An African Thunderstorm written by James Rubadiri

From the west

Clouds come hurrying with the wind
Turning sharply
Here and there
Like a plague of locusts
Whirling,
Tossing up things on its tail
Like a madman chasing nothing.

Pregnant clouds
Ride stately on its back,
Gathering to perch on hills
Like sinister dark wings;
The wind whistles by
And trees bend to let it pass.

In the village
Screams of delighted children,
Toss and turn
In the din of the whirling wind,
Women,
Babies clinging on their backs
Dart about
In and out
Madly;

The wind whistles by

Whilst trees bend to let it pass.

Clothes wave like tattered flags

Flying off
To expose dangling breasts
As jagged blinding flashes
Rumble, tremble and crack
Amidst the smell of fired smoke
And the pelting march of the storm.
Summary
In the poem, we see the threat of an incoming thunderstorm to an African village.
The power of this storm is emphasized with the statement that the wind forces the
trees to bend as it whistles by. The theme of the poem is nature, or man vs nature,
and the mood is one of impending doom and terror.

Stanza 1
"Clouds come hurrying with the wind, Turning sharply, Here and there"
This shows that the clouds are moving with great speed and in erratic and
unexpected patterns/directions.

"Like a plague of locusts"

The wind is compared to a plague of locusts here to show it as destructive. Locusts
are associated with famine and destruction, most notably in the biblical story of
Moses and Pharaoh of Egypt- where one of the ten plagues was a plague of locusts.

"Tossing up things on its tail"

Once again, the destructive, disruptive quality of the wind is shown. As it moves, it
leaves things 'tossed up' in its wake.

"Like a madman chasing nothing"

The wind is now likened to a madman's unfocused wandering in its directionless
movement. A madman usually poses a threat to the people around due to his lack of
restraint and sanity, similar to how the wind is being painted as an impending doom
ready to wreak havoc upon anything it encounters.

Stanza 2
"Pregnant clouds ride stately on its back, "
The poet's choice of the word pregnant to describe the clouds shows that the clouds
are carrying something- probably rain, waiting to be released upon the land below.
The clouds are said to be riding 'stately' on the back of the wind, which shows how
the wind carries the clouds in a sort of dignified manner. This could be related to how
high above the ground the clouds are (a sense of dignity) and how slowly clouds
move in the wind.

"Gathering to perch on hills, like sinister dark wings;"

The clouds are described as gathering over hills. The use of 'perch on' as opposed
to 'hover over' relates the clouds to birds. Comparing the clouds to 'sinister dark
wings' also relates them to birds, more specifically crows (in their dark colour). The
clouds are described as sinister as well, showing that their presence is threatening.

"The wind whistles by, and trees bend to let it pass."

These lines give the sound the wind makes, but more importantly, it shows the
power of the wind as it forces the trees to bow and bend before it.

Stanza 3
"In the village, screams of delighted children toss and turn in the din of the
whirling wind."
Here, we can see that the quick, whistling wind and the looming clouds don't have an
effect of total fear on the children. They seem excited, either by the wind tossing up
everything in its path, or by the rain to come. By saying that their screams 'toss and
turn in the din of the whirling wind,' the poet relates that the children's delighted
shouts are lost in the loud wind as it blows.

"Women, babies clinging on their backs, dart about, in and out, madly;"
This shows a contrast to the delighted screams of the children. Instead of being
excited, babies latch on to the backs of their mothers (likely in fear), and the women
move about erratically in a sort of madness as the storm approaches.

Stanza 4
"The wind whistles by whilst trees bend to let it pass."
We see a repetition of the lines at the end of stanza 2, to once again show the wind
bending nature to its will as it blows past.

Stanza 5
"Clothes wave like tattered flags, flying off to expose dangling breasts"
The clothes of the people in the village wave violently in the powerful wind, to the
point that they fly off of their bodies. This also brings attention to the state of their
clothing- "tattered flags"- showing that their clothes are torn and tattered.

"As jagged blinding flashes rumble, tremble and crack amidst the smell of
fired smoke and the pelting march of the storm."
The 'pregnant clouds' now seemingly release their terror upon the earth below. This
terror obviously includes lightning (blinding flashes), thunder (rumble) and heavy rain
(pelting march). We also get the possibility of lightning setting things aflame- "the
smell of fired smoke."

Note: There is an alternative analysis of this poem that suggests the 'storm' is a
metaphor for the European colonial masters 'from the west,' however, the poem is
listed under nature in the World of Poetry, so it is assumed that the poem should be
analyzed in terms of a commentary on nature.

Literary and Figurative Devices

Alliteration
"Clouds come hurrying with the wind" (line 2)

"The wind whistles by" (line 14)

"Toss and turn" (line 18)

"In the din of the whirling wind." (line 19)

"The wind whirls by" (line 25)

Personification

"Clouds come hurrying with the wind." (line 2)

The clouds are said to be 'hurrying,' which is a human action of quick movement.

"Pregnant clouds ride stately on its back, gathering to perch on hills" (lines 11-
12)
The clouds are 'riding' on the back of the wind, which is really to convey how the
clouds are being carried by the wind. The clouds also gather to 'perch' on hills. This
is to show how the clouds, like birds, come to rest on top of the hill. The ascription of
the clouds as 'pregnant' is also a human characteristic, to show the clouds carrying
something to be released.

"Trees bend to let it pass." (line 15)

The trees 'bend' to allow the wind to pass by. This personification shows, of course,
the power of the wind in its ability to force the trees to bow.

"Screams of delighted children toss and turn." (lines 17-18)

The screams of the children are said to toss and turn in the wind. This conveys the
wind's speed in how it throws around the sounds as well.

Simile
"Like a plague of locusts" (line 6)
The wind is compared to a plague of locusts due to its destructive power.

"Like a madman chasing nothing" (line 9)

The wind is compared to a madman chasing nothing due to its seemingly erratic,
aleatoric movements.

"Like dark sinister wings" (line 13)

The clouds are said to be like dark sinister wings to relate them to birds (as they
perch on the hill) and convey a sense of evil.

"Clothes wave like tattered flags" (line 27)

The clothes are compared to tattered flags due to their torn appearances and how
they flap and move in the powerful winds.
Tone
The tone of the speakers initially animated but becomes sombre and ominous in the
final four lines as the storm hits.
Mood
The mood of the poem is restless and anticipatory as it builds towards the arrival of
the storm.

Major themes

The Power of the Wind

Even though the poem is ostensibly about an African thunderstorm, the wind that
heralds the storm is its main focus. The sudden entrance of this wild wind bringing
with it heavy storm clouds and making its blustery presence felt in the village warns
the villagers that a storm is approaching, however, the storm does not actually arrive
until the end of the second stanza after the wind has done its work. The focus on the
wind before the storm evokes a sense of heightened anticipation as the wind builds
and women scurry about frantically in preparation for the culminating event.

b. The Personality of the Wind

The wind is personified as a madcap prankster in its role of forerunner to the storm.
It tosses everything around and whirls about in wild abandon. Other features of
Nature like the clouds and the trees defer to the wind; the clouds hurrying along
before it while the trees bow or bend their heads respectfully as it passes.

C. The Suddenness of the African Thunderstorm

The poem captures the suddenness of African thunderstorms which seem to blow in
without much warning apart from the abrupt wind activity just before. The storm
forms the climax of the poem-when it does break, it is powerful and frightening with
its blinding flashes of lightning, loud rumbles of thunder, smell of sulphur and the
'pelting' rain.

African landscape
Although the themes of wind and storm are not unique to Rubadiri, his treatment of
its context is distinctive. The storm is labelled as an 'African' thunderstorm and the
setting of the poem is distinctly African in its choice of similes and images of life in an
African village. Thus, clouds are compared to locusts and mothers carry their babies
effortlessly on their backs.

Colonial dominance
The poem can be interpreted as a comment on the destructive power of western
colonization In Africa. The wind of its ideology presages its military onslaught and its
destructiveness is compared to a 'plague of locusts. As the soldiers pass locust-like
through the land, it would appear that they create chaos in the land, intimidating
citizens and impregnating the women. "Delighted children" may well be the naively
welcoming tribes who misread the portentous wind and are exposed to the storm
when it hits. Nationalism is represented by tattered flags/ flying off, uncovering the
vulnerability of the people in the face of a stronger power. The menacing march of
the marauding soldiers, the crack of guns firing and the acrid smell of gun smoke are
all suggested in the closing lines of the poem.
Sonnet composed Upon Westminister bridge, William Wordsworth
Earth has not anything to show more fair:
Dull would he be of soul who could pass by
A sight so touching in its majesty:
This City now doth, like a garment, wear
The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,
Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie
Open unto the fields, and to the sky;
All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.
Never did sun more beautifully steep
In his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill;
Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!
The river glideth at his own sweet will:
Dear God! the very houses seem asleep;
And all that mighty heart is lying still!

Summary
In this 14-lined Italian sonnet, the persona is crossing the Westminister bridge and
sees a sight that he never has before. The city before him now seems to be more
beautiful than he ever had considered it to be before, in the early morning air. He
notices the small details all around him, and is awed by the stillness and beauty all
around. The sonnet overall is an expression of the persona's admiration of the world
around him. The theme is natural beauty, and the tone is reverent and somewhat
celebratory of the beauty of nature. The mood could be described as amazement,
serenity or wonder.

Analysis
"Earth has not anything to show more fair:"
This is a hyperbole used by the poet to show exactly how incredibly 'fair' the sight
before him is. He thinks that this must be the greatest that the world has to offer
simply because of how he feels in this moment observing it.

"Dull would he be of soul who could pass by a sight so touching in its

majesty:"
The persona continues on his admiration of the sight before him by remarking that
anyone able to simply walk past the beautiful sight would be "dull... of soul." The
persona also indicates how elevated above the ordinary this scene is by using the
word 'majesty.' The persona feels genuinely touched by the majesty of the scene.
"This City now doth, like a garment, wear the beauty of the morning; silent,
bare,"
Using simile, the city is said to wear the morning's beauty like a garment. This gives
the impression of a dress or similar item of clothing settling smoothly over a person's
body. Hence, the beauty of the morning settles over the city perfectly, the silence
and emptiness of the morning being ascribed to the city signalling the beginning of
the new day.

"Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie open unto the fields, and to
the sky; all bright and glittering in the smokeless air."
The structures of the city, though manmade and different from the natural elements,
seem equally beautiful and sublime when adorned by the glory of the morning air. All
is beautiful. Even the air is clear, since factories and vehicles haven,'t begun to spit
smoke into the air yet.

"Never did sun more beautifully steep in his first splendour, valley, rock, or
hill; "
The persona continues with his hyperbole in expressing his adoration, stating that
the sun has never looked this beautiful, and makes the magnificence of the valleys
and hils more apparent. He uses the word 'steep,' which usually describes how a
teabag is left to soak in boiling water when making tea. However, here, it seems to
describe the sun at sunrise, and how it seems to be soaking slightly under the
horizon like a teabag.

"Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!"

The persona's admiration seems to reach its highest point here, where the wonder of
seeing the allure of the world around him is overwhelming. He says (in what could be
considered hyperbole) that he has never felt such a deep calm before.

"The river glideth at his own sweet will"

The poet personifies the river to describe how it seems so casual and tranquil in its
slow flow. The river, usually disturbed by boats and vessels, is now free to glide at
his own leisurely pace.
"Dear God! the very houses seem asleep;"
The persona is overwhelmed and exclaims, likely acknowledging the presence of
God in such a serene scene. Even the houses, who he personifies to say they are
sleeping, seem at peace- quiet, with the people in them unmoving.

"And all that mighty heart is lying still!"

This line of the poem likely refers to the heart of the city, or the constant throb and
stir of people that would occur later in the day is absent- all is still, restful and silent.

Figurative Devices
Personification
Line 12- "The river glideth at his own sweet will"
The poet personifies the river to describe how it seems so casual and tranquil in its
slow flow. The river, usually disturbed by boats and vessels, is now free to glide at
his own leisurely pace.

Line 13- "Dear God! the very houses seem asleep;"

The poet personifies the houses to say they are sleeping, seeming at peace- quiet,
with the people in them unmoving.

Simile
Lines 4-5-""This City now doth, like a garment, wear the beauty of the morning;
silent, bare,"
Using simile, the city is said to wear the morning's beauty like a garment. This gives
the impression of a dress or similar item of clothing settling smoothly over a person's
body. Hence, the beauty of the morning settles over the city perfectly, the silence
and emptiness of the morning being ascribed to the city signalling the beginning of
the new day

Landscape painter, Vivian Virtue

I watch him set up easel, Both straddling precariously A corner of the twisted,
climbing Mountain track

A tireless humming-bird, his brush Dips, darts, hovers now here, now there, Where
puddles of pigment Bloom in the palette's wild small garden.

The mountains pose for him In a family group Dignified, self-conscious, against the
wide blue screen Of morning; low green foot-hills Sprawl like grandchildren about the
knees Of seated elders. And behind them, aloof, Shouldering the sky, patriarchal in
serenity, Blue Mountain Peak bulks.

And the professional gaze Studies positions, impatiently waiting For the perfect
moment to fix Their preparedness, to confine them For the pleasant formality Of the
family album.

His brush a humming-bird Meticulously poised The little hills fidgeting, Changelessly
changing, Artlessly frustrating The painter's art.

Vivian Virtue

Summary

The landscape painter Albert Huie, a famous Jamaican painter by the poet admires
the painter’s process as he watches this method and speaks in awe as he captures
the scenery as if the landscape is a living thing getting ready to be painted and
showing their best side for this painter. Capturing the painter in his element.

Stanza by Stanza Analysis

Stanza 1:

The first stanza gives a feeling of awe and calmness as the pater sets up to begin
painting. The easel is set to cover a part of the mountain, “straddling precariously”
the way the easel is set can be said to reflect the free will and freeness of painting as
well the tone of the poem itself.

Stanza 2:

The poems encapsulate the essence of the environment, the painter paints the
landscape as well as him painting uses metaphors of parts of the environment to
show the process. This stanza describes the movement of his brush like a
hummingbird, quickly moving from one colour to the next drawn to them like the
hummingbird drawn to the different flowers for nectar in a garden. The use of the
word like “tireless”, “Darts, dips” that are used add to the feeling of quickness in this
stanza.

