quashie to Buccra," the opening poem, frames this schism in terms of labor, as one class labors to fulfill the desires of another: "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." Addressing himself to a white audience, he exposes the schism inherent to colonial society between white and black, rich and poor. Advising his white reader to question their privileged consumption, dependent as it is on the subjugation of Jamaica's black community, McKay warns that "hardship always melt away / Wheneber it comes roun' to reapin' day." This revolutionary sentiment carries throughout Songs of Jamaica, finding an echo in the brilliant poem "Whe' fe do?" Addressed to his own people, McKay offers hope for a brighter future to come: "We needn' fold we han' an' cry, / Nor vex we heart wid groan and sigh; / De best we can do is fe try / To fight de despair drawin' night: / Den we might conquer by an' by- / Dat we might do." With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Claude McKay's Songs of Jamaica is a classic of Jamaican literature reimagined for modern readers.

Spring in New Hampshire and Other Poems (1920) is a poetry collection by Claude McKay. Published toward the beginning of the Harlem Renaissance, Spring in New Hampshire and Other Poems is the first of McKay's collections to appear in the United States. As a committed leftist, McKay-who grew up in Jamaica-captures the life of African Americans from a realist's point of view, lamenting their exposure to poverty, racism, and violence while celebrating their resilience and cultural achievement. Several years before T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land (1922) and William Carlos Williams' Spring and All (1923), modernist poet Claude McKay troubles the traditional symbol of springtime to accommodate the hardships of an increasingly industrialized world. In "Spring in New Hampshire," the poet gives voice to a desperate laborer, for whom the beauty and harmony of the season of rebirth are not only sickening, but altogether inaccessible: "Too green the springing April grass, / Too blue the silver-speckled sky, / For me to linger here, alas, / While happy winds go laughing by, / Wasting the golden hours indoors, / Washing windows and scrubbing floors." A master of traditional forms, McKay brings his experience as a black man to bear on a poem otherwise dedicated to descriptions of natural beauty, challenging the very tradition his language and style invoke. In "The Lynching," he calls on the reader to witness the brutality of American racism while exposing the complicity of those who would look without feeling: "[S]oon the mixed crowds came to view / The ghastly body swaying in the sun: / The women thronged to look, but never a one / Showed sorrow in her eyes of steely blue..." As children dance around the victim's body, "lynchers that were to be," McKay raises a terrible, timeless question: how long will such violence endure? With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Claude McKay's Spring in New Hampshire and Other Poems is a classic of Jamaican literature reimagined for modern readers.

Lincoln Agrippa Daily, known on the 1920s Marseilles waterfront as “ Banjo,” prowls the rough waterfront bistros with his drifter friends, drinking, looking for women, playing music, fighting, loving, and talking - about their homes in Africa, the West Indies, or the american South and about being black.

While stowed away on a transatlantic freighter, Lafala is discovered and locked away in an icy-cold closet, resulting in the loss of his frostbitten legs. When his successful lawsuit against the shipping company brings big bucks, Lafala returns to Marseille to resume his affair with Aslima, a Moroccan prostitute. With its scenes of black bodies seeking pleasure and fighting for freedom even when stolen, shipped, and sold for parts, Romance in Marseille explores the heritage of slavery amid a predatory modern economy.

LARGE PRINT EDITION. Songs of Jamaica (1912) is a poetry collection by Claude McKay. Published before the poet left Jamaica for the United States, Songs of Jamaica is a pioneering collection of verse written in Jamaican Patois, the first of its kind. As a committed leftist, McKay was a keen observer of the Black experience in the Caribbean, the American South, and later in New York, where he gained a reputation during the Harlem Renaissance for celebrating the resilience and cultural achievement of the African American community while lamenting the poverty and violence they faced every day. “Quashie to Buccra,” the opening poem, frames this schism in terms of labor, as one class labors to fulfill the desires of another: “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.” Addressing himself to a white audience, he exposes the schism inherent to colonial society between white and black, rich and poor. Advising his white reader to question their privileged consumption, dependent as it is on the subjugation of Jamaica’s black community, McKay warns that “hardship always melt away / Wheneber it comes roun’ to reapin’ day.” This revolutionary sentiment carries throughout Songs of Jamaica, finding an echo in the brilliant poem “Whe’ fe do?” Addressed to his own people, McKay offers hope for a brighter future to come: “We needn’ fold we han’ an’ cry, / Nor vex we heart wid groan and sigh; / De best we can do is fe try / To fight de despair drawin’ night: / Den we might conquer by an’ by— / Dat we might do.” With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Claude McKay’s Songs of Jamaica is a classic of Jamaican literature reimagined for modern readers.

