For the dim regions whence my fathers came
My spirit, bondaged by the body, longs.
Words felt, but never heard, my lips would frame;
My soul would sing forgotten jungle songs.
McKay  was born in Jamaica. Historically, Jamaica was a plantation society based upon sugar cane cultivation. Beginning in the late 17th century, legions of African slaves were imported to help with the laborious task of planting and harvesting raw sugar cane and purifying it into molasses. The molasses was exported back to England where it was purified once more into sugar granules and sold. 
 The “dim regions” McKay speaks of refers to Africa, the Dark Continent. Through enslavement the history of his African forefathers was lost, replaced by a narrative of suffering under the hot Jamaican sun.
Outcast