For the dim regions whence my fathers came br My spirit, bondaged by the body, longs. br Words felt, but never heard, my lips would frame; br My soul would sing forgotten jungle songs. br I would go back to darkness and to peace, br But the great western world holds me in fee, br And I may never hope for full release br While to its alien gods I bend my knee. br Something in me is lost, forever lost, br Some vital thing has gone out of my heart, br And I must walk the way of life a ghost br Among the sons of earth, a thing apart; br For I was born, far from my native clime, br Under the white man's menace, out of time.