Stanza 3:
This stanza begins to personify the landscape giving a mood of wonder and
whimsicality to the poem, it could also be that the painter has such command over
his craft that it seems like the mountains are in cahoots with him and are doing
exactly as he wants. The mountains are described as “Dignified, self-conscious,
against the wide blue screen” showing the prominence of the mountains in the
painting against the sky as if showing authority. The hills are referred to as
grandchildren at the knees of the hill because compared to the mountains they are
small they have yet to reach the size of the mountains, but mountains still have a
ways to go. As the blue mountain peak is behind them, the highest point in jamaica.
“Shouldering the sky” gives an image of how high the peak is.

Stanza 4:

“And the professional gaze studies positions, impatiently waiting for the perfect
moment to fix” the painter is now getting ready to Paint the mountains we get the
sense of the meticulous nature of the painter how fixated he is on getting capturing
the perfect scene.

“ their preparedness to confine them for the pleasant formality off the family album.”
the mountains are again being personified. We get the imagery of them all together
ready to be painted on canvas, it is not an actual album but a metaphor for them
being on the canvas all together in the painting.

Stanza 5:

“His brush a humming-bird meticulously poised” this line is repeated again bringing
us back to the beginning again the hummingbird although it is a quick bird keeps its
balance a beautiful bird that is also an emblem of jamaica itself, its scenery and
nature. The image of the painter with his brush painting in great detail, careful and
precise . “the little hills fidgeting” as it was referenced before the hills are seen as the
grandchildren and as children do they move but that is not the reality as hills are
stationary. It could be how the painting is viewed by virtue

Figurative Devices

Simile:

● “Grandchildren about the knees”

Imagery:

● “On corner of the Twisted climbing mountain track”

● “dips, darts, now here, now there”
● “…Puzzles of pigment bloom in the pallets wild small garden”
Metaphor :

● “ tireless hummingbird, his brush”

Personification :

● “ the mountains pose for him”

● “The little Hills fidgeting”
● “sprawl grandchildren about the knees”
Themes

● Nature

South, kamau Brathwaite

But today I recapture the islands'
bright beaches: blue mist from the ocean
rolling into the fishermen's houses.
By these shores I was born: sound of the sea
came in at my window, life heaved and breathed in me then
with the strength of that turbulent soil.

Since then I have travelled: moved far from the beaches:

sojourned in stoniest cities, walking the lands of the north
in sharp slanting sleet and the hail,
crossed countless saltless savannas and come
to this house in the forest where the shadows oppress me
and the only water is rain and the tepid taste of the river.

We who are born of the ocean can never seek solace

in rivers: their flowing runs on like our longing,
reproves us our lack of endeavour and purpose,
proves that our striving will founder on that.
We resent them this wisdom, this freedom: passing us
toiling, waiting and watching their cunning declension down to the sea.

But today I would join you, travelling river,

borne down the years of your patientest flowing,
past pains that would wreck us, sorrows arrest us,
hatred that washes us up on the flats;
and moving on through the plains that receive us,
processioned in tumult, come to the sea.

Bright waves splash up from the rocks to refresh us,

blue sea-shells shift in their wake
and there is the thatch of the fishermen's houses, the path
made of pebbles, and look!
Small urchins combing the beaches
look up from their traps to salute us:
they remember us just as we left them.

The fisherman, hawking the surf on this side

of the reef, stands up in his boat
and halloos us: a starfish lies in its pool.
And gulls, white sails slanted seaward,
fly into the limitless morning before us.

Summary
In the poem, the persona is reflecting on the island home of his childhood. He has
travelled to many places, but appears to be constantly homesick. He remarks the
stark contrasts between the "stoniest cities" and his own homeland, and seems
overcome with happiness once he recounts the wondrous memories of his
childhood. The title, 'South' seems to refer to the southern hemisphere, including the
Caribbean islands (the likely origin of the persona considering that the poet is
Barbadian), the southern US states, South America and the southern states of
Africa, all of which are associated with racial tensions involving black people. The
persona juxtaposes his southern island home, full of bright beaches and warm
people, with the "lands of the north," the northern lands having unfavourable weather
conditions, colder people and a lack of the ocean which our persona so desperately
longs for. The theme is nature, idealization of childhood and nostalgia. The mood
could also be described as nostalgic and longing.

Analysis
"But today I recapture the islands' bright beaches: blue mist from the ocean
rolling into the fishermen's houses."
The persona here reminisces about the picturesque scenery of his island home. The
use of the words "but today" give the impression that the persona has experienced a
change in heart today, or that something has resulted in him having a different
opinion. By saying that he recaptures the islands' bright beaches, the persona
communicates that he is taking hold of something that belonged to him in the past.

"By these shores I was born: sound of the sea came in at my window, life
heaved and breathed in me then with the strength of that turbulent soil."
The persona was born on this island, this idyllic landscape of glimmering ocean and
sea breeze- however, the island has faced political turmoil/struggle that pushes
people away, as shown by the use of "turbulent soil."

"Since then I have travelled: moved far from the beaches: sojourned in
stoniest cities, walking the lands of the north in sharp slanting sleet and the
hail,"
Since his childhood, he has travelled far from this tropical home. He uses "stoniest"
to describe the cities he's travelled to, and this could be considered to be
representative of the people he encountered in these cities, since 'stony' can also
mean cold, and unfriendly. This is very different from the very close communal
setting he would have grown up in. The sleet, hail and harsh wintry conditions he
endured are also a contrast to the 'bright beaches' from his childhood.

"crossed countless saltless savannas and come to this house in the forest
where the shadows oppress me and the only water is rain and the tepid taste
of the river."
Now, the persona likely refers to Africa when he says 'saltless savannas.' Using
saltless here draws attention to the fact that the savannas are devoid of beaches
(and the salty ocean) which he misses deeply. He now lives in a house in the forest.
This gloomy, dreary, sheltered place makes him feel oppressed. Throughout his
worldwide sojourns, he has missed the ocean- and here still lacks its distinctive salty
taste. To the persona, the rain water is ordinary and the river water is unappealing.
The river doesn't represent the same limitless renewal of the ocean.

"We who are born of the ocean can never seek solace in rivers: their flowing
runs on like our longing, reproves us our lack of endeavour and purpose,
proves that our striving will founder on that."
The persona now switches personal pronouns from 'I' to 'we,' those who are 'born of
the ocean'- people who are likely from the islands like he is. He says that they cannot
seek comfort in the rivers. Rivers, like oceans, are bodies of water, but to him, that is
where the similarities end. The bland predictability of its unidirectional flow directly
contrasts the boundless nature of the ocean and its people. The sea has a
characteristic ebb and flow, but the river flows on continuously and endlessly, shown
using simile to be similar to how those born of the ocean can never stop longing for
their homeland once they've left it- they constantly yearn for the unknown.
The speaker now personifies the river to be almost wise and discerning. The river
showcases their lack of ambition and ability to make meaningful change.
The word 'founder' in this case means to fail or break down due a certain
shortcoming. The shortcoming of the people is that they cannot truly make
meaningful change- therefore their striving is pointless.

"We resent them this wisdom, this freedom: passing us toiling, waiting and
watching their cunning declension down to the sea."
The river is disliked because it brings into stark focus the fact that their lives are
devoid of purpose. The river passes them by as they attempt to better their situations
through all sorts of tasks, toiling constantly. But the river is free and unbound by the
existential angst of humanity give their lives meaning. It is completely indifferent to
humanity's plight.
Using the phrase 'cunning declension' makes the rivers seem conniving and crafty in
its slow and methodical flow to the ocean as it reveals nothing about itself.
"But today I would join you, travelling river,"
The use of the phrase "but today" (line 19) is reflective of the use of the same phrase
in the beginning of the poem (line 1) to create a connection in how something has
changed in his view. This could be considered the volta (turning point) of the
poem. He now states that he would join the river, deviating from what would
ordinarily happen.

"borne down the years of your patientest flowing, past pains that would wreck
us, sorrows arrest us, hatred that washes us up on the flats; and moving on
through the plains that receive us, processioned in tumult, come to the sea."
The river is like a conduit of human history; it carries with it an archive of past events.
Despite all this, the river flows on, through a world where human interaction is full of
hurt and pain, eventually reaching the sea. (This could be an allusion to the Trans-
Atlantic Slave Trade and a past of colonialism and dislocation of African people). In
this way, the persona can join the river in reflecting on the past- even though he may
encounter troubles, like hatred, sorrows and past pain.
Here, the 's' sound is also repeated constantly to mimic the sound of a river's flow.

"Bright waves splash up from the rocks to refresh us, blue sea-shells shift in
their wake and there is the thatch of the fishermen's houses, the path made of
pebbles, and look! Small urchins combing the beaches look up from their
traps to salute us: they remember us just as we left them."
The persona's tone takes on a massive change: he now seems incredibly excited as
he reminisces about his island home. He is welcomed and reinvigorated by the
waves. The river has gone, as both he and it have found their rightful place in the
ocean. This entire image is an idealized memory from his childhood- a wonderful,
pleasant, picturesque scene that embraces him (and the others who left) as
someone who belongs there.

"The fisherman, hawking the surf on this side of the reef, stands up in his boat
and halloos us: a starfish lies in its pool. And gulls, white sails slanted
seaward, fly into the limitless morning before us."
This is a direct contrast to the "stoniest cities" he visited on his travels. The
fisherman amiably greets him, showing a warmth absent in the cities. The use of a
starfish specifically here is significant, as it lies in its pool- showing the leisurely
lifestyle of the people of the island. The starfish is also a symbol of regeneration and
rebirth due to its distinctive ability of limb regeneration. This correlates to the
persona's desire to return to his homeland and become rejuvenated by the ocean
waves.
The seagull fly on to a limitless morning. This is significant in that the morning is
symbolic of a new beginning, infinite and filled with possibilities

Figurative Devices

Alliteration
"bright beaches, blue mist from the ocean"(line 2)
"By these shores I was born, sound of the sea" (line 4)
"We who are born of the ocean can never seek solace in rivers" (line 13)
"toiling, waiting and watching their cunning declension down to the sea" (line 18)
"past pains that would wreck us, sorrows arrest us," (line 21)
"and gulls, white sails slanted seaward,"

Personification
"sound of the sea came in at my window, life heaved and breathed in me then with
the strength of that turbulent soil." (lines 4-6)
"...shadows oppress me" (line 11)
"their flowing... reproves us our lack of endeavour and purpose, proves that our
striving will founder on that." (lines 14-16)

Simile
"their flowing runs on like our longing," (line 14)
A lesson for this Sunday, Derek Walcott
It is the constant image of your face, Dennis Brutus

It is the constant image of your face

framed in my hands as you knelt before my chair
the grave attention of your eyes
surveying me amid my world of knives
that stays with me, perennially accuses
and convicts me of heart’s-treachery;
and neither you nor I can plead excuses
for you, you know, can claim no loyalty –
my land takes precedence of all my loves.

Yet I beg mitigation, pleading guilty

for you, my dear, accomplice of my heart
made, without words, such blackmail with your beauty
and proffered me such dear protectiveness
that I confess without remorse or shame,
my still-fresh treason to my country
and I hope that she, my other, dearest love
will pardon freely, not attaching blame
being your mistress (or your match) in tenderness.

Summary
The persona seems to be a statesman (or some sort of stakeholder or representative
of his country) who is accused of heartbreak by his lover. It appears that there was
an event in the past where he was unfaithful- seemingly to his lover. However, there
can be no excuse for either of them, he believes, since loyalty to one's country
supersedes all else. He can claim no loyalty to her, but neither can she to him, as the
persona considers his country to be above all of his other loves. Now however, he
pleads for forgiveness of some sort, confessing freely his denial of his own country.
His lover, the 'accomplice of his heart' in denying his country, has treated him with
such tender love that he cannot simply ignore it. He hopes that his country will be
able to forgive him. As he now compares the love he holds for his lover and his land,
he reveals his own confusion. He loves his land and this woman. One, he believes
should take precedence above all others, and the other, has conspired with his heart
to siphon some of his affection for the other. He cannot discern which one is more
dear to his heart, which one is more tender.
The tone of this poem is remorseful and wistful. The mood is solemn and sad, with a
sense of guilt. The themes of the poem include patriotism, divided loyalties and
romantic love vs love of one's country.
Analysis

"It is the constant image of your face, framed in my hands as you knelt before
my chair the grave attention of your eyes surveying me amid my world of
knives"
The image of his lover's face remains ceaselessly in his mind. He holds her face in
his hands as she kneels before him. Her eyes inspect him gravely. This gives the
impression of anguish and deep emotion. The phrase 'world of knives' conveys the
idea that the persona is surrounded by a world of brutality, or even an internal
conflict.

"that stays with me, perennially accuses and convicts me of heart’s-

treachery;"
This image seems to haunt him, permanently embedded into his mind. It accuses
and convicts him of 'heart's-treachery." What he saw in the attentive eyes of his lover
stayed with him and caused a great deal of emotional pain. The use of the word
'convicts' gives the impression of a direct encumbering of guilt upon the persona.
'Heart's treachery' here, evidently meaning heartbreak, is an oxymoron, considering
that the heart is a symbol of love and compassion, completely contrasted by the
concept of treachery and betrayal.

"and neither you nor I can plead excuses for you, you know, can claim no
loyalty – my land takes precedence of all my loves."
Neither the persona nor his lover can 'plead excuses' for his apparent infidelity. They
can't claim loyalty to each other, as the persona believes unequivocally that loyalty to
his country should be above all other perceived loves. Thus , he feels unbound to
her due to how he prioritizes patriotism.