Songs of Jamaica (1912) is a poetry collection by Claude McKay. Published before the poet left Jamaica for the United States, Songs of Jamaica is a pioneering collection of verse written in Jamaican Patois, the first of its kind. As a committed leftist, McKay was a keen observer of the Black experience in the Caribbean, the American South, and later in New York, where he gained a reputation during the Harlem Renaissance for celebrating the resilience and cultural achievement of the African American community while lamenting the poverty and violence they faced every day. "Quashie to Buccra," the opening poem, frames this schism in terms of labor, as one class labors to fulfill the desires of another: "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." Addressing himself to a white audience, he exposes the schism inherent to colonial society between white and black, rich and poor. Advising his white reader to question their privileged consumption, dependent as it is on the subjugation of Jamaica's black community, McKay warns that "hardship always melt away / Wheneber it comes roun' to reapin' day." This revolutionary sentiment carries throughout Songs of Jamaica, finding an echo in the brilliant poem "Whe' fe do?" Addressed to his own people, McKay offers hope for a brighter future to come: "We needn' fold we han' an' cry, / Nor vex we heart wid groan and sigh; / De best we can do is fe try / To fight de despair drawin' night: / Den we might conquer by an' by- / Dat we might do." With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Claude McKay's Songs of Jamaica is a classic of Jamaican literature reimagined for modern readers.

Harlem Shadows (1922) is a poetry collection by Claude McKay. Published at the height of the Harlem Renaissance, Harlem Shadows earned praise from legendary poet and political activist Max Eastman for its depictions of urban life and the technical mastery of its author. As a committed leftist, McKay-who grew up in Jamaica-captures the life of Harlem from a realist's point of view, lamenting the poverty of its African American community while celebrating their resilience and cultural achievement. In "The White City," McKay observes New York, its "poles and spires and towers vapor-kissed" and "fortressed port through which the great ships pass." Filled him with a hatred of the inhuman scene of industry and power, forced to "muse [his] life-long hate," he observes the transformative quality of focused anger: "My being would be a skeleton, a shell, / If this dark Passion that fills my every mood, / And makes my heaven in the white world's hell, / Did not forever feed me vital blood." Rather than fall into despair, he channels his hatred into a revolutionary spirit, allowing him to stand tall within "the mighty city." In "The Tropics in New York," he walks past a window filled with "Bananas ripe and green, and ginger-root, / Cocoa in pods and alligator pears," a feast of fresh tropical fruit that brings him back, however briefly, to his island home of Jamaica. Recording his nostalgic response, McKay captures his personal experience as an immigrant in America: "My eyes grew dim, and I could no more gaze; / A wave of longing through my body swept, / And, hungry for the old, familiar ways, / I turned aside and bowed my head and wept." With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Claude McKay's Harlem Shadows is a classic of Jamaican literature reimagined for modern readers.

Jamaican-American poet Claude McKay (1889-1948) came to the U.S. in 1912 and became an important figure in the Harlem Renaissance. This inexpensive edition includes a representative sample of his Jamaican dialect verse, but concentrates on poems from Harlem Shadows (1922) and uncollected verse. Edited and with an Introduction by Joan R. Sherman.

With sensual, often brutal accuracy, Claude McKay traces the parallel paths of two very different young men struggling to find their way through the suspicion and prejudice of American society. At the same time, this stark but moving story touches on the central themes of the Harlem Renaissance, including the urgent need for unity and identity among blacks.