(n). A day of great (religious) celebration; a feast day; a special occasion (from the Oxford English Dictionary). In Jamaican culture, it was of utmost importance that the people wore their best attire, such as a tall hat and black coat for men, on high days and holidays. McKay may be referring to a day such as Christmas, a holiday McKay would have celebrated being raised as in the Baptist faith. McKay could also be using high days as a synonym for hey-day, which, as defined by the Oxford English Dictionary, is "An exclamation denoting frolicsomeness, gaiety, surprise, wonder, etc."

(n). The middle of the day; midday (from the Oxford English Dictionary). As McKay writes in his poem "Homing Swallows", children would be released from school at noonday.

In Complete Poems: Claude McKay, William J. Maxwell theorizes that “flame-heart” is likely a reference to “the heart of the speaker, to the poinsettia that this speaker remembers, and perhaps to the tree Poinciana regia, sometimes called a flame tree in Jamaica because of its brilliant red or orange flowers” (317).

(v). To preserve from oblivion; chiefly in good sense, to keep in sweet and honored remembrance (from the Oxford English Dictionary).

(n). A thicket of small trees; the underwood of a wood or forest (from the Oxford English Dictionary).

Fermentation of fruits into alcohol can occur in the wild, as the process merely requires the presence of water, plant sugars and naturally occurring yeast. The breakdown of the carbohydrates (sugars) in the blackberries that McKay mentions in line twenty-four would ferment into alcohol and carbon-dioxide, creating wine. Jamaica has never had a legal age restriction for the possession or consumption of alcohol, therefore it would not have been unusual for McKay to have drunk wine as a child. He also references wine and youth in his poems "When I Have Passed Away" and "The Harlem Dancer."

A top or a “gig” is a hand-constructed toy that is made by shaping wood into a carved wooden top and placing a nail inside as a tip. Children in Jamaica, especially those without the financial means to purchase toys, played with tops by placing a string around the top and releasing it quickly into a spinning motion. A more detailed explanation of a form of the game is here. A video demonstrating how to fashion and use a top is here.

(v). A synonym for “shirk”, to avoid, bypass, dodge, or evade (from the Oxford English Dictionary).

The rose-apple tree, or Syzyygium jambos, is a shrub native to the East Indies and Malaya and was introduced to Jamaica in 1762. These trees grow quickly and bloom sporadically and year-round in Jamaica, with slightly less blooming during the summer months. In Fruits of Warm Climates, Morton notes “Around the tropical world, rose apples are mostly eaten out-of-hand by children… In Jamaica, the halved or sliced fruits are candied by stewing them in very heavy sugar sirup with cinnamon” (np). The fruits also provide a thorough source of nectar, which would attract the painted ladies mentioned in line 16. The apple itself is round or oval and has pale yellow or white skin with, at times, a pink hue. The flesh of the apple is crisp, mealy and sweet and is said to have the taste of the scent of a rose. The trees flower around midsummer and the fruits then ripen three to four months later.

(n). A road which is not a main road; an out-of-the-way, little-frequented road (from the Oxford English Dictionary).

(v). To mark or variegate with rounded spots or cloudy patches of different color or shade (from the Oxford English Dictionary).

(adj). Lacking vitality or vigor; listless, leisurely or unhurried (from the Oxford English Dictionary).

The common name for an oil grass introduced in Jamaica around 1800. This bush (Cymbopogon Citratus), which may grow up to four feet tall, produces lemon grass oil, which is used as a medicine for fever or headaches. In other parts of the world, this herb is called lemon grass. In Jamaica, it is called fever grass. McKay commonly refers to plants and nature in his other works. See also “After the Winter”, "Spring in New Hampshire", and “The Spanish Needle.”

The Jamaican Poinsettia, or the Euphorbia punicea, is a plant that also goes by the name “Flame of Jamaica” due to the bright red coloring of its flowers. Though the flowers on this plant do bloom year-round, the peak of its flowering is in early-to-mid-winter, which is why McKay associates the plant with December.

The Common Brown-Dove (Columbina passerina jamaicensis) is a type of bird that does not migrate. These birds spend their time in forests, sandy areas, open areas with trees and bushes and farmlands, the latter being the place McKay undoubtedly encountered them, as his parents were farmers. The Jamaican Common Brown-Dove is a light brown/gray color and blends in well with the dusty areas in which it forages. They are known to gather in flocks and tend to stay on the ground. An abundance of these birds, with their brown/gray coloring and tendency to be found in dusty areas, would cause the “browning of the fields” that McKay notes. Common Brown-Doves have a repetitive call, and mating males make a coo that is guttural and sharp, most likely the “curious fluting” to which McKay refers.

A crop that is most often used as a spice in cooking, though it can be used in liquor or for medicinal purposes. Also known as the “Jamaican All-spice”, the pimento berry combines the flavors of the clove, berry, pepper and cinnamon. Pimento trees thrive in Jamaica because of the soil and climate there, and as such the Pimento is of major economic importance to Jamaica as it is a main export. The “special, startling season” to which McKay refers here is most likely June, as that is the time of year when the blossoms of the Pimento tree begin to open. For an in-depth explanation of the Pimento crop, refer to John R. Gayle’s “Pimento: The Jamaican Allspice Story.”

A deep-blue/purple flower in the Solanaceae family, the Jamaican forget-me-not (Browallia americana) originates from the tropical regions of South America. In the 1894 Journal of the Institute of Jamaica: The Story of the Life of Columbus and the Discovery of Jamaica, the author notes that when Columbus discovered Jamaica, noticeable on the shoreline from the sea would have been the "the allspice-yielding pimento...the golden bronze of the under surface of the leaves of the star-apple...the blue Jamaica forget-me-not...the Jamaica blackberries" (54-55). The forget-me-not can be symbolic for remembrance and is used as a reminder to make lasting memories with loved ones.

The Jamaican Star Apple, a member of the Sapotaceae family, is native to the Caribbean and Central America. Though not an actual apple, this fruit (and the rose-apple mentioned in line 18) was likely given the name "star apple" after the British captured the island in the seventeenth century.. Britain's colonization of Jamaica had a large impact on the agriculture and vegetation. Sweet and purple in color (though there is a green-skinned variety), these apples grow on the star apple tree (Chrysophyllum cainito). When the fruit is cut in half, the inner flesh resembles a star. The fruit on the star apple tree ripens in Jamaica between early spring to early summer, or roughly March to June.

McKay left his native land of Jamaica for the United States in 1912. “Flame-Heart” was released in 1922.

The ping-wing is the prickly plant Bromelia pinguin. Because of its long, sharp and thorny edges, this plant was often used as hedges or fencing. Many of the roadsides in Jamaica are covered with the ping-wing. McKay also references the ping-wing in his novel Banana Bottom.

A focus on time of year and season is a recurrent theme in many of McKay's poems. See "To Winter", "Exhortation, Summer 1919", "A Memory of June", and "Wild May."

One of the most widespread types of butterflies, the Vanessa cardui prefers a temperate and tropical climate and inhabits all continents except for Australia and Antarctica. These butterflies tend to live in wide-open or agricultural areas with a lot of vegetation. Their upper wings are spotted and orange-brown in color with a darker color at the base. In Jamaica, the painted ladies will mate year-round in thanks to the consistently warm climate. They also have been known to feed on over one hundred different species of plants.

Temperatures in Jamaica in December average in the high-seventies to low-eighties (Fahrenheit).