"Yet I beg mitigation, pleading guilty for you, my dear, accomplice of my heart
made, without words, such blackmail with your beauty and proffered me such
dear protectiveness, that I confess without remorse or shame, my still-fresh
treason to my country"
Now, the persona is begging acquittal for his seeming perfidy. He admits his
wrongdoing. His lover is the 'accomplice of his heart,' a person who has conspired
with him to take some of his affection for his country. He sort of introduces the idea
that they both share culpability for betraying his greater love. Wordlessly, she
blackmails him with her beauty, forcing him to become a backsliding lover when it
comes to his country. Her love, protective and tender, has caused him to confess
freely the way he now seems to have given his love to another, apart from his
precedent love (his country). He considers this treason, a betrayal of the love he
thinks should be above all else.
"and I hope that she, my other, dearest love will pardon freely, not attaching
blame being your mistress (or your match) in tenderness."
The persona hopes against hope that his country will be able to pardon him for this.
The final line reveals more of his confusion, as cannot discern which one is more
dear and tender to him.

Test match Sabina Park, Stewart Brown

Proudly wearing the rosette of my skin

I strut into Sabina
England boycotting excitement bravely
something badly amiss.

Cricket. Not the game they play at Lords,

The crowd- whoever saw a crowd
At a cricket match? – are caged
vociferous partisans, quick to take offence.

England sixty eight for none at lunch.

‘What sort o battin dat man?
Dem kaaan play cricket again,
praps dem should-a-borrow Lawrence Rowe!’

And on it goes, the wicket slow

as the batting and the crowd restless.
‘Eh white bwoy, how you brudders dem
does sen we sleep so? Me pay me monies
fe watch dis foolishness? Cho!’

So I try to explain in my Hampshire drawl

about conditions in Kent,
about sticky wickets and muggy days
and the monsoon season in Manchester
but fail to convince even myself.
The crowd’s loud ‘busin drives me out
skulking behind a tarnished rosette
somewhat frayed now but unable, quite,
to conceal a blushing nationality.

Summary
The persona is an Englishman who comes to Sabina Park to watch a cricket match
between his home team and the West Indies team. A proud man, he becomes
uneasy once he realizes that something is wrong. His team appears to be abstaining
from any exciting gameplay, and the pace of the match is slow. He notices the stark
differences between cricket at Lords and here at Sabina Park. Here, there is a
massive crowd unheard of in England. The crowd is rowdy, and is restless due to the
slow and unimpressive gameplay of the English team. The persona, being
essentially the only white man in the stadium apart from the team, is targeted by the
restless spectators who want to know why the English team has so failed to produce
a thrilling game. The persona, now feeling crestfallen and embarrassed for his
nationality, his team and himself, leaves the park- the complete opposite of how he
felt going in.
The mood here is tense and frustrated. The tone is one of frustration (from the West
Indian attendees) and embarrassment (the British man).

Analysis

"Proudly wearing the rosette of my skin I strut into Sabina"

This line serves to show the pride of the persona. His skin is a 'rosette,' a prize that
distinguishes him as a privileged person simply due to his race. The diction of the
poet in using "strut" here conveys the arrogance and sense of self-importance in his
walk.

"England boycotting excitement bravely, something badly amiss."

These lines (3-4) are expressing multiple things. Firstly, it gives a sense of sarcasm,
as the English team is said to be 'boycotting excitement bravely' as though they are
valiant warriors of some sort, but really, they are performing very poorly and
producing an unexciting game. 'Something badly amiss' suggests that this is very
different from usually happens in England- maybe this poor performance is
uncharacteristic of the national team.
Secondly, these lines are a pun. The poet skilfully incorporates a play on words here
to ridicule the poor performance of the two English cricketers: Geoff Boycott and
Dennis Amiss.
"Cricket. Not the game they play at Lords, the crowd- whoever saw a crowd at
a cricket match? – are caged vociferous partisans, quick to take offence."
The persona notices a very big difference between the cricket here and the cricket at
Lords. He uses a rhetorical question, to show that the crowd at Sabina is large,
loud and rowdy, and definitely not like what he would usually see at a cricket match
at Lords in England. The crowd, he says are 'caged vociferous partisans,' which
gives the impression that the crowd is kept behind some form of iron bars or mesh to
watch the match, unlike the unrestrained, free park at Lords. This line also lets us
know that the crowd is very loud and unapologetically vocal in support of the West
Indies team. It is also suggested that the crowd takes offence for anything that
happens to their team or is said against their team, as shown in "quick to take
offence."

"England sixty eight for none at lunch. ‘What sort o battin dat man? Dem
kaaan play cricket again, praps dem should-a-borrow Lawrence Rowe!’ "
At lunch, the score is poor and the crowd is evidently frustrated with this
unimpressive performance. One Jamaican speaker suggests that "praps dem
should-a-borrow Lawrence Rowe," an allusion to a well-known prolific Caribbean
batsman at the time, in a mocking manner. The dialect of the Jamaican speaker
directly contrasts with the persona's standard English. His interjection shows a use of
language that truncates words and omits letters- somewhat dismissing and ridiculing
the Queen's English, much like he ridicules the British team.

"And on it goes, the wicket slow as the batting and the crowd restless. ‘Eh
white bwoy, how you brudders dem does sen we sleep so? Me pay me monies
fe watch dis foolishness? Cho!’ "
The game continues, and so does the ridicule of the crowd. The slow paced
gameplay continues to drive the crowd to restlessness, so much so that one man
speaks directly to the persona, saying that he feels his money was wasted on a
match that is so boring. He refers to the persona as 'white bwoy' showing that the
rosette of his skin commands no respect here. He is offhandedly placed in the family
with his underperforming British countrymen who continue to abstain from exciting
gameplay.

"So I try to explain in my Hampshire drawl about conditions in Kent, about

sticky wickets and muggy days and the monsoon season in Manchester but
fail to convince even myself. "
The persona now attempts to explain why the English team is performing so poorly.
He tries to chalk it up to weather conditions that are different in England than in the
Caribbean, and, quite hilariously, the 'monsoon season in Manchester.' There is, of
course, no monsoon season in Manchester, England because monsoons are
phenomena of South Asia and India. He probably assumes that they wouldn't know
this and is grasping at straws to create some form of explanation.
However, all of this is pointless since the West Indian spectators are not convinced,
and neither is he. He is, like the cricketers, facing a 'sticky wicket' (which is a difficult
situation).

"The crowd’s loud ‘busin drives me out skulking behind a tarnished rosette
somewhat frayed now but unable, quite, to conceal a blushing nationality."
This final stanza represents a large contrast from the start of the poem. Instead of
being proud and overly arrogant, strutting around, he leaves 'skulking,' cowardly-
"unable, quite, to conceal a blushing nationality." His use of the truncated word
"'busin" suggests that he has acquiesced. Like the West Indian cricketers, the West
Indian dialect has proven stronger than that of the English. His high and mighty
attitude has vanished. The British cricketers' colossal flop is a national and racial
embarrassment for the speaker. His white skin, his rosette, once his badge of honour
and source of pride has lost its lustre, and is now red with embarrassment.

The woman speaks to the man who employed her son, Lorna Goodison

Her son was first made known to her

as a sense of unease, a need to cry
for little reasons and a metallic tide
rising in her mouth each morning.
Such signs made her know
That she was not alone in her body.
She carried him full term
tight up under her heart.

She carried him like the poor

carry hope, hope you get a break
or a visa, hope one child go through
and remember you. He had no father.
The man she made him with had more
like him, he was fair-minded
he treated all his children
with equal and unbiased indifference.

She raise him twice, once as mother

Then as father, set no ceiling
On what he could be doctor,
earth healer, pilot take wings.
But now he tells her he is working
for you, that you value him so much
you give him one whole submachine
gun for him alone.

He says you are like a father to him

she is wondering what kind of father
would give a son hot and exploding
death, when he asks him for bread.
She went downtown and bought three
and one-third yards of black cloth
and a deep crowned and veiled hat
for the day he draw his bloody salary.

She has no power over you and this

at the level of earth, what she has
are prayers and a mother’s tears
and at knee city she uses them.
She says psalms for him
she reads psalms for you
she weeps for his soul
her eyewater covers you.

She is throwing a partner

with Judas Iscariot’s mother
the thief on the left-hand side
of the cross, his mother
is the banker, her draw though
is first and last for she still
throwing two hands as mother and
father.
She is prepared, she is done. Absalom.
Summary
In this poem, the persona seems to be addressing a man who has taken a woman's
son into a life of crime and gun violence. The history of the woman's relationship with
her son is recounted and the love she felt for him even before his birth. She first
knew she was pregnant due to morning sickness- showing that this pregnancy was
not necessarily planned. This son had no father, so the mother played both roles in
his upbringing. She saw his potential as endless, he could become anything.
However, she is the told that he has been employed by a man who 'values' him so
much that he gives him his own submachine gun. The son for whom she had great
hope for had now been inducted into a life of crime that would ultimately cut his life
short. She prepares for the funeral of her son, which she believes will happen sooner
rather than later because of what he has become involved in. She compares this
feeling of betrayal and misfortune to 'throwing a partner' (or sou sou agreement) with
notably untrustworthy people and drawing the first and last hand.

"Her son was first made known to her as a sense of unease, a need to cry for
little reasons and a metallic tide rising in her mouth each morning."
This gives some sort of exposition for the life of the woman. It says that 'her son was
first made known to her' through morning sickness, discomfort and emotional
hypersensitivity showing that this pregnancy was a surprise and therefore completely
unplanned. Chances are that she was irresponsible, and did not use contraceptives.

"Such signs made her know that she was not alone in her body."
This continues to give the impression of a somewhat naive and irresponsible mother
who relies on 'signs' to confirm her pregnancy rather than having planned or being
aware enough to know. The line saying "she was not alone in her body" implies that
she was being taken over by some unknown being and had no choice but to accept
this new presence.

"She carried him full term tight up under her heart."

The mother makes no attempt to abort the baby and carries him for the full nine
months. The phrase 'tight up under her heart' shows that she loved and deeply cared
for the unborn son.

"She carried him like the poor carry hope, hope you get a break or a visa, hope
one child go through and remember you."
This simile compares how she carried the child to how those in poverty carry their
hope. This shows that the mother likely saw the son as a potential ticket out of
poverty- a child that may secure that elusive visa and get an opportunity to work
abroad, and, remembering his mother, send remittances to her. Hope is repeated 3
times here, almost as if to show that where there is a paucity (lack) of money, there
is an excess of hope.
"He had no father. The man she made him with had more like him, he was fair-
minded he treated all his children with equal and unbiased indifference."
This line boldly states the lack of a father figure in the child's life. The man who had
biologically fathered the child had no intention of caring for him. The subsequent line,
which states 'the man she made him with,' gives an impression that the creation of
the child was a mechanical, routine process, that, much like the biological father's
regard for his child, was devoid of emotion or real care. There was a paternal
gamete supplier, but no father.
The speaker goes on in sarcastically referring to the man as 'fair-minded,' due to his
indiscriminate disregard for his children. These lines would be somewhat comical,
had they not been given with such venomous indictment of the prevalence of
parental truancy. He has several children, but makes no attempt to support any of
them emotionally or financially.

"She raise him twice, once as mother then as father,"

This line continues to show the impact of the absence of the father- the mother takes
the role of both mother and father. She makes every effort to be supportive to this
son of whom she expects so much.

"set no ceiling on what he could be doctor, earth healer, pilot take wings."
This continues to establish the high expectations held by the mother. She believes
his potential is limitless- he could become anything in the world.

"But now he tells her he is working for you, that you value him so much you
give him one whole submachine gun for him alone."
This is the volta or turning point of the poem. Up to this point, the hopes of the
mother have been built up and her love and care for her son has been displayed.
Her hopes are completely dashed now though, when he tells her that he has been
recruited by a gunman. The persona now completely doubles down on the tone of
anger/resigned sadness that was underscored previously in the mentions of paternal
absenteeism.
This line is a good example of irony. The mother is told that this gunman values her
son so much that he gives him his own submachine gun. This is ironic because the
son feels this false sense of pride because he is put in charge of this gun. He feels
that he is held in a high esteem by the gunman because he is given the responsibility
of a terrible weapon that can only cause destruction to himself and his community.

"He says you are like a father to him she is wondering what kind of father
would give a son hot and exploding death, when he asks him for bread."
The son, having had no father figure while growing up due to an indifferent father,
now views this gunman as his father figure. The mother questions his idolization of
this donor of guns using a biblical allusion to Matthew 7:9, which states, "Which of
you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone?" (a similar verse is at Luke
11:11). The son's penury has led him to seek material goods, so why would this
"father figure" offer him a weapon of certain death? The woman accuses the man of
being purely wicked and having no regard for her son's wellbeing.

"She went downtown and bought three and one-third yards of black cloth and
a deep crowned and veiled hat for the day he draw his bloody salary."
The mother is completely convinced that this induction into gun violence will
inevitably get him killed. In melancholic resignation, she prepares for his funeral by
purchasing a hat and the material for a dress. She knows that he will eventually draw
his 'bloody salary,' i.e. he will reap the rewards of violence- death.

"She has no power over you and this at the level of earth, what she has are
prayers and a mother’s tears and at knee city she uses them."
The mother knows that she cannot physically combat the gunman, but, being
religious, she believes that she can implore the spiritual, righteous power of God.
Faith is the only strength she can possibly use to fight him. She uses her tears, a
manifestation of her grief and sadness for her son and a symbol of condemnation of
the man who has given her reason to cry, at "knee city." This is a sort of Jamaican
term that refers to long sessions of prayer, kneeling. So, the mother prays for her
son and implores the intrinsic power of her motherly tears.

"She says psalms for him, she reads psalms for you, she weeps for his soul,
her eyewater covers you."
The mother continues her spiritual warfare with this man who has recruited her son.
She says psalms for her son- hoping to shield and protect him. However, she reads
psalms for the man, (reading psalms for someone often means to hope for bad
things to befall your enemies) hoping to injure and inhibit him.
Her tears continue to flow for her son as she implores the forces of heaven.

