The Tropics in New York

The Tropics in New York

Original Text
Harlem Shadows: The Poems of Claude McKay, with an introduction by Max Eastman (New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1922): 8. PS 3525 A24785 H3 Robarts Library.
1Bananas ripe and green, and ginger-root,
2    Cocoa in pods and alligator pears,
3And tangerines and mangoes and grape fruit,
4    Fit for the highest prize at parish fairs,
5Set in the window, bringing memories
6    Of fruit-trees laden by low-singing rills,
7And dewy dawns, and mystical blue skies
8    In benediction over nun-like hills.
9My eyes grew dim, and I could no more gaze;
10    A wave of longing through my body swept,
11And, hungry for the old, familiar ways,
12    I turned aside and bowed my head and wept.
Publication Start Year
1920
Publication Notes
Liberator (May 1920).
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition
RPO 1998.
Rhyme