The
morning mist
and
chimney smoke
of
White City Jabavu
flowed
thick yellow
as
pus oozing
from
a gigantic sore.
It
smothered our little houses
like
fish caught in a net.
Scavenging
dogs
draped
in red bandanas of blood
fought
fiercely
for
a squirming bundle.
I
threw a brick;
they
barred fangs
flicked
velvet tongues of scarlet
and
scurried away,
leaving
a mutilated corpse
an
infant dumped on a rubbish heap-
‘Oh!
Baby in the manger
sleep
well
on
human dung’.
Its
mother
had
melted into the rays of the rising sun,
her
face glittering with innocence
her
heart as pure as untrampled dew.
POEM ANALYSIS
01.
About the Poet. Born in South Africa on 17th
January 1940. He is a South African poet. He has written both in Zulu and
English. He studied at Columbia University. He once worked as a messenger in
Soweto before he became a poet, and his first book, ‘Sounds of Cowhide Drum’
(1971) explores both the brutality and extremity of apartheid through the eyes
of working men of South Africa. His poems, which are most effective when read
aloud are full of social criticism. In the anthology of ‘Selected Poems’ by TIE (1996), his poems like ‘Boy on a Swing’, ‘An Old Man
in Church’, ‘Always a Suspect’, ‘The Master of the House’, and ‘An Abandoned
Bundle’ have also been included.
02.
Title of the poem. The title of the poem is
metaphorical and symbolic. It is a metaphorical because it compares the thrown
child as a “Bundle” without using conjunction. It is also symbolic because it
reflects the contents of the poem, that is, the thrown child (An Abandoned
Bundle).
03.
Brief Summary/Paraphrase of the poem. The
poem is about one morning in the city in the location called Jabavu where a
certain mother throws away her child in a rubbish dump and dogs eat the corpse.
04.
Persona. The persona of the poem is an individual who feels
unhappy with the situation of throwing away the children.
05.
Addressee. The addressee of the poem is any woman, man, or
society that practices this unacceptable evil of throwing away innocent
children.
06.
Tone. The tone of the poet is ironical to the mother and
sympathetic to the child. The tone also may be neutral because the poet
explains the situation as a common thing.
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