"She is throwing a partner with Judas Iscariot’s mother the thief on the left-
hand side of the cross, his mother is the banker, her draw though is first and
last for she still throwing two hands as mother and father."
This stanza is rife with biblical allusions. She is engaged in a savings agreement
(called a partner in Jamaica, a meeting in Barbados or a sou sou in other
Caribbean islands) with Judas Iscariot's mother (the mother of the well-known
betrayer of Jesus) and the thief who was crucified with Jesus. The thief's mother is
the banker, who keeps the money- meaning that she may have her money stolen if
the thief learnt it from his mother. These women seem to belong to a club of mothers
of 'infamous offspring,' reinforcing the point that even people who have done some of
the most ignominious acts in human history have mothers.
The fact that she must hold a savings agreement with these mothers of notorious
biblical men doesn't bode well for her, as a partner agreement requires trust and
honour among the members. The persona says the mother has two ‘draws’
(payments) coming from the ‘partner’ because she has borne the responsibility of
both parental roles. being both mother and father to the boy. She has the first and
last payments- the last being particularly risky in a partner since dishonesty begins to
influence the participants the longer they wait to draw. Similarly, she had the first
draw and brought him into the world and she will be there when his life comes to an
end, taking the last draw.

"She is prepared, she is done. Absalom."

The mother has prepared herself for the inevitable passing of her son due to his
involvement in this criminal activity. She has bought her dress materials for his
funeral, and she has prayed. There is nothing more that she can do.
The final word, 'Absalom' is spoken sort of like an 'Amen' at the end of a poem. This
is a biblical allusion to David's son Absalom, who was killed after plotting to kill his
father. David however, still feels grief at the death of this son who plotted to kill him.
In accepting to be employed by the gunman, the son has basically plotted against his
mother’s investment in him and her limitless expectations for him. He has killed her
hopes.
The mother, like King David, will experience profound grief over the death of her
wayward son.

Figurative Devices

Simile
"She carried him like the poor carry hope"
This simile compares how she carried the child to how those in poverty carry their
hope. This shows that the mother likely saw the son as a potential ticket out of
poverty- a child that may secure that elusive visa and get an opportunity to work
abroad, and, remembering his mother, send remittances to her.

"He says you are like a father to him"

The son compares the gunman to a father, showing that he fills a gap left by his own
absent father.

Allusion
"what kind of father would give a son hot and exploding death, when he asks
him for bread."
The mother questions the son's idolization of this donor of guns using a biblical
allusion to Matthew 7:9, which states, "Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will
give him a stone?" (a similar verse is at Luke 11:11). The son's penury has led him
to seek material goods, so why would this "father figure" offer him a weapon of
certain death? The woman accuses the man of being purely wicked and having no
regard for her son's wellbeing.
"She says psalms for him, she reads psalms for you,"
This is an allusion to the biblical book of Psalms. The mother says psalms hoping to
protect her child, but she reads psalms for the gunman in hopes of his defeat or
injury.

"She is throwing a partner with Judas Iscariot’s mother the thief on the left-
hand side of the cross, his mother is the banker,"
This is a biblical allusion to Judas Iscariot, the man who betrayed Jesus in the bible,
and the thief who was crucified on the left of Jesus in the bible. She is engaged in a
savings agreement (called a partner in Jamaica, a meeting in Barbados or a sou
sou in other Caribbean islands) with Judas Iscariot's mother (the mother of the well-
known betrayer of Jesus) and the thief who was crucified with Jesus. The thief's
mother is the banker, who keeps the money- meaning that she may have her money
stolen if the thief learnt it from his mother.

"Absalom."
The final word, 'Absalom' is spoken sort of like an 'Amen' at the end of a poem. This
is a biblical allusion to David's son Absalom, who was killed after plotting to kill his
father. David however, still feels grief at the death of this son who plotted to kill him.
In accepting to be employed by the gunman, the son has basically plotted against his
mother’s investment in him and her limitless expectations for him. He has killed her
hopes.
The mother, like King David, will experience profound grief over the death of her
wayward son.

Little boy crying, Mervyn Morris

Your mouth contorting in brief spite and hurt,

your laughter metamorphosed into howls,
your frame so recently relaxed now tight
with three year old frustration, your bright eyes
swimming tears, splashing your bare feet,
you stand there angling for a moment’s hint
of guilt or sorrow for the quick slap struck.
The ogre towers above you, that grim giant,
empty of feeling, a colossal cruel,
soon victim of the tale’s conclusion, dead
at last. You hate him, you imagine
chopping clean the tree he’s scrambling down
or plotting deeper pits to trap him in.
You cannot understand, not yet,
the hurt your easy tears can scald him with,
nor guess the wavering hidden behind that mask.
This fierce man longs to lift you, curb your sadness
with piggy-back or bull fight, anything,
but dare not ruin the lessons you should learn.
You must not make a plaything of the rain.

Summary
The poem is narrating an interaction between a father and his son, who he has
punished for playing in the rain. The little boy feels somewhat betrayed by his father,
and finds no sign of remorse in him. So, he sees him as evil figure, likening him to
the evil giant from the fairy tale of Jack and the Beanstalk. The poem accurately
shows how the child feels in the moment- a sudden emotion of cold hate and anger
towards this 'colossal cruel' who has harmed him. In the third stanza though, the
poet introduces the perspective of the father, who evidently cares for his son.
Through the child's eyes, he is painted in a light of supreme cruelty and callousness
due to emotionally-caused exaggeration. The father is shown to be caring because
he feels guilt and remorse when he sees the tears of his son. But the dilemma within
is obvious- he doesn't enjoy making his son feel this way, but he must teach him this
lesson. He wants to comfort him and show his care; but he knows that he must
maintain his composure in order for his son to truly learn the lesson.
The poem is written from a third person omniscient perspective. The themes are
parenting, vulnerability and childhood experiences. The mood is tense.

Analysis
"Your mouth contorting in brief spite and hurt,"
This line begins to show the little boy starting to cry. His mouth twists (as shown with
'contorting'), showing not only his pain (emotional and physical) but also an attempt
to spite (deliberately annoy) his father.

"your laughter metamorphosed into howls,"

Contrast is introduced here, where the laughter of the child (happiness)
metamorphoses (an example of diction by the poet) into howls of pain and hurt. To
metamorphose means to change completely in form or nature- so, in the same way
his laughter changes to howls, his happiness changes to despair and pain.

"your frame so recently relaxed now tight with three year old frustration"
The poet continues to show contrast between his previous disposition and now-
when his frame has tightened as he contracts in beginning to cry. His frame tight with
'three year old frustration,' which is sort of ironic considering that, being 3 years old,
he would have very little to be frustrated about, and the harsher more oppressive
concept of frustration clashes with the small non-threatening nature of a 3 year old.
"your bright eyes swimming tears, splashing your bare feet,"
This is an example of hyperbole, where the poet suggests that the child's eyes are
'swimming tears' that splash his feet. Obviously a human's eyes can't produce
enough tears to literally splash upon their feet- but the poet uses this device to show
the exaggerated crying of the child. The phrase 'eyes swimming tears' suggests that
the child's eyes are completely submerged in tears.

"you stand there angling for a moment’s hint of guilt or sorrow for the quick
slap struck."
Now the boy searches for any sign of remorse, empathy or guilt in this unnamed
person who has hit him. Alliteration (slap struck) is used along with monosyllabic
language ('quick slap struck,' each word is one syllable to convey the speed of the
slap).

"The ogre towers above you, that grim giant, empty of feeling, a colossal cruel,
soon victim of the tale’s conclusion, dead at last."
In this stanza, the little boy is now likening the evil of this unnamed person the best
way he can- using fairly tales and mystical fictional evils. Using a metaphor, he refers
to this person as an ogre towering over him. Using alliteration, the boy calls this
person a 'grim giant' who is cold and unfeeling, and a 'colossal cruel.' This is, of
course, a caricatured/exaggerated description of this man by a teary-eyed and hurt
child. He is so angered and frustrated in this moment that he compares his abuser
to a giant, an allusion to the fairy tale Jack and the Beanstalk ('...that grim giant')
and hopes for him to eventually end up just like the giant at the end of the fairy tale-
dead.

"You hate him, you imagine chopping clean the tree he’s scrambling down or
plotting deeper pits to trap him in."
The boy continues with sentiments exaggerated by momentary pain, frustration and
anger. The boy is said to hate this man, and imagines for him the same defeat as the
giant in the tale- chopping down the stalk he climbs down. These plots correspond to
the child's feelings of sadness and anger, he wants to defeat this person who has
harmed him.

"You cannot understand, not yet, the hurt your easy tears can scald him with,"
The speaker now considers the perspective of the father. The child doesn't
understand yet what happens beyond the steely exterior of his father. He doesn't
know that his tears really do harm him, and that he does truly feel remorse for
hurting his son. The boy cries endlessly and without restraint or difficulty, but he
doesn't know that his father feels these tears and they 'scald him' like acid or hot oil.

"nor guess the wavering hidden behind that mask."

Adding to the list of things the boy doesn't understand, he cannot guess the conflict
within his father that is hidden by an unfaltering facade. He doesn't want to hurt his
son, but he cannot show the hesitation.

"This fierce man longs to lift you, curb your sadness with piggy-back or bull
fight, anything, but dare not ruin the lessons you should learn."
The poet uses contrast again here, juxtaposing the description of this man as 'fierce'
with the description of this man as a vulnerable, loving, empathetic one who wants to
curb the boy's sadness. The father sees his son crying, and his natural reaction is to
want to comfort him- but he cannot, in order to ensure that he learns the lesson.

"You must not make a plaything of the rain."

This final line conveys what was likely the reason for the father punishing the child,
he was playing in the rain

My parents, Stephen spender

My parents kept me from children who were rough
Who threw words like stones and wore torn clothes
Their thighs showed through rags they ran in the street
And climbed cliffs and stripped by the country streams.

I feared more than tigers their muscles like iron

Their jerking hands and their knees tight on my arms
I feared the salt coarse pointing of those boys
Who copied my lisp behind me on the road.

They were lithe they sprang out behind hedges

Like dogs to bark at my world. They threw mud
While I looked the other way, pretending to smile.
I longed to forgive them but they never smiled.
Summary
In the poem, the persona recalls a childhood where his parents kept him from 'rough'
children. His parents hope to protect him from the derision and harassment of these
children, which, throughout the poem, is shown to be true. However, it becomes
evident that in keeping him from these children (likely of a lower social class than he
is), his parents greatly restrict his freedom, and he is jealous of the freedom that
these rough children possess. In titling the poem My Parents and then only
mentioning his parents once before speaking about bullying, the persona seems to
both blame his parents for his lack of freedom and him being the target of the
children's abuse. But, he also seems to appreciate their protection, as the rest of the
poem essentially proves his parents right. They play in the street and climb cliffs and
swim in rivers with no constraint. He feared these children and their abrasive nature;
their vituperative words and seemingly insurmountable strength. Even in this fear
though, there is an admiration of their strength that far surpasses his own.
Nonetheless, they would tease him constantly, mocking his lisp while pointing
reproachfully. The persona seems deeply troubled by their endless torment and
abuse. He pretends to smile, hoping to inspire some form of peace and fraternity, but
to no avail. He always longed to forgive them for their harassment, but is denied
when they do not reciprocate any desire for harmony. The persona and the children
are of different socioeconomic classes; the children, lower class and the persona,
middle-to-upper class. Thus, there is a divide between them, and their mockery of
him is suggested to have a separate motivation other than simple childish badinage-
they are jealous of his privilege. The persona himself is jealous of the rough
children's freedom even though his social class permits him far more privilege than
they have. This is the implicit irony of the poem.
The mood of this poem is reflective. The themes include childhood experience,
parental influence and social segregation.

Analysis

"My parents kept me from children who were rough"

The persona begins with a somewhat accusatory phrase. His parents restrained him
from being near the 'children who were rough' as a preventative measure. They do
not want him to be teased and mocked for his disabilities, and the abrasive nature of
these children justifies their worry. Describing them as rough instantly creates a
contrast between the children and the persona himself, as his parents' effort to keep
him from them means that he himself is not like them. The use of the word 'kept'
implies that sort of childish resentment that the persona would have felt as a child,
wanting to experience the same freedom as these children but held back
nonetheless.

"Who threw words like stones and wore torn clothes

Their thighs showed through rags they ran in the street
And climbed cliffs and stripped by the country streams."
The rough children are said to throw 'words like stones.' This simile gives the reader
insight into the character and behaviour of these children, as their use of words is
compared to the destructive act of throwing stones. Their words, therefore, are used
with the intention to harm emotionally in the same way stones are thrown with the
intention of causing physical destruction. The sharp, monosyllabic language used in
the simile communicates a harsh use of words without etiquette characteristic of the
lower class.
The children wear torn clothes, another indicator of their less than fortunate status.
Despite this suboptimal economic status, the children are able to explore and play
uninhibited. They run in the street, climb cliffs and swim in streams; all things that our
dear persona could never dream of doing. His overprotective parents keep him from
both these children and their carefree, unrestricted lifestyle. He is envious of them,
and wishes to enjoy the same wonders of freedom as they do. An alliteration is
used here in 'climbed cliffs.' This shows the agility of these children, and sort of
portrays them in an animalistic and primitive light in their scaling of natural
landscapes. Their thighs are said to show 'through rags,' rags being a symbol of
poverty and communicating their poorer status in comparison to the persona.

"I feared more than tigers their muscles like iron

Their jerking hands and their knees tight on my arms"
Using hyperbole, the persona communicates how great his fear was of these boys.
Tigers are able rip a human limb from limb with sheer animalistic instinct and power,
but he still places his fear of their muscles above that (hence why it is an
exaggerated expression). Coupled with the use of simile to compare their muscles
to the rigid strength of iron, the persona conveys a very exaggerated fear along with
a possible amount of admiration of their strength. Being of a lower working class,
they would perform more manual labour and explore more, giving them physical
strength far beyond the reach of the persona.
We also see the harassment he is subjected to, as he is pinned to the ground during
some sort of fight. He is made the victim of this torment, and it is possibly because of
how different he is from them. His superior social status is a likely cause, along with
his disability mentioned later on in the poem.

"I feared the salt coarse pointing of those boys

Who copied my lisp behind me on the road."
The persona now states that he feared their 'salt coarse pointing.' This metaphor
directly compares their pointing to the coarseness of salt. The use of coarse
continues the description of the children as rough, but it also gives a tangibility to the
derision of the boys. The persona feels their mockery to be coarse and harsh,
inflicting a near-physical abrasion that goes beyond some sort of friendly badinage.
By saying salt coarse, it also alludes to a common phrase 'rub salt into the wound.'
Although it is a bit of a stretch, their mockery, on top of forcing him into
compromising positions in fights, is like rubbing salt into an open wound, as he
experiences the emotional fallout as well as the physical.
The boys copy his lisp behind him on the road, showing that his speech impediment
is a point which they use to mock him. His disability is therefore one of the things that
make him a prime target of these rough children.

