LESSON 1: POETRY

ACTIVITY:
B. Read the poem and answer the questions.

CARAVAN OF THE WATER-BEARERS

By: MARJOEIR EVASO (1987)-

We will not forget the evil eye

of the storm they raised,
gutting the grounds, we defended.
We have been trained to look away too often
when man’s flesh, muscle, bone,
knifed woman, to protect
the child’s eye from the dust
of the lord’s sin against
our kind, pretending

our tears are daughters of the wind

blowing across no-woman’s- land.

We have had to seek the center

of the storm in the land we claim
is ours, too. Faces keening towards
the full force of winds
once blinding us, we see
the blur of broken earth,
blasted wastes, damned seas.

Our vision clears in our weeping

We have joined the trek
of desert women, humped over
from carrying our own oases
in the clay pots of our lives,
gathering broken shards, we find
in memory of those who went
ahead of us, alone.

When we seize the water source

our ranks will complete the circle
we used to mark around our tents,
making homes, villages, temples,
schools, our healing places.
And we will bear witness for
our daughters and sons,
telling them true stories
of the caravan.

ANALYSIS: COME TO THINK OF IT!

1. What happens during a caravan? Why do people travel in caravans?
During the caravan men are generally cruel to women.

2. What is the role of the persona in the caravan? How do you know this?
The women’s role on the caravan makes them purely victims because as we can see in
the last line of first stanza with a mention of “no woman’s land”. Women's roles as primary
caregivers make them unfit to resist men's cruelty.

3. In stanza # 1, who are referred to by the pronoun “they”?

In stanza 1, the pronoun “they” is preferred to the men who do not value the worth of
women in our society.
4. What is the dominant image in each stanza? What is the dominant image in the entire
poem?
The first stanza is about conflict, "gutting the grounds we defended", and men are
traditionally combatants, but there is no personal dislike, she uses the term "man's"
rather than "men's", which is a universal rather than a personal term. In the second stanza,
with its disjointed final line, the author explains how women's suffering gives them a clear
understanding of their role in society. In the third stanza the persona promises that the new
vision of the women on the caravan (women in the world at large) will persuade them to unify
to oppose male oppression. She reinforces the idea of female self-sufficiency by using the idea
of each woman being the water-carrier for her own journey.
The dominant image of the poem is that the author visualizes the lot of women’s as
being like the women who accompany a caravan. Using a caravan as her main image allows the
author to implicitly censure also Islam.

5. The poem is rich in metaphor. Figure out what each one contextually means.
a. “The evil of the storm they raised” (Stanza 1)
* If you look at it in context this could simply assume that “they” referred to in
this is men because they were the enemy and the resistors who gave the evil eye and
destroy the grounds defended by women.
b. “Pretending Our tears are daughters of the wind
Bowing across no-woman’s land” 9Stanza 1)
* This line means pretending not crying, A no man’s land is an area between
opposing armies, over which no control has been established and the phrase “no-
woman’s- land is play on that.
c. “We have had to seek the center
of the storm in the land we claim
is ours too.’
* This means that we need to find place that makes us safe.
d. “Our vision clears in our weeping”
* This means that it’s time to stop crying because through all the tears we can
now see what we need to do nest which is to follow in the footsteps of those who also
came to realization in times before.
e. “When we seize the watercourse”
* When they finally reach their goals and get the equality, control, fairness and
balance they need.

6. What Filipino cultural traditions are evident in the poem?

The poem reflects that “integrated self” that connects to a whole tradition and culture
of women tagged as water bearers. A caravan is a group of travelers moving towards one path,
one goal. The author depicts a group of carriers who revealed with certainty a war against the
rule of the dominant male.

7. What is imagery is used in the last stanza? And what situation was it trying to reveal?
The last stanza of the poem is about empowerment for women, but also note that she
includes sons as well as daughters as beneficiaries in this empowerment.

8. What other images are created in your mind as you read CARAVAN OF THE
WATERBEARERS?
For me the images that are created to my mind as I read the title of the poem which is
“Caravan of the water bearers” is that the caravan has its business to do, but naturally the
women supply the nurturing functions of caring for the children and bringing the water.

9. What other concept or ideas do you associate with these images?

The poem portrays an image of how the author dislikes man. She also visualizes that a
lot of women who accompany a caravan. The author simply depicts the classification of women
on the past times. It shows how men do not value the worth of women in the society.
10. How do these images help understand the poem better? Explain by citing examples from
the poem.
By simply understanding the meaning of each stanza, I understand the image
represented in the poem. For example, in the 6th line in last Stanza:
And we will bear witness for
our daughters and sons,
telling them true stories
of the caravan.
In this line, I understand that as mothers and sisters, she hopes that women will "bear
witness for their daughters and sons, telling them the true stories" of these dark days that we
live in, which she refers to as "the caravan."
The persona is taken as weak, having been trained. This anger shared by all water
bearers tells an experience shared by all. Collectively speaking, the persona strengthens their
call for change and against the rule of the father. They take this strength and anger after those
who went before them – those who fought back and those who try to get their ‘water source.’
As such, they try to complete the circle of this caravan to claim what is theirs- the water source,
contrary to the claims of the dominant male. Unlike how their eyes were made to see in the
past, they will serve the true caravan by speaking of the truth, politically correcting the history
for their sons and daughters.