At A Funeral (Dennis Brutus)

About the poet

• Dennis Brutus was born in Zimbabwe in 1924.
He died in 2009.
• He worked as a teacher in South Africa and
was active in the fight against Apartheid. He
was shot by the police and imprisoned.
• His political activism made him very
unpopular with the government.
• He left South Africa for the United Kingdom
in the 1960s and taught there at various
universities.
 • Written during Apartheid and shortly
after the death of a newly qualified
doctor (Valencia), this poem criticises
oppression.
• It can be seen as a “call to arms” – do not
Historical surrender to the oppressive powers.
Context • It is also about the frustration of aborted
hopes – Valencia died before she could
work as a doctor.
• Her family had made enormous sacrifices
to get her through medical school. All in
vain.
At a Funeral

(for Valencia Majombozi, who died shortly after qualifying as a

doctor)

Black, gold and green at sunset: pageantry

And stubbled graves: expectant, of eternity,
In bride’s-white, nun’s-white veils the nurses gush their bounty
Of red-wine cloaks, frothing the burgled dirging slopes
Salute! Then ponder all this hollow panoply
For one whose gifts the mud devours, with our hopes.
Oh all you frustrate ones, powers tombed in dirt,
Aborted, not by Death but carrion books of birth
Arise! The brassy shout of Freedom stirs our earth;
Not death but death’s-head tyranny scythes our ground
And plots our narrow cells of pain defeat and dearth:
Better that we should die, than that we should lie down.
 Summary
The poem is a tribute to Valencia Majombozi. It is about her
funeral ceremony. The speaker presents the funeral as an
occasion to renew his commitment to the struggle for
liberation. He does this by comparing the burial to those
people whose lives are being smothered by the oppression.
Oppressed people cannot live their lives fully. He urges active
resistance. He states that death is a better fate than yielding to
“defeat and dearth”.
 Structure

• The formality of the poem mirrors the formal rites / rituals of a

funeral.
• Strict rhy.me scheme, 2 stanzas of the same length
At A Funeral

(for Valencia Majombozi, who died shortly after qualifying as a doctor)

• A > makes it impersonal / universal

• The reader expects the tone to be sad
• We know that the poet was part of the struggle against apartheid, thus we
can expect that the poem is going to be about the death of a black person.
• Makes it personal > Talks about a specific person > greater effect on the
reader. (contrast between title and sub-heading)
1)Black, green and gold at sunset: pageantry
2)And stubbled graves: expectant, of eternity,

• ANC colours > expect that the poem is going to be a political protests poem >
poem is both personal + political
• Sunset > symbolic of the end of a life
• pageantry > ceremonial display / spectacle > Get the idea that it is just for
the show, because all of that does not matter now > hopes and dreams are
lost.
• Stubbled = short grass > metaphor > the gravestones look like sort grass
• …grave expectant, of eternity > personification > the graves are “waiting” for
the dead bodies who will be buried and stay there forever> all hope and life
are gone.
3)In bride’s-white, nun’s-white veils the nurses gush their bounty
4)Of red-wine cloaks, frothing the bugled dirging slopes

• Bride’s –white, nun’s-white > not an actual bride > symbolic of innocence
• veils = cover > the nurses wear white uniforms
• Gush = flow out fast
• Bounty = something given in generous amount > they are showing their grief
(gushing out their grief)
• Frothing = bubbling over
• Dirging > like a durge > funeral song
• Slopes =going up / down (talking about the sound of the bugle?)
• frothing the bugled dirging slopes > someone is playing a bugle
5)Salute! Then ponder all this hollow panoply
6)For one whose gifts the mud devours, with our hopes

• Salute! > to the dead (honouring the dead) > defiant tone
• Ponder > The speaker asks the reader to contemplate the implications of this
funeral, and death in general. He encourages the reader to look further than the
display(funeral flowers, all the people, the sad music etc.)
• hollow = not sincere / meaningless
• Panoply = display
• Ponder all this hollow panoply > the whole display lacks sincerity
• Mud devours > negative connotation > earth seems hostile > personification >
earth has the ability to devour (consume)
• For one …mud devours, with our hopes > all her(their) hopes are now buried in
the earth.
7)Oh all you frustrate ones, powers tombed in dirt,
8)Aborted, not by Death but carrion books of birth

• Oh all you frustrate ones > direct address > talking about all the people who
are frustrated with their oppressive lives.
• powers tombed in dirt > all the hopes and dreams of these people are now
in the ground > they are dead > cannot dream anymore.
• Aborted = their lives have been cut short.
• Carrion books = pass books > carrion = the rotting flesh of a dead animal >
extremely negative and oppressive connotation
• …but carrion books of birth > metaphor >their lives are death-like due to
oppression. They are dead not because they died, but because their freedom
is taken away with the pass books.
9)Arise! The brassy shout of Freedom stirs our earth;
10)Not Death but death’s-head tyranny scythes our ground

• Arise! > Imperative mood > he urges people to act, almost like a command > defiant tone
• brassy > confident and aggressive in a loud way (people are angry > they want freedom) / music performed
on a brass instrument like a bugle or trumpet
• Freedom > capital letter > to show that it is important to them
• stirs our earth > get the idea that earth is waking up > the people are waking up. > call to arms > want
people to stand up together and fight for their freedom.
• Death > capital letter > personification > Death is often portrayed as a cloaked skeleton carrying a scythe –
the cutting of life
• Death’s head = scull > Here is terfers to the tyranny of a system that cuts down the lives of black people
(literally and figuratively)
• Tyranny > apartheid
• scythes > to cut something violently
• Not Death but Death’s-head tyranny scythes our ground > refers to the tyranny faced by non-whites. Again
the idea that it is not Death that kills them, they are already dead while living because they do not have
any freedom.
11)And plots our narrow cells of pain defeat and dearth:
12)better that we should die, than that we should lie down.

• Plots > pun > To plot is to make a secret plan to destroy someone or
something. In this context the political system makes plans to contain the
black people in “narrow cells”. These could be prison cells or graves. (Plot >
plans / graves)
• Narrow cells > jail or graves
• Pain defeat > oppression
• Dearth > scarcity
• : explanation is going to follow
• …than that we should lie down > it is better to fight and die than to submit
to oppressive powers > almost worse than death. Tone is commanding
Tone and theme
• Tone: defiant
• Theme: Criticizes oppression.
Call to arms > people should get up and fight