Talk to The Peach Tree

SIPHO SEPAMLA

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BACKGROUND TO POET AND POEM
• 1932-2007
• Lived most of his life in Soweto, where he
wrote most of his poetry
• Was a member of the ‘Soweto Poets’ – a
group of political activists who used poetry
as a form of protest against the oppressive
apartheid government
• Became an active member of the Black
Consciousness Movement, whose main
aim was to restore the dignity, self-
awareness, and self-value of black people
in South Africa
• In this poem, Sepamla highlights the
cruelty of the apartheid system and the
necessity to fight it peacefully, through
negotiation.
FORM & STRUCTURE
• The poem consists of twenty-one lines and does not have a rhyme scheme (free verse).

• The first three stanzas and the seventh, eighth and ninth stanzas follow the same pattern
of word choice, length and content.

• The indent used in the fourth and fifth stanzas alerts the reader that there is something
different here: These stanzas seem to be a commentary on the overall situation.

• Stanza ten has also been indented to draw attention to the poet’s message.

• The repetition of the word ‘talk’ six times highlights the need for dialogue between the
oppressor (the apartheid government) and the oppressed (Black South Africans).
TITLE
• Personification

• The peach tree is rooted in a permanent

place, unlike Black South Africans who had
been displaced during apartheid.

• The peach tree is symbolic of belonging,

which is something that Black South
Africans were denied as they were treated
as outsiders in their home country.

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Lines 1-6
Let's talk to the swallows visiting us in summer / ask how it is in other countries / Let's talk to the
afternoon shadow /ask how the day has been so far / Let's raise our pets to our level / ask them
what they don't know of us [Personification]

• The speaker’s invitation to ‘talk’ to these things that cannot engage in conversation seems
absurd.

• However, through these absurd requests, the speaker highlights the fact that dialogue between
the Apartheid government and the Black South Africans who were subjected to its oppressive
system had broken down.

• The speaker can also be seen to be making the point that the apartheid government needed to
start ‘seeing’ what it had ignored for a long time i.e. the suffering that its policies had caused in
the lives of Black South Africans.
Lines 7-10
words have lost meaning / like all notations they've been misused / most people will admit / a
whining woman can overstate her case

• The lines are indented to show that these stanzas are commentaries.

• The casual sounding repetitive ‘Let’s talk’ of the previous lines has been dropped to highlight
that these words must be taken seriously.

• Due to censorship, propaganda and the political climate many words have lost their ‘true’
meaning.
• We can also interpret these lines to mean that attempts to negotiate change with the apartheid
government had failed.

• The alliteration of the ‘w’ sound emphasises a droning background noise that is ignored – when
people complain about the same thing in the same way, their plight is often ignored.

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Lines 11 & 12
Talk to the paralysing heat in the air / inquire how long the mercilessness will last [Personification &
Metaphor]

• paralysing – implies that the oppression (‘heat’) renders a person unable to do anything. Also refers
to pain and suffering.

• merciless – emphasises the effects of apartheid: no empathy/mercy/compassion for the oppressed

people.

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Lines 13 & 14
Let's pick out items from the rubbish heap / ask how the stench is like down there [Metaphor]

• The words ‘rubbish heap’, ‘stench’ and ‘down there’ are suggestive of the poor living conditions
of Black South Africans, and the generally appalling treatment of Black South Africans by the
apartheid government.

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Lines 15 & 16

Let's talk to the peach tree / find out how it feels to be in the ground [Personification]

• The peach tree is rooted in a permanent place in the garden, unlike the other items/things he
proposed with which to have a conversation.

• The tree will tell him how it feels to be rooted and fruitful in a place you can call your own.

• The connotation of rooted is permanence and fruitful implies productivity and success.

• The peach tree has land that it belongs to. Black South Africans did not have land; they were
not even regarded as citizens. They had no sense of belonging.
Lines 17 & 18

Let's talk to the moon going down / ask if it isn't enough eyeing what's been going on
[Personification]

• moon going down – the light of the moon will disappear as it ‘goes down’. This is symbolic of
a loss of hope.

• The moon is personified. It is aware of (“eyeing”) the plight of Black South Africans.

The whole world had witnessed the suffering of Black South Africans but no one had
done anything to effectively change their situation.
Lines 19-21
come on / let's talk to the devil himself /it's about time

• come on – he is encouraging himself and others

• devil – the oppressors / the apartheid system

• it’s about time – The time has come to speak directly to the powers who have been
oppressing the Black people for too long.
• There is a sense of both determination and apprehension in these lines.
• The speaker knows that this conversation is long overdue and needs to happen to
facilitate change.
Tone, mood and intention

Tone
• conversational
• cynical
Mood
• apprehensive
• anxious
Intention
• To create an awareness of the harsh realities of life in South Africa under
apartheid rule.
• To highlight the necessity of communication to effect change