"They were lithe they sprang out behind hedges

Like dogs to bark at my world. They threw mud
While I looked the other way, pretending to smile."
The persona continues to describe their incessant harassment of him. They are lithe
and agile, and he is not. Using simile, he compares them to dogs, "springing out
behind hedges like dogs to bark at my world." Dogs usually bark to threaten intruders
or those they think do not belong. In the same way, like animals, the children jump
out at him and threaten him and his highly privileged world. Throughout their mud-
throwing he would pretend to smile, as though unperturbed by this torment. He
hopes to inspire some form of friendliness through this peaceable smiling.

"I longed to forgive them but they never smiled."

Even though he wants to forgive them for the torment they cause him, they never
reciprocate this desire, nor do they return a smile. The difference in their social
classes causes the children to envy his fortune while he envies their freedom. These
strong societal barriers of envy and jealousy create vitriol between them that cannot
easily be overcome.

A stone's throw, Elma Mitchell

We shouted out
'We've got her! Here she is!
It's her all right '.
We caught her.
There she was -
A decent-looking woman, you'd have said,
(They often are)
Beautiful, but dead scared,
And not the first time
By any means
She'd felt men's hands
Greedy over her body -
But ours were virtuous,
Of course.
And if our fingers bruised
Her shuddering skin,
These were love-bites, compared
To the hail of kisses of stone,
The last assault
And battery, frigid rape,
To come
Of right.
For justice must be done
Specially when
It tastes so good.
And then - this guru,
Preacher, God-merchant, God-knows-what -
Spoilt the whole thing,
Speaking to her
(Should never speak to them)
Squatting on the ground - her level,
Writing in the dust
Something we couldn't read.
And saw in her
Something we couldn't see
At least until
He turned his eyes on us,
Her eyes on us,
Our eyes upon ourselves.
We walked away
Still holding stones
That we may throw
Another day
Given the urge.
Summary
The poem alludes to the story of Mary Magdalene in the Bible (John 8:3-11),
highlighting themes of religion, violence, sexism and hypocrisy. The persona is
addressing some sort of unknown audience who he either wants to convince or
shares his point of view. He appears to be a misogynist, objectifying the woman who
is the subject of the poem and the victim of the abuse of the persona. The persona
stereotypes the woman as a harlot, and considers his assault of the woman to be
righteous as a result. The recounting of this tale of violence by the persona is laced
with glee, self-righteousness and sexual overtones. As the members of the village
'rough her up,' the persona notes callously that she had felt men's hands greedy over
her body before. There is a sense of irony throughout the poem due to the assertion
of the persona that they, assaulting this woman are more virtuous than the woman
herself or any man with whom she had been with. However, as the persona and
presumably a group of others in the village (as suggested by the use of 'we')
prepare to exact 'justice' upon this woman through stoning her to death, a
guru/preacher (Jesus) 'spoils their fun' by speaking to the woman. He sees a sort of
humanity within the woman which the persona cannot and judges them, letting the
woman judge them, and therefore triggering introspection in the surrounding crowd.
They now leave, still holding stones- and their judgements against her- which they
hope to throw another day given the urge.
The tone of the poem is nonchalant, callous and condescending. The mood is
violent.

Analysis
"We shouted out, 'We've got her! Here she is! It's her all right '. We caught
her."
The persona begins with the use of the pronoun 'we' to show that he was
accompanied by at least one other person. This could be in an attempt to share
accountability, but it is more likely a display of the involvement of multiple pursuers in
search of this woman. The subsequent lines are punctuated with exclamation points
to show their excitement. 'We've got her' shows a triumphant conquering of this
woman who has apparently evaded them for a while. 'Here she is' gives the
impression of exhibiting her for all to see, like a trophy or an elusive animal. 'It's her
all right' and 'we caught her' echo that triumph in capturing the woman.
"A decent-looking woman, you'd have said, (They often are)"
The persona evidently sees the woman as physically attractive, but uses the phrase
'you'd have said' to somewhat distance himself from admitting to the idea of finding
her attractive. He continues to say 'they often are' showing that he simply classifies
her as part of a group rather than as an individual. She is made to be only a
stereotype.

"Beautiful, but dead scared,"

The persona again reaffirms the fact that the woman looks beautiful even though she
is obviously deathly afraid.

"Tousled - we roughed her up A little, nothing much"

The word tousled here suggests that her clothing is slightly ruffled or her hair is
disheveled, as though playing around. The persona goes on to say that they
'roughed her up a little, nothing much', a euphemism, insinuating that they didn't use
any excessive force in capturing her. His version of the tale is obviously a lie.

"And not the first time By any means She'd felt men's hands Greedy over her
body - "
These lines show that the men took the opportunity to let their hands roam around
the woman's body. The persona makes a point of expressing that it wasn't the first
time something like this would have happened to her, so it wasn't out of the ordinary.
This also insinuates that she was a prostitute or a adulteress given to such
promiscuity. The use of the word 'greedy' suggests a violent ravaging of the woman's
body by these men who hope to sate a hunger by molesting this scared woman.
They likely had long wanted to do so, but had neither the audacity nor the
opportunity before.

"But ours were virtuous, Of course."

The persona here tries to make it seem as though they are virtuous in probing her
body with their hands; as if they are above reproach for doing so. He tries to distance
himself from those men with whom she fornicates. This is irony in that the persona
suggests that he and those with him are 'virtuous' in fondling this woman's body,
although they are doing the same thing as those she 'sins' with. Hence, his obdurate
assertion of self-righteousness is ironic, since he is no different from those he tries to
separate himself from.

"And if our fingers bruised Her shuddering skin, These were love-bites,
compared To the hail of kisses of stone,"
The persona uses 'if' here in an attempt to mitigate their cruelty. It is obvious that
they did bruise her skin, which is described as shuddering due to her fear. The
persona introduces more erotic overtones by comparing these bruises to 'love-bites'
like a bite made during intercourse meant to be pleasurable and painful
simultaneously. He attempts to palliate (mitigate) their maltreatment of the woman by
saying that there was far worse in store for her- particularly what is expressed in the
speaker's euphemism for being stoned, 'the hail of kisses of stone.' By saying that
the hail of stone would be like kisses, he introduces the idea that this violent
execution of 'justice' would be pleasurable.

"The last assault and battery, frigid rape, to come of right."

The persona mentions the final punishment- like the final dish of a meal (assault and
battery)- to be given to the woman- 'frigid rape.' This is an oxymoron because the
speaker is inferring that the woman will be sexually assaulted, but not penetrated as
in an actual rape. The phrase expresses the inability to consummate the physical act
of a sexual assault, as it will be her corpse being violated. This is 'justice' to the
persona as it correlates to how he thinks the woman lived her life- an object for the
sheer use and disposal of men.

"For justice must be done specially when it tastes so good."

It is made evident by this line exactly how self-righteous the persona really is,
because it isn't made clear in the poem exactly whose justice is being executed.
These lines, then, clarify that this is simply providing pleasure for the persona, who
neither values the life of the woman nor the idea of true justice. After all, whose laws
did the woman break? What authority have they to deliver punishment? And most of
all, is anything done here even close to justice? This extrajudicial punishment is
clearly just enjoyable for the persona as shown by the line "...it tastes so good." They
relish in the brutal assault and violation of this woman. This delight in her misfortune
or Schadenfreude, continues this metaphor of a meal to sate the appetites of these
power-hungry, misogynistic miscreants.

"And then - this guru, Preacher, God-merchant, God-knows-what -Spoilt the

whole thing,"
The persona's tone takes a turn for the contemptuous as his masochistic euphoria is
interrupted. He spits out several names to label the man by, and it is obvious that he
is greatly upset by this man's intervening. He calls him a guru, as he is well-versed in
matters pertaining to God or philosophy and the gospel; a God-merchant, implying
the man's trade in things relating to God. The poet skilfully incorporates the use of
the phrase 'God-knows-what,' as it denotes the persona's frustration with this man
and his inability to confine him to a single category; but, it also indicates the fact that
God does know the identity of this man even if no one in the crowd does (Jesus).

"Speaking to her (Should never speak to them) Squatting on the ground - her
level,"
The man speaks to the woman who they want to persecute- something the persona
considers taboo due to how he discriminates against this woman, stigmatizing her as
a prostitute/adulteress undeserving of any human decency. The man literally comes
between the mob and the woman, putting himself in harm's way.
The intervening man stoops to the ground, at the same level as the woman. This
essentially shows that he is not critical of the woman; he doesn't consider himself
morally or socially superior to her for any reason. Unlike the crowd, he sees her as a
human being and not an object of immorality and ridicule. The way that the persona
says 'her level' gives the impression of disgust and prejudice.

"Writing in the dust Something we couldn't read."

This line, where the man is said to write something that the mob couldn't read, has
several possible connotations. What he wrote could either be a foreign language or it
could be simply illegible. However, he could have intended to show the crowd that
they lacked discernment in their condemnation/persecution of another human being
by writing in the dust.
"And saw in her something we couldn't see at least until he turned his eyes on
us, her eyes on us, our eyes upon ourselves."
The man sees something in the woman that the persona and the mob could not see
in her. However, it became obvious once the man looked at the crowd, and the
woman looked at them as well. In turn, they began to look at themselves. In an
attempt to persecute this woman, they themselves had operated with no moral
compass. They had descended to such a level where nothing morally right had been
achieved. No words were said, but the crowd understood.

"We walked away still holding stones that we may throw another day given the
urge."
The crowd leaves, feeling dejected and unable to satisfy their craving for brutality
and violence. However, they still have their stones in hand- showing that the insight
given by the man would not be permanently incorporated into the minds of the
crowd. The precepts of true justice- rationality, truth and fairness- has never been
and will never be a part of the crowd's purpose. They have no intention of changing.
They will do the same again 'given the urge.'

The entire poem, is of course an allusion:

The poet has used the concept of intertextuality in crafting her poem from an original
story taken from the Gospel of Jon 8: 3-11. In the Bible story a woman is accused of
adultery and is brought before Jesus because according to Mosaic Law, she should
be stoned to death. Jesus states the famous lines, “He that is without sin among you,
let him cast the first stone at her.” Her accusers scatter. Jesus tells the woman he
does not condemn her and to go and refrain from sinning.

Birdshooting season, Olive Senior

Birdshooting season the men

make marriages with their guns
My father’s house turns macho
as from far the hunters gather

All night long contentless women

stir their brews: hot coffee
chocolata, cerassie
wrap pone and tie-leaf
for tomorrow’s sport. Tonight
the men drink white rum neat.

In darkness shouldering
their packs, their guns, they leave

We stand quietly on the

doorstep shivering. Little boys
longing to grow up birdhunters too
Little girls whispering:
Fly Birds Fly.
Summary
The persona (likely a young girl due to their attention to the details of the women's
emotions) describes the beginning of birdshooting season. Men gather from far and
wide to the house of the persona's father, influencing an atmosphere of manliness
and machismo. The preparations of both the men and the women are described
through the eyes of the child. Women prepare tea and coffee for these hunters and
make food for them as they set forth on this seasonal exodus, with neither thanks
nor acknowledgement. The little boys all dream of becoming birdhunters like their
fathers, while the little girls encourage the bids to fly away, as though hoping that
they themselves, like the birds will escape the fearsome grasp of the birdhunting
men and the resulting cycle. The themes include gender roles, nature and childhood
experiences. The mood is reflective.

Analysis
"Birdshooting season the men make marriages with their guns"
The poem begins with the titular phrase 'birdshooting season,' communicating a
yearly/seasonal time period during which men go out for shooting birds. The poet
uses a combination of alliteration and metaphor in "men make marriages with their
guns." The repetition of the deep, manly 'm' sound sets up birdshooting season as a
time meant mostly for the enjoyment of men and for them to display their male
prowess. The metaphor 'make marriages with their guns' conveys the care and
attention they give to their guns, as though actually marrying them. Thus, they
prioritize the condition of their guns, doting on them like in marriage- as they are they
are the primary tools they need to work in union with for birdshooting.

"My father’s house turns macho as from far the hunters gather"
The persona's father's house 'turns macho' with the influx of several men. To be
'macho' is to be manly in an excessively aggressive or assertive way, so it appears
that with the flocking of men from far and wide to one home, their masculinity has
built upon one another's, becoming more and more assertive to the point of
machismo.

"All night long contentless women stir their brews: hot coffee chocolata,
cerassie wrap pone and tie-leaf for tomorrow’s sport. Tonight the men drink
white rum neat."
The women are describes here as 'contentless,' meaning they are dissatisfied or
unhappy. This is likely due to the fact that they must stay up all night preparing the
beverages and food for these men without thanks, only for them to depart for a long
period of time to shoot birds. As the men have made marriages with their guns, they
have neglected care for their wives and children. The women must stock them up
with food and drink year after year without acknowledgement from their husbands.
The poem alludes to a slew of traditional Caribbean drinks and foods, and it is said
that the men drink 'white rum neat,' meaning white rum undiluted at full strength. This
again communicates the assertive machismo of the men, showing off their masculine
resistance to strong alcohol.

"In darkness shouldering their packs, their guns, they leave"

The men now leave in the darkness of early morning carrying the guns they so
dearly cherish and the packs holding food and drink. There is no mention of
acknowledging anyone other than themselves.

"We stand quietly on the doorstep shivering. Little boys longing to grow up
birdhunters too Little girls whispering: Fly Birds Fly."
Shivering in the cold morning air, boys seem to idolize the birdhunting men, hoping
to become like them in the future. By contrast, the girls hope for the birds to fly away,
whispering encouragement for them to escape. This reflects a more empathetic and
caring sentiment that is contrary to the aggressive masculinity of the men. This could
also be because birdshooting takes their fathers away for a simple sport, and they
can see themselves in the birds, being grasped by an endless cycle surrounding a
ritual of birdshooting for the enjoyment of men.

Once upon a time, Gabriel Okara

Once upon a time, son,

they used to laugh with their hearts
and laugh with their eyes:
but now they only laugh with their teeth,
while their ice-block-cold eyes
search behind my shadow.

There was a time indeed

they used to shake hands with their hearts:
but that’s gone, son.
Now they shake hands without hearts
while their left hands search
my empty pockets.

‘Feel at home!’ ‘Come again’:

they say, and when I come
again and feel
at home, once, twice,
there will be no thrice-
for then I find doors shut on me.

So I have learned many things, son.

I have learned to wear many faces
like dresses – homeface,
officeface, streetface, hostface,
cocktailface, with all their conforming smiles
like a fixed portrait smile.

And I have learned too

to laugh with only my teeth
and shake hands without my heart.
I have also learned to say,’Goodbye’,
when I mean ‘Good-riddance’:
to say ‘Glad to meet you’,
without being glad; and to say ‘It’s been
nice talking to you’, after being bored.

But believe me, son.

I want to be what I used to be
when I was like you. I want
to unlearn all these muting things.
Most of all, I want to relearn
how to laugh, for my laugh in the mirror
shows only my teeth like a snake’s bare fangs!

So show me, son,

how to laugh; show me how
I used to laugh and smile
once upon a time when I was like you.

Summary
In this poem, the persona, a father (or mother) seems to be speaking to his son
about how people, as well as he himself have changed from showing genuine
emotion to being insincere and ingenuine. The persona reminisces about times gone
when people would "laugh with their eyes" and "shake hands with their hearts." He
disdainfully remarks about the disingenuous pretences people put on now of feigned
laughs and heartless handshakes whilst they search him for information about his
financial status. The persona also speaks about his own adaptation to this new
insincere world by saying nice things and acting amiably in contrast to what he really
feels. However, he expresses to his son as well how much he misses people being
genuine, and being sincere himself- as he finds himself unable to really laugh. He
wants to be young and able to show his true feelings again like his son.
The theme of the poem is societal changes, hypocrisy and values. The mood is one
of disdain and nostalgia.
The tone of this poem could be considered to be ironic, since not only does the
father act the exact way he despises, but his dream dream of turning the clock back
to a time of sincerity is nothing more than a fantasy as well.

Analysis
Stanza 1
"Once upon a time, son, they used to laugh with their hearts and laugh with
their eyes"
The first stanza opens with the titular phrase of 'once upon a time,' showing that
there is a sort of story about to be told. The father begins to speak about 'they,' the
people who used to laugh genuinely, and show their true emotions.

"But now they only laugh with their teeth, while their ice-block-cold eyes
search behind my shadow."
These lines show how these people no longer laugh genuinely, but rather do it for
show while they inspect the persona closely- hoping to find secrets and flaws of
some sort. He describes their eyes using a metaphor- "ice-block-cold eyes"- to
show how callous and unfeeling they truly are.

Stanza 2
"There was a time indeed- they used to shake hands with their hearts: but
that’s gone, son."
Once again, the persona recalls (nostalgically) time when people would shake hands
'with their hearts,' or with love- but states disdainfully that that time has passed.

"Now they shake hands without hearts while their left hands search my empty
pockets."
The people shake hands callously, without any intention of showing trust and
interpersonal warmth. Instead, they want to find out how much money he has, his
financial status; as is exemplified in western capitalist values. This draws parallel
with what was said at the end of the previous stanza: "....their ice-block-cold eyes
search behind my shadow." They only aim to find or gain something, therefore losing
the sincerity of the gesture or action.

Stanza 3
"‘Feel at home!’ ‘Come again’: they say, and when I come again and feel at
home, once, twice, there will be no thrice- for then I find doors shut on me."
This connects again to what was previously said about the people inspecting and
evaluating the persona and putting genuineness and sincerity to the wayside in
favour of a newer culture where financial and social status is paramount. In this
stanza, the persona is invited to their houses and told gladly after each time to feel at
home and come again. However, once they see that his social or financial status
doesn't quite measure up, he is excluded without a second thought.

Stanza 4
"So I have learned many things, son. I have learned to wear many faces like
dresses – homeface, officeface, streetface, hostface, cocktailface, with all
their conforming smiles like a fixed portrait smile."
The father has learned from this new culture of cold, unfeeling people, and now
cycles through faces for different occasions. Each one has a fixed smile whose aim
is to please those around and conform to other people.

Stanza 5
"And I have learned too to laugh with only my teeth and shake hands without
my heart. I have also learned to say, ’Goodbye’, when I mean ‘Good-riddance’;
to say ‘Glad to meet you’, without being glad; and to say ‘It’s been nice talking
to you’, after being bored."
The persona again expresses what he has adapted to do over the years: to do things
not because he means them or they come from his heart, but rather for show in
hopes of gaining something.

Stanza 6
"But believe me, son. I want to be what I used to be when I was like you. I want
to unlearn all these muting things. Most of all, I want to relearn how to laugh,
for my laugh in the mirror shows only my teeth like a snake’s bare fangs!"
The father wants to be like his son again. Despite having learnt all of these tricks and
hollow expressions to conform to the changes in society, he wants to be able to
embrace the innocence and sincerity he once had as a child. These disingenuous
things he has learnt have only served to mute him ('these muting things') and silence
his true thoughts and emotions. He has adapted to this cold culture so much that
when he sees his laugh in the mirror, his teeth are the only things laughing- so he
seems deceitful and mendacious like a snake.

Stanza 7
"So show me, son, how to laugh; show me how I used to laugh and smile once
upon a time when I was like you."
The persona now pleads (pointlessly, one might argue) to his son to teach him how
to laugh and smile genuinely again. He wants to be innocent and sincere like he was
when he was younger, and lived in a society that encouraged honesty and a pure
identity.

Literary Devices
Simile
"I have learned to wear many faces like dresses" (lines 20-21)
The 'faces' of the persona are compared to dresses, in that he cycles through them
based on where he is. He simply switches between the personality/face he puts on
to conform to where he goes.

"...with all their conforming smiles like a fixed portrait smile." (lines 23-24)
The persona's several faces have smiles compared here to a fixed portrait smile.
The smile a person puts on in a photograph or portrait of themselves is often not
representative of the normal state of being of the person, and is also often
uncomfortable and an exaggerated pretence of happiness- similar to the pretence
the persona performs here with his several smiling faces.

"my laugh in the mirror shows only my teeth like a snake’s bare fangs!" (lines
38-39)
The father's teeth are compared to a snake's fangs because of the connotation of a
snake- deception and deceitfulness. The father no longer shows sincerity when he
laughs, and so his teeth are deceptive as they don't reflect his true feelings. He
himeslf becomes something like a snake through this deception.

Metaphor
"while their ice-block-cold eyes" (line 5)
The eyes of the people are compared to ice-blocks in how cold and unwelcoming
they are. It emphasizes how callous and unfeeling the people have become.

Repetition
"Once upon a time..." (lines 1 and 43)

Enjambment
This is when a line runs on to a new line without a stop or pause.
"And I have learned too
to laugh with only my teeth
and shake hands without my heart." (lines 25-27)

"they used to laugh with their hearts

and laugh with their eyes:" (lines 2-3)
(There are many more examples in the poem)

Alliteration
"shake hands without hearts" (line 8)
"...after being bored." (line 32)
"But believe me, son." (line 33)

LITERARY DEVICES

1. METAPHOR
The people’s eyes are as cold as ice. This means that there is no warmth or real feeling in the words
that they say, or how they behave. This metaphor literally allows you to visualize a block of ice, cold
and unwelcoming.

2. SIMILE
Stanza 4, lines 20-21 emphasizes the constant changes in the persona’s face. If you think of how
often a woman changes her dress, then that is how often the persona adjusts his/her’s personality to
suit an audience. The list of faces that follow this line emphasizes this point.

Stanza 4, lines 23-24 compares people’s faces to smiles in a portrait. If you think about a portrait, it is
usually very formal and stiff, even uncomfortable. Therefore, the implication is that the smiles are
actually fake and stiff. They are conforming or trying to fit, into a preconceived mould that is set up by
societal expectations.

Stanza 6, lines 38-40 compares the persona’s laugh to a snakes. When you think of a snake, words
such as sneaky and deceitful come to mind. Therefore, the implication is that the persona is fake, just
like the people he/she despises.

3. REPETITION
This phrase is repeated at the beginning and the end of the poem. This usually signals the beginning
of a fairy tale. Therefore, it is implied that the persona is nostalgic about the past.

IMPORTANT WORDS/ PHRASES

4.’they only laugh with their teeth’

This emphasizes the insincerity of the people around the persona. To laugh with your teeth means
that only the bottom half of your face is engaged, the laugh does not reach the eyes.

5. ‘shake hands with their heart’

To shake hands with your heart implies a strong handshake that is sincere, this is the opposite of
what now occurs between people.

6. ‘search behind my shadow’

This implies that the person cannot look the persona in the eye, they are looking everywhere but
there. Looking someone in the eye during a conversation implies that one is sincerely interested in
what you have to say. Not being able to do so implies shiftiness.

7. ‘hands search my empty pockets’

People are only ‘seemingly’ nice to get something from you. So, they smile with you, but it is not
sincere, they are seeking to get something from you.

8. ‘unlearn all these muting things’

The word mute means silence, think of what happens when you press the mute button on the TV
remote. Therefore, there is an implication that the insincere actions that the persona describes are
muting, they block, or silence, good intentions. Hence, the persona wants to ‘unlearn’ these habits.

MOOD/ ATMOSPHERE:

The mood of the poem is nostalgic. The persona is remembering how things used to be when he was
young and innocent, like his son.

TONE:

The tone of the poem is sad. The poet’s response to his nostalgia is sadness.

THEMES:

● Childhood experiences,
● Hypocrisy,
● Loss of innocence,
● Appearance vs reality
* It is IRONIC that the persona is behaving in the exact way that he/she despises. There is an
implication that things cannot go back to what he remembers, due to the influence of societal
expectations.

Dreaming black Boy, James Berry

I wish my teacher’s eyes wouldn’t

go past me today. Wish he’d know
it’s okay to hug me when I kick
a goal. Wish I myself wouldn’t hold back when answer comes.
I’m no woodchopper now
like all ancestors.

I wish I could be educated

to the best of tune up, and earn
good money and not sink to lick
boots. I wish I could go on every
crisscross way of the globe
and no persons or powers or
hotel keepers would make it a waste.
I wish life wouldn’t spend me out
opposing. Wish same way creation
would have me stand it would have
me stretch, and hold high, my voice
Paul Robeson’s, my inside eye
a sun. Nobody wants to say
hello to nasty answers.

I wish torch throwers of night

would burn lights for decent times.
Wish plotters in pyjamas would pray
for themselves. Wish people wouldn’t
talk as if I dropped from Mars.

I wish only boys were scared

behind bravados, for I could suffer.
I could suffer a big big lot.
I wish nobody would want to earn
the terrible burden I can suffer.

Summary
The persona is a young black male wishing for things he should have already been
guaranteed for being a human. He has suffered great racial discrimination
throughout his life, and this has affected him to the point where he isn't as bold as he
should be. He knows that he is different from his enslaved ancestors, but he feels
still trapped by the prejudice he has to bear. He wants to travel the world and be
educated, rather than having to do demeaning jobs to get by. He wishes to be like
the revolutionary Paul Robeson, whom he idolizes. This boy has suffered through
seeing members of the Ku Klux Klan discriminating against and lynching black
people like him, and he hopes that no one else has to bear this terrible burden he
does. The speaker’s tone is one of wistfulness, subdued optimism, restrained anger,
sadness and despair. Like the attitude of the black boy, the atmosphere of the poem
is one of despair, sadness and deep suffering.

Analysis

"I wish my teacher’s eyes wouldn’t go past me today. Wish he’d know it’s okay
to hug me when I kick a goal."
This boy is ignored by his teacher, evidently due to his race. He wants to be
recognized for his achievements in the same way the other students in his class are,
but his teacher does not acknowledge him.
"Wish I myself wouldn’t hold back when answer comes. I’m no woodchopper
now like all ancestors."
The persona confirms how he feels-voiceless and powerless. He holds back even
when he knows the answer, showing that his confidence has been undermined due
to constant prejudice. He knows that it doesn't make sense for him to not be bold, as,
unlike his ancestors, he is free.

"I wish I could be educated to the best of tune up"

The boy wants to receive the best possible education. He uses a metaphor here to
compare education to 'tune up,' as in how a car is well-serviced (or tuned) or how an
instrument has been tuned to play the perfect notes.

"and earn good money and not sink to lick boots."

He doesn't want to become the stereotype of that era, of blacks only being meant for
menial tasks. He is able to think critically, and he hopes not to be relegated to being
a proverbial 'hewer of wood and drawer of water,' or spit shoe-shiner. He doesn't
want to simply be subservient and servile in order to get by.

"I wish I could go on every crisscross way of the globe and no persons or
powers or hotel keepers would make it a waste."
He wishes to travel the globe without the restraints of discrimination. He longs for
unrestricted access to places where people and institutions do not discriminate
against him because his skin is black.

"I wish life wouldn’t spend me out opposing."

In this personification, 'life' is said to spend the boy out, as in exhaust him
completely. He doesn't want to spend his whole life on the defensive, constantly
having to fight against discrimination and assault.

"Wish same way creation would have me stand it would have me stretch, and
hold high, my voice Paul Robeson’s, my inside eye a sun."
He personifies creation here to be a sort of entity that controls his life. He wants
'creation,' in the same way it gave him the ability to withstand prejudice, it would give
him the ability to grow internally, to have dignity- to 'stretch' beyond the limits society
has defined for him. The persona dreams of having Paul Robeson’s voice as his
own. This alludes to Paul Robeson, an African American icon known for his deep,
distinctive voice. He was a Renaissance Man who epitomized black manhood as a
star athlete singer, actor, lawyer, and human right activist. He wants to be like
Robeson, and be as influential as him as well.
He wants his 'inside eye' to be a 'sun,' meaning that he wants his spirit and brilliance
to be a light that all people can see.
"Nobody wants to say hello to nasty answers."
This line seems sort of out of place, but it shows the persona's realization that being
exceptional is meaningless if people continue to be repulsed by him.
"I wish torch throwers of night would burn lights for decent times. Wish
plotters in pyjamas would pray for themselves."
These lines allude to the Ku Klux Klan, a group of white supremacists who would
lynch and torment black people. They did this under the guise of religion. The
persona is highlighting their hypocrisy, as they hurt others, instead of praying for
their own salvation at night.

"Wish people wouldn’t talk as if I dropped from Mars."

The persona wishes that his differences wouldn't be highlighted to seem as though
he doesn't belong on this planet. He feels ostracized, as though he doesn't have the
same permission to live in society- like he was born on Mars.

"I wish only boys were scared behind bravados, for I could suffer. I could
suffer a big big lot. I wish nobody would want to earn the terrible burden I can
suffer."
The persona wishes that only children were scared behind pretenses of valor- but he
knows that even though adults display brave facades to the world, they are equally
as scared. So, they are just as afraid and unable to oppose, and he cannot look to
them for protection from the forces that plague him.
The word ‘suffer’ is repeated three times in this final stanza. Being a black boy is
apparently synonymous with being afraid and suffering. He wishes that with
adulthood things would change, but from what he has seen, he knows that is not
true. He hopes that no one else will have to suffer through what he must suffer
through because of the colour of their skin.

*'Wish' is repeated 12 times throughout the poem to reinforce the persona's mood of
longing.

This is the dark time my love, Martin Crater

This is the dark time, my love,

All round the land brown beetles crawl about.
The shining sun is hidden in the sky
Red flowers bend their heads in awful sorrow.
This is the dark time, my love,
It is the season of oppression, dark metal, and tears.
It is the festival of guns, the carnival of misery.
Everywhere the faces of men are strained and anxious.
Who comes walking in the dark night time?
Whose boot of steel tramps down the slender grass?
It is the man of death, my love, the strange invader
Watching you sleep and aiming at your dream.
Summary
This poem is written in the context of the pain and suffering associated with war, and
specifically the struggles of Guyana during British colonization in 1953. At that point,
the constitution had been suspended to allow Britain to send soldiers into Guyana to
crush the uprising of the people. It is likely that the ‘love’ spoken of by the persona is
his country, however it could also simply be a woman who he loves. The poet
communicates a gloomy atmosphere plagued with the sentiment of doom due to
oppression by soldiers and weapons of terror. Nature reflects this gloom, as seen in
the absence of sunlight and drooping flowers. The people of the country are all
melancholy and anxiety-stricken, visibly oppressed by the spoils of war. Death (and
war) is personified as a man who tramples not only nature, but the peace and
dreams of the persona’s country underfoot. The mood of the poem is dismal and
gloomy. The tone is pessimistic and sad, and the themes include war, conflict, doom,
death and despair.

“This is the dark time, my love,”

The persona begins by declaring the dismal nature of their current time. This time is
characterized by darkness, and therefore a sentiment of impending doom and
unfavourable outcomes. The titular line conveys that the persona is speaking to
someone, his ‘love,’ which could simply be his lover, but could be better interpreted
as being his country (like how the persona of ‘It is the Constant Image of Your Face’
(Dennis Brutus) refers to his country as his ‘dearest love.’
“All round the land brown beetles crawl about.”
This refers to the British soldiers who occupied the country during this time. Note the
use of alliteration here in ‘brown beetles.’ The persona communicates a landscape
filled with the soldiers, corresponding to the atmosphere of war.
“The shining sun is hidden in the sky
Red flowers bend their heads in awful sorrow.”
Now, nature seems to reflect the dismal mood, the ‘dark time’ if you well. The sun
does not shine in the sky, so it is not just dark in the sense of gloom, but also
literally, with the absence of sunlight. The sun, like any sign of positive outcome or
optimism is hidden. Reinforcing the mood, the poet personifies red flowers by
saying that they ‘bend their heads in awful sorrow.’ The flowers are given the quality
of emotion and reflecting that emotion. Thus, even the flowers are mourning the dark
times of death and sorrow. They are the colour red (the colour of blood), essentially
the only colour mentioned in the poem.
“This is the dark time, my love,
It is the season of oppression, dark metal, and tears.”
The persona describes this dark time as a season, characterized by endless
oppression, the dark metal of the machines of war and sadness. Note the repetition
of the word ‘dark,’ which communicates the pessimistic outlook and an atmosphere
of terror. The ‘dark metal’ likely refers to tankers and guns which oppress the people
of the persona’s country.
“It is the festival of guns, the carnival of misery.
Everywhere the faces of men are strained and anxious.”
The poet utilizes two oxymorons here (two contradicting ideas in close succession).
He refers to this dark time of war as a festival (associated with joy and celebration) of
guns (machines of terror, oppression and violent death). Quite
incompatible/contradictory terms. He continues by describing it as a carnival
(associated with fun and the joy of children) of misery (a terrible emotion of
helplessness and despair). The persona remarks the strained emotions in the faces
of everyone around him- including his own countrymen and the soldiers.
“Who comes walking in the dark night time?
Whose boot of steel tramps down the slender grass?”
The poet uses rhetorical questions to lead into the reveal of a personification of
war and death. It hints at something being closely related to dark times such as
these, who has a ‘boot of steel.’ This reflects the oppressive and abusive effect war
has, pressing down on not only the environment, but on the people of the country as
well. It tramples the grass underfoot, showing blatant disregard for nature- opting
instead to fulfil selfish goals through needless death and suffering.
“It is the man of death, my love, the strange invader
Watching you sleep and aiming at your dream.”
The poet personifies death as a strange invader to the persona’s country. This man
of death is said to not only crush nature under his steel boot, but also watch the
persona’s love sleep and aim at destroying her dream. If the love he refers to truly is
his country, then the man of death aims to wreck any possibility of realization of the
dream held by the country overall- one of freedom and independence. The war and
conflict spurred by the invasion of soldiers to crush resistance and attempts at
liberation directly intends to destroy the dreams and optimism of the people of the
country overall.

Dulce et decorum est, Wilfred Owen

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,

Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs,
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots,
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of gas-shells dropping softly behind.
Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!—An ecstasy of fumbling
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time,
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And flound’ring like a man in fire or lime.—
Dim through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues—
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.
Summary
The poem is written as a harsh, but ultimately fair criticism of the atrocities of war.
The poet wrote this whilst hospitalized after experiencing fighting in the trenches of
Northern France in World War I. The soldiers in a languid, drowsy state march
slowly, shell-shocked by the traumas of war and losing touch with their own senses.
He recounts in graphic detail being caught in the noxious gases of chemical warfare
and watching one of his fellow soldiers unable to fit the gas helmet on in time. This
man, stumbling, yelling and screaming suffers a slow painful death, choking in the
cruel toxic gas. This image of the man dying before the persona's eyes, with him
unable to help, stays with him in his dreams. This graphic, traumatic sight leads the
persona to a blunt conclusion. Having seen this man die before his eyes, his lungs
corrupted by the chemicals, he finds no true glory or goodness in martyrdom for
one's country. The image of an innocent man needlessly killed in his country's
conflict drives the persona to rebuke the hackneyed maxim 'dulce et decorum est pro
patria mori.' He doesn't believe that any child searching for glory should ever be told
this; a shameful falsehood that death on the battlefield is 'sweet.' Owen does not
hold back in this criticism, and sincerely concludes the gruesome death of war is not
sweet, nor are these innocent lives lost in such traumatic ways reflective of a joy in
patriotic martyrdom.
The themes of the poem include war, propaganda, patriotism, trauma and
martyrdom. The mood of the poem is pitiful, and the tone is both critical and pitiful.

Analysis
"Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,"
The soldiers are slouched over, lacking energy and vivacity as though encumbered
by a literal weight. The poet uses a simile in "like old beggars under sacks," showing
that just like beggars weighed down by heavy sacks and unable to stand up straight
due to old age, the soldiers are bent over in their slow trudge, fatigued by the spoils
of war.

"Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, Till on the

haunting flares we turned our backs, And towards our distant rest began to
trudge."
This line begins with an alliteration 'knock kneed' continuing a theme that
progresses throughout the poem- the description of the disfiguration of the soldiers.
They definitely didn't go to war looking like this, but they have been spent, and their
bodies are reeling from the deleterious effects of war. Another simile is used here
'coughing like hags' comparing their dry, hacking coughing to that of an old woman
(hag).
Now, they turn their backs on the 'haunting flares,' showing that they are leaving the
battlefield now, with its distressing explosions (flares) and gunshots. Finally, they can
trudge to their 'distant rest' away from the agonies of war.

"Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots, But limped on, blood-shod."
The poet uses alliteration once again with the repetition of the 'm' sound: "men
marched asleep." The 'm' sound is often associated with the mindless humming of a
person severely tired or groggy. Thus, the drowsy way in which the men walked is
communicated both with the alliteration and the line itself, as their trudging makes it
seem as though they are asleep and merely sleepwalking.
Many men are said to have 'lost their boots,' which may be a euphemism for losing
their feet in explosions. Nonetheless, they limp onward 'blood-shod.' Shod here
means to be fit with a shoe (like a horse). So, having no boots (and maybe missing a
foot), their feet are instead covered with blood.

"All went lame; all blind; Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots Of gas-
shells dropping softly behind."
The soldiers are exhausted to such a point that they are losing their sense of touch,
sight and even hearing as they are intoxicated with enervation and fatigue. Their
reactions and senses dulled by tiresome battle on the frontlines, some are even
unable to hear the gas-shells thrown out behind them.

"Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!—An ecstasy of fumbling Fitting the clumsy helmets
just in time,"
Toxic gas, the cruel weapon of chemical warfare used by countries during WWI,
begins to spew out of the shells, and they must fumble madly to fit their gas masks
over their heads to survive the gas attack. The poet uses 'ecstasy of fumbling' to
communicate the frenzy the soldiers are in to try get their helmets on.

"But someone still was yelling out and stumbling And flound’ring like a man in
fire or lime.—"
Not everyone is able to slimly avoid breathing the noxious gas by slipping on their
helmets- one man still struggles amidst the toxic fumes. He is yelling, stumbling and
floundering about, showing distress and agony. The poet uses simile again here in
'flound'ring like a man in fire' to compare his struggling, stumbling, plunging
movements to that of a man doused in flames.

"Dim through the misty panes and thick green light, As under a green sea, I
saw him drowning."
The poet uses vivid visual imagery to convey what the persona is seeing. Through
the misty panes of the eye-piece his gas mask and the thick green tint of the gas
surrounding them, he sees the struggling man stumbling about like he is drowning
under a green sea. The simile 'as under a green sea.' the thick green light around
them is compared to a green sea. In the same way the sea is a thick body of water
surrounding the person submerged in it, the gas has surrounded them and seems as
thick as the water in the ocean.

"In all my dreams before my helpless sight, He plunges at me, guttering,

choking, drowning."
This graphic image seems to haunt the persona, as he speaks about it 'in all [his]
dreams.' The persona is helpless, unable to assist this man dying before him. He is
guttering (tears streaming down his face, a symptom of inhaling toxic gas), choking
and drowning- the poet paints a gloomy, disturbing image that communicates his
critical view of war and its casualties.

"If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace Behind the wagon that we
flung him in, And watch the white eyes writhing in his face, His hanging face,
like a devil’s sick of sin;"
The poet comes to the final stanza, where he intends to drive home his point. The
horrific image illustrated previously leads directly into the gloomy atmosphere
created here. They throw the unfortunate man in a wagon, and the poet describes
his eyes using a personification: 'eyes writhing in his face.' His eyes are said to be
writhing, moving randomly, in the same way a human twists and squirms, contorting
their body in pain.
A simile in 'his hanging face like a devil's sick of sin' compares the unnatural
appearance of his face to that of a devil horrified of its own evil.

"If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood Come gargling from the froth-
corrupted lungs, Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud Of vile, incurable sores
on innocent tongues—"
The poet continues the description of the horrific state of the man. Blood gargles
from his lungs, corrupted by froth from the noxious chemicals. It is described with a
brief simile 'obscene as cancer,' comparing the obscenity and fatality of this blood
emerging from his lungs to that of cancer. He describes it now with another simile,
comparing the blood to the bitter, regurgitated, half-digested material cattle
ruminate/chew on. The sores on his tongue are incurable, and he is now victim to
this lifelong affliction despite his innocence.

"My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent for some
desperate glory, The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori."
The poet now concludes with the scathing remark that, if you were able to
experience those atrocities, the gruesome corruption of an innocent man's lungs
drowning amidst the sea of green noxious gas- you definitely would not tell children
the hackneyed maxim "dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori." This line is taken
from the Odes (III.2.13) by the Roman poet Horace. The line translates: "It is sweet
and fitting to die for the homeland." The poet sees no true glory or anything sweet in
such a painful, excruciating death.

Death be not proud, John Donne

Death, be not proud, though some have called thee

Mighty and dreadful, for thou are not so;
For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.
Thou'art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
And poppy'or charms can make us sleep as well
And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then?
One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.

Death, be not Proud (Holy Sonnet 10) Analysis

Lines 1-2
Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;

The speaker immediately creates a personified version of death by talking directly to

him. He paints a picture of Death as an arrogant being, and one who needs to be
humbled. The speaker assumes the position of the one who must humble this being,
Death. He tells him that he ought not to be so proud, even though for generations
people have feared Death and called him “mighty and dreadful”. The speaker,
however, with a voice of absolute authority on the matter, simply states, “thou art not
so”. This poet uses the literary tactic of “apostrophe” to drive home his point.
Apostrophe occurs when a writer addresses a subject who cannot respond. Readers
know immediately that this sonnet will consist of one speaker who will do all of the
talking and accusing of his subject. Death, though adequately personified, cannot
respond to the accusations of the speaker.

Lines 3-4
For those whom thou think’st thou dost overthrow
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.

Here in ‘Death, be not Proud‘, the speaker accuses the death of having illusions of
grandeur. He claims that while Death thinks that he has the power to kill, he actually
does not. The speaker first humbles Death by telling him that his idea that he has the
power to overthrow lives is simply an illusion, and that he has no such power at all.
Then, to further humiliate Death, the speaker calls him “Poor Death”. It sounds
almost as if the speaker is making fun of Death for having lived under the illusion that
he had any sort of power over life or death. Then, he addresses Death in a more
personal manner, challenging him by saying, “yet canst thou kill me”. It seems
dangerous for one to threaten death in this way. However, knowledge of John
Donne’s background and ideologies can give some insight into the speaker’s
confidence here. Though everyone knows that physical death does indeed occur, the
speaker is challenging Death in a different way. He uses the Christian theology of
eternity to taunt Death by telling him, essentially, “Even if you take my physical body,
you can never truly kill me.”

Lines 5-6
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,

With these lines, the speaker compares death to “rest and sleep” and even uses the
word “pleasure” to describe how one should feel about death. Just as a restful night
of sleep brings pleasure, so should death. The speaker implies that sleep is simply a
small glimpse of Death. Thus, there is nothing to fear in death, for death will bring
something like a pleasurable sleep.

Lines 7-8
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul’s delivery.

Here in ‘Death, be not Proud‘, the speaker says that the best men seem to
experience death the soonest. While others have long questioned why it seems as if
the best people die soonest, the speaker offers an answer here, suggesting that the
best among men deserve to experience the peaceful rest of death sooner, without
having to endure the agonies of a long life on the earth. The speaker describes
Death as “rest of their bones” and “soul’s delivery”. Both of these descriptions make
Death seem like a welcome friend who comes to graciously offer rest and peace and
the deliverance of one’s soul from an earthly body where pain and suffering abide.

Lines 9-10
Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
Here, the speaker takes on a stronger tone and begins to taunt Death with more
ferocity than he did at first. Here, he calls Death a slave to “chance, kings, and
desperate men”. He tells Death that he is not mighty and dreadful, but rather a poor
slave who cannot even act on his own but is driven not only by fate and chance, but
also by people, rich and poor alike”. He then accuses Death of having lowly
companions such as “poison, war, and sickness”. He has taunted Death, telling him
that he is not to be feared, but rather that he is a slave to the will of fate and men,
and that as a lowly slave, his companions are the even lowlier beings such as
sickness and war. These accusations serve to allow the readers to feel a sense of
power and victory over Death. The speaker certainly feels authority over Death, and
he passes this feeling along to his readers when he puts Death in his place by
talking down to him.

Lines 11-12
And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well
And better than thy stroke; why swell’st thou then?
The speaker continues to taunt Death, even more, saying that all he brings is a little
sleep, and he doesn’t even do that as well as some other bringers of rest such as
“poppy” or “charms”. This comparison further portrays Death as something not only
weak, but even pleasurable. The speaker questions Death, asking “why swell’st thou
then?” He is asking him why he is so puffed up with pride, when he cannot even do
his job, as well as others, can.

Lines 13-14
One short sleep past, we wake eternally
And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die
With these final lines of ‘Death, be not Proud‘, the speaker reveals exactly why he
has been taunting death so relentlessly. Although it is obvious that Death is real, and
that people who experience Death do not come back to earth, the speaker reveals
his reasons for claiming that Death is weak and easily overcome. He claims that
Death is only “one short sleep” and that those who experience Death “wake
eternally”. Then, he claims that “death shall be no more”. Finally, he tells Death,
“thou shalt die”. The speaker has not only told Death that he has no real power over
anyone, but that he will experience the end of himself when all wake in eternity and
death will be no more.

Ol’Higue, Mark McWatt

You think I like all this stupidness

gallivanting all night without skin
burning myself out like cane –fire
To frighten the foolish?
And for what? A few drops of baby blood?
You think I wouldn’t rather
take my blood seasoned in fat
black-pudding, like everyone else?
And don’t even talk ‘bout the pain of salt
And having to bend these old bones down
To count a thousand grains of rice!

If only babies didn’t smell so nice!

And if I could only stop
Hearing the soft, soft call
Of that pure blood running in new veins,
Singing the sweet song of life
Tempting an old, dry-up woman who been
Holding her final note for years,
Afraid of the dying hum…

Then again, if I didn’t fly and come

to that fresh pulse in the middle of the night,
how would you, mother,
name your ancient dread,
And who to blame
for the murder inside your head…?
Believe me –
As long as it have women giving birth
A poor ol’ higue like me can never dead.

Summary
The 'Ole Higue' is a supernatural character found in Caribbean folklore. This
nocturnal being is also called a jumbie, soucouyant and backoo as is a mixture of a
vampire and a witch. In Caribbean folklore the Ole Higue or Old Hag is an old
woman. She sheds her skin at nights; stores it in a mortar and turns into a ball of fire
before going about to suck the blood of babies.
In the poem, the Ole Higue appears bitter and unhappy with the circumstance she is
in. She defends the involuntary nature of her compulsive behaviour. She seems
repulsed by the mothers of young children, yet she believes she plays an important
role in society by being a scapegoat for the infanticidal tendencies of some mothers
and the inexplicable. She comes across as self-centered, but also clever and
insightful.
The Ole Higue wishes that she didn't have such an affinity for children, however, she
knows that the myth of her existence can never die as long as mothers have children
and need something- or someone to blame for their deaths.
The mood of the poem is irritable, and somewhat smug and bitter. The tone is
argumentative and defensive, but also reflective and sensitive towards the end of the
poem.

Analysis
"You think I like all this stupidness
gallivanting all night without skin
burning myself out like cane –fire
To frighten the foolish?"
The Ole Higue begins with an explosive and argumentative first line. Note that the
diction (choice of words/language) is distinctly Caribbean, and reflective of her
identity as an old, irritable woman. She expresses great dissatisfaction with what she
does- however she is compelled to do so completely involuntarily. This alludes to an
old wives’ tale told in the Caribbean of a hag who sheds her skin at night, turns into a
ball of fire and scares superstitious people. She considers this act stupid, simply to
'frighten the foolish' superstitious who believe in the myth. Note the alliteration here
in 'frighten the foolish.'

"And for what? A few drops of baby blood?"

She reasons that the whole act of setting herself on fire without skin and flying
around is far more effort than it is worth. After all, a baby's body contains barely any
blood, and for a mythical creature to compulsively go through this routine for such a
negligible quantity is ludicrous to her- it is not rewarding at all.

"You think I wouldn’t rather

take my blood seasoned in fat
black-pudding, like everyone else?"
Instead of the bland blood of babies, the Ole Higue would much rather have her
blood like everyone else does- well-seasoned and in black-pudding. This shows
again that she in no way wants to do such an unrewarding task, but is forced to do
this nonetheless.

"And don’t even talk ‘bout the pain of salt

And having to bend these old bones down
To count a thousand grains of rice!"
These lines are another allusion to the folklore of the Ole Higue. She must look out
for salt, as it can injure or kill her (which makes sense since she has no skin). When
salt is placed into the mortar with her skin in it, she can no longer put it on (does that
sound familiar? There's a similar tale in Breath, Eyes, Memory). People may also
obstruct her from reaching her infant victims by placing rice in front of their doors.
Once an Ole Higue sees the rice she must count every grain before she can gain
access. The intention is to keep her counting until the sun rises, making it impossible
for her to enter the house and suck the baby’s blood. Thus, the Ole Higue is often
obstructed in trying to drink the blood of babies adding to her seemingly endless
misery.

"If only babies didn’t smell so nice!

And if I could only stop
Hearing the soft, soft call
Of that pure blood running in new veins,
Singing the sweet song of life
Tempting an old, dry-up woman who been
Holding her final note for years,
Afraid of the dying hum…"
The Ole Higue is incredibly attracted to baby blood, and she presents this in a sort of
defence for killing them. The pure, untainted scent of babies' blood tempts her- she
finds their aroma irresistible. The alliteration in "singing the sweet song of life"
conveys the attractive quality of these infants' blood to the Ole Higue. The blood of
the children represent new life- life which she has been trying to hold on to for years.
She knows that the babies are at the beginning of the life cycle, and she is at the
end; but she can alter the passage of this natural cycle. She prolongs her aged
existence by bringing the babies’ lives to a premature end.
"Then again, if I didn’t fly and come
to that fresh pulse in the middle of the night,
how would you, mother,
name your ancient dread,"
Now, she identifies her own role in society. She also names to whom she speaks
(when she says 'you')- she refers to the mothers of these newborn children. It seems
that the Ole Higue is simply a mechanism by which these mothers may name the
longstanding dread or fear of the possible death of their babies. Without her, she
contends that these mothers would have no one to hold responsible for the death of
their babies (even if it was just of natural causes).

"And who to blame

for the murder inside your head…?
Believe me –
As long as it have women giving birth
A poor ol’ higue like me can never dead."
She suggests something interesting through these cryptic lines- possibly that these
mothers blame the Ole Higue for the death of their children even in the event that
they had committed infanticide. However, it could also be that they need someone-
like the Ole Higue- to direct their murderous rage for the death of their baby towards.
Nonetheless, she knows that for as long as there are women giving birth to children,
they will need a scapegoat to blame for the plight that befalls their children. Thus, the
myth of her existence can never die
Mirror, Sylvia Plath

I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions.

Whatever I see I swallow immediately
Just as it is, unmisted by love or dislike.
I am not cruel, only truthful ‚
The eye of a little god, four-cornered.
Most of the time I meditate on the opposite wall.
It is pink, with speckles. I have looked at it so long
I think it is part of my heart. But it flickers.
Faces and darkness separate us over and over.
Now I am a lake. A woman bends over me,
Searching my reaches for what she really is.
Then she turns to those liars, the candles or the moon.
I see her back, and reflect it faithfully.
She rewards me with tears and an agitation of hands.
I am important to her. She comes and goes.
Each morning it is her face that replaces the darkness.
In me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman
Rises toward her day after day, like a terrible fish.

Summary
Just as the title suggests, the poem is about a mirror in its many forms. It is written
from the perspective of the mirror as it comments on its own objective reflection of
the things around it. It considers itself wholly truthful, an impartial retelling of the
physical appearance of something devoid of preconceptions. The first stanza simply
relates the mirror’s basic function, and its regular meditation on the pink speckled
wall opposite to it, separated momentarily by the darkness of night cycles and
passing faces. The second stanza shows the mirror in the form of a lake. The mirror
now relates saddening recurring interactions with a woman who uses the lake as a
mirror, trying to see what she is. The mirror (as the lake) reflects her appearance
truthfully, triggering great unhappiness and displeasure in the woman, bringing her to
tears. The lake and its objective reflection of her fading youth is like an important
ritual to her. Daily, she sees old age appear more and more in her features, as
though something horrible is rising in the lake each time she consults its impartial
reflection. The themes of the poem include appearance vs reality, senescence, time
and women. The mood is somewhat reflective (hehe, get it?) and pensive. The tone
is matter-of-fact (dignified) based on the mirror’s pride in its impartial reflective
properties.

Analysis
“I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions.
Whatever I see I swallow immediately
Just as it is, unmisted by love or dislike.”
The poem begins with the mirror’s simple declaration of the nature of its existence. In
this form (as the conventional glass mirror) and in any other form, it is infallibly
accurate and has no biases that cloud how it represents the objects before it. It is
impartial; no likes or dislikes result in a muddling of details or tampering with the
outcome of one’s appearance. It seems prideful in the assuredness of its exactitude.
An alliteration is used in the second line ‘Whatever I see I swallow immediately,’
communicating no hesitation or biased selection in what it does or does not reflect.
“I am not cruel, only truthful‚
The eye of a little god, four-cornered.”
The mirror declares itself merely an agent of complete truth. By mentioning cruelty, it
suggests that the displeasure felt by someone at their own appearance in the mirror
is not the fault of the mirror itself- it intends to be only truthful regardless of the
emotions felt by the subject. The mention of being the ‘eye of a little god’ ties into the
idea of an unyielding truthfulness, as the concept of god is associated with an
impartial judgement of subjects.
“Most of the time I meditate on the opposite wall.
It is pink, with speckles. I have looked at it so long
I think it is part of my heart. But it flickers.
Faces and darkness separate us over and over.”
When not being used by people, the mirror reflects the pink-speckled appearance of
the wall opposite to it. The mirror considers the wall almost a part of itself because it
has looked at it for so long. However, this indefinite staring contest between them is
broken up by the darkness of regular night cycles and the faces of people who peer
into the mirror in search of their own appearances.
“Now I am a lake. A woman bends over me,
Searching my reaches for what she really is.”
The mirror now describes another one of its forms- the reflective surface of a lake. It
speaks about a woman who bends over the lake, trying to see what she really is.
This diction is interesting, because the mirror states that she searches for ‘what she
really is,’ as though the mirror will define her identity somehow. This is quite strange,
especially considering that one’s appearance doesn’t define their identity.
“Then she turns to those liars, the candles or the moon.
I see her back, and reflect it faithfully.
She rewards me with tears and an agitation of hands.”
The mirror refers to the moon and candles as ‘liars.’ These are both light sources,
but that still doesn’t necessarily explain why the mirror considers them liars. The
innate beauty of these light sources does not reflect the appearance of the onlooker.
The mirror surface of the lake reflects the woman’s back, but she is obviously
displeased by her own appearance. She ‘rewards’ the mirror with tears of sadness
and agitates its calm surface by disturbing it with her hands. This is an oxymoron, as
the ‘reward’ for such faithful reflection is something so negative and of obvious
displeasure.
“I am important to her. She comes and goes.
Each morning it is her face that replaces the darkness.
In me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman
Rises toward her day after day, like a terrible fish.”
The lake is ‘important’ to the woman- returning daily to look at her own face as
though it is a ritual. This compulsive obsession with looking at herself ties into a need
to watch her fading youth. The poet uses a metaphor here to relate the aging of the
woman: “in me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman rises toward
her day after day.” Slowly, after years of this ritual, the young girl has disappeared,
and instead, an old woman is appearing in her features, reflected by the lake. The
poem ends with a simile, “Rises toward her day after day, like a terrible fish.” This
communicates that the old woman (her imminent senescence) is repugnant and
repulsive to her, but it continues to rise, day after day.