A Far Cry from