African American Poetry: A Digital Anthology

Claude McKay, "De Days Dat Are Gone" (1912)

I T'INK of childhood days again,
   An' wish dat I was free
To res' me baby head once more
   Upon me mudder's knee:
If we had power to change dis life
   An' live it back again,
We would be children all de time
   Nor fret at childhood's pain.

I look on my school life of old,
   Dem sweet days dat are pas',
An' wonder how I'd wish to see
   Those dear times en' at las':
It was because I was a boy,
   An' knew not what b'en good;
All time I tas'e de supple-jack, 
   Bein' I was so rude.

An' o' de marnings when I woke,
   'Fo' you can see you' han',
I mek me way on to de spring
   Fe full me bucket-pan:
I t'ought ofttimes dat it was hard
   For me to wake so soon;
Dere was no star fe light de way,
   Much more de white roun ' moon.

Still, childhood pain could neber las',
   An' I remem ber yet
De many sorrows 'cross me pat' 
   Dat neber mek me fret:
But now me joys are only few,
   I live because I'm boun',
An' try fe mek my life of use
   Though pain lie all aroun'.


Published in Songs of Jamaica, 1912
 

This page has paths: