Claude McKay was one of the twentieth century's finest poets and Songs of Jamaica (1912) was his first published work. This pioneering collection, written in Jamaican Patois, was the first of its kind. In the opening poem 'Quashie to Buccra' he asserts the worker'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 the poems: QUASHIE TO BUCCRA MY NATIVE LAND, MY HOME BENEATH THE YAMPY SHADE WHEN YOU WANT A BELLYFUL KILLIN' NANNY KING BANANA HARD TIMES MOTHER DEAR CUDJOE FRESH FROM DE LECTURE TO CLARENDON HILLS AND H. A. H. STROKES OF THE TAMARIND SWITCH SCHOOL-TEACHER NELL'S LUB-LETTER.