Synopses & Reviews
PREFACE it but I do not regret my experiences. If I had enemies whom I hated, I also had close filends whom I loved. One word in conclusion. As constituted by the euthorities the Force is admirable, md it only remains for the men themselves, and especially the sub-officers, to make it what it should be, a harmonious band of brothers. CONTENTS DE ROUTE MAROH - FLAT-FOOT DRILL - BENNIES DEPARTURE CONSOLATION FIRE PRACTICE SECOND-CLASS CONSTABLE ALSTON - LAST WORDS OF THE DYING REORUIT BOUND FE DUTY - BUMMING - DE DOG-DRIVERS FRIEN - TO INSPECTOR W. E. CLARK - PAPINE CORNER DISILLUSIONED COTCH DONKEY - ME WHOPPIN BIG-TREE BOY A RECBUIT ON THE CORPY - PAY-DAY - THE APPLE-WOMANS COMPLAINT KNUTSFORD PARK RACES - THE HEART OF A CONSTAB - FE ME SAL THE BOBBY TO THE SNEERING LADY - 9 PAGE 11 13 THE MALINUEREB - A LABOUBEBS LIFE GIVE ME FBEE - - COMBADES FOUR - TO W G G SUgEE RIVER PAGE 69 71 73 74 GLOSSARY - l2 DE ROUTE MARCH To de music wid a good will We went tramp-trampin up de hill, An back to camp strode marchin trough De sad ruins of St. Jago. FLAT-FOOT DRILL Fus beginnin, flat-foot drill, Larnin how fe mek right tun Tention keep you hans dem still, Cant you tek in dat a lil Hearin all, but larnin none. But Beems unno all don-ca, Wont mek up you min fe larn Drill-instructor boun fe swea, Dealin wid you class all day, Neber see such from A barn. Right tun, you damn bungo brut Do it so, you mountain man Car behin de bluff lef foot, Seems i frighten fe de boot Why you wont keep don you han 3 Shet you moat A wan no chat Fabour say you pick up nong, Sence you nyamin DepBt fat An top sleep port so-so mat, But A mean fe pull you tonguem4 It seems you are getting beany now. SO that you cant talk, Wonder when nnno wi fit Fe move up in-a fue squad, Use carbine an bayonet Wait dough, -unno mi larn yet, -Me wi drill you ti you mad.
Synopsis
First published in 1912, Constab Ballads is a classic poetry collection with the main focus based on the police force of McKay's time, including his famous poem If We Must Die. Festus Claudius Claude McKay OJ (1890-1948) was a Jamaican-born American poet and writer famous for his central role in the Harlem Renaissance. After travelling to America to attend college, he came across W. E. B. Du Bois's The Souls of Black Folk, which inspired in him an interest in politics. In 1914 he moved to New York City and five years later wrote his most famous work, If We Must Die, a sonnet dealing with the spate of white-on-black race riots and lynchings that succeeded the First World War. McKay's political and literary endeavours eventually took him to Russia, where he collaborated on The Negroes of America (1923) and Trial by Lynching (1925), which explored American black-white racism from a Marxist class-conflict perspective. After coming to terms with the Authoritarianism of the Soviet Union, McKay left for Western Europe in 1923. Highly recommended for those interested in American history and global politics during the twentieth century. Contents include: De Route March, Flat-Foot Drill, Bennie's Departure, Consolation, Fire Practice, Second-Class Constable Alston, Last Words of the Dying Recruit, Bound Fe Duty, etc. Ragged Hand is proudly republishing this collection of classic poetry, complete with an introductory excerpt by the author.
Synopsis
A classic poetry collection with the main focus based on the police force of McKay's time, including his famous poem "If We Must Die".