Roy Campbell
Ignatius Royston Dunnachie Campbell, better known as Roy Campbell, (October 2, 1901 April 22, 1957) was an Anglo African Poet and satirist. He was considered by T.S. Eliot, Dylan Thomas and Edith Sitwell to have been one of the best poets of the period between the First and Second World Wars.
1. Read through the poem in your group. 2. Look up any words you don t understand. Then write them in and figure out what the line is saying. 3. Find the sound devices. What is their use in that sentence? 4. Is there a Rhyme scheme? 5. Underline any words that stick out to you. 6. What do you think the poem is about? 7. Can this Zulu lady be a symbol of something?
Why is she simply a girl? What might this reflect? We are not told her name. Why?
When in the sun the hot red acres smoulder, Down where the sweating gang its labours plies, A girl flings down her how, and from her shoulder Unslings her child tormented by the flies. What is the setting of the poem? What is the job that the girl is doing? Which words stick out to you? Why?
SUN HOT RED S SMOULDER, What does this word imply? Account for the use of alliteration in this line. Look at the red words. What type of place do you imagine? Is this a pleasant place?
Why has the poet included this word? GANG What does this word imply?
Why has the poet told us this detail? What is implied by the use of this word? Why the repetition? GIRL FLINGS TORMENTED BY THE FLIES. What picture is created for the reader?
She takes him to a ring of shadow pooled By thorn-trees: purples with the blood of ticks, While her sharp nails, in slow caress ruled, Prowl through his hair with sharp electric clicks. Which words stick out to you? Why?
What do we associate with thorn trees?
SHARP What is associated with the word sharp? How is it used differently here?
Comment on the use of this word. What does it imply? PROWL SHARP Why does the poet repeat this word? Does it tie into other imagery?
His sleepy mouth, plugged by the heavy nipple, Tugs like a puppy, grunting as he feeds; Through his frail nerves her own deep languor s ripple Like a broad river sighing through the reeds. What is the mood of this stanza? Account for the change in mood.
Onomatopoeia : noises of contentment PUPPY, What is implied by comparing the baby to a puppy?
Implies vulnerability Why is he frail? FRAIL NERVES Tenderness Literally the mother is feeding her hungry boy. Metaphorically she is feeding his soul
Why is the river seen as sighing? SIGHING Is this a positive or a negative image? How does this image make you as the reader feel?
Nature imagery implies the connection that Zulu people have with nature.
Yet in that drowsy stream his flesh imbibes An old unquenched, unsmotherable heat- The curbed ferocity of beaten tribes, The sullen dignity of their defeat.
Takes in/ absorbs
OLD UNQUENCHED, UNSMOTHERABLE HEAT- From a long time ago Cannot be put out, cannot be killed Spirit/ energy Notice how heat is used in the positive sense now, which is in contrast to how it was first used.
Refers to the ancient and proud memory of the Zulus, a memory of the time when they were fierce warriors.
On one level the mother is giving nourishment and life giving to the child
On another level she is feeding his soul, pouring into him the perseverance of the Zulu people, their strength as a tribe, the might of the Zulu nation.
That Zulu spirit still burns within them despite their oppression!
What is the use of alliteration here? D D Gloomy silence The Zulu people still have dignity, even in their defeat, even though they are oppressed.
Her body looms above him like a hill Within whose shade a village lies at rest, Or the first cloud so terrible and still That bears the coming harvest in its breast.
What are the connotation of this image? Is it positive of negative?
W W She is a beacon of hope, she is a mother to all the oppressed people. What is being said about the mother in this image?
Cloud brings life giving rain to nature that brings about a harvest, just as her breast milk brings life to the boy. The children off the oppressed people will one day reap the harvest of their suffering, they will overcome their oppression and become great again.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cckukbevkes