Claude McKay's Early Poetry: A Digital CollectionMain MenuIntroduction: About this SiteAmardeep Singh, Lehigh UniversityConstab Ballads (1912) -- Digital EditionClaude McKay's "Constab Ballads"Songs of Jamaica (1912): Digital EditionBook of poetry by Claude McKay. Preface by Walter Jekyll.Early Uncollected Poetry (1911-1922)Uncollected Poems by Claude McKay published in Jamaican, British, and American magazinesWorkers Dreadnought PoetrySpring in New Hampshire (1920): Digital EditionHarlem Shadows (1922): Digital EditionHarlem Shadows Digital EditionSelected Poems of Claude McKay (1953)Approximating the Table of Contents of "Selected Poems of Claude McKay"Criticism and Contextual EssaysWorks CitedWorks Cited for "Claude McKay's Early Poetry (1912-1922)"TEI/XML Editions (in progress/coming soon)Links to TEI versions of these textsAmardeep Singhc185e79df2fca428277052b90841c4aba30044e1
Sweet Times
12017-07-07T15:24:07+00:00Amardeep Singhc185e79df2fca428277052b90841c4aba30044e1691Poem by Claude McKay Published in Daily Gleaner October 21 1911plain2017-07-07T15:24:07+00:00Amardeep Singhc185e79df2fca428277052b90841c4aba30044e1
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12017-07-10T10:30:53+00:00Sweet Times1Poem by Claude McKay Published in Daily Gleaner October 21 1911plain2017-07-10T10:30:53+00:00Jes' do'n track ya, me Partie, oh hush! Jes' right do'n de under dat jackna-bush, Come, come, me Partie, widout eben fear, For not a def man caan' trouble we here.
Here where de pimenta grass lak a mat Lay do'n so lebel an' bloomin' an' fat, We'll hab a sweet chat: dear, why hesitate? Dere's no one hoe, an' no reason to wait.
Wha' mek you actin' so bashful te-day? Ma gone to meeting' an' pa is away; All de long evenin' is fe we alone, Let's mek de most o' it fo' it is done.
Partie, you' kiss come to me somewhat cold, Favour you don't lub me now as of odl; I wonder what you t'ink 'tis I've done strange Dat can now cause you de old ways fe change.
Ef you don't lub me as fus' time again, Tell me de trut' eben though it gives pain; For, oh, my darlin', I reder it so, More than to think I am forcin' on you.
Say dat, me Partie, you still hab a dread? How can you ever at all be afraid? Under dis bush we can never be seen. 'Sides I'm a big gal now, over sixteen.
Ah! now me feel dat you lub me, my Part! Press me jes' tight, tighter yet to you' heart! Oh! could you know all de lub, all de bliss, Dat come to me t'rough your hug, t'rough your kiss!
While I sit hee leanin' glad on your breast, Watchin' de grassy-bird fly to its nest, Look how de black shadows softly 'along creep, Silently passin' to deir well-earned sleep.
But me I would sit 'douten one t'ough o' bed, Long as I hab you to fingle me head: Ah! de sweet trinblin' dat runs t'rough me frame When you jes' kiss me an' whisper me name!
Partie, dear Partie, mumma wi' soon come, So then de last hugh an' kiss gi' you Jum: I wonder ef, when we're made one, we two Will to each udder for eber keep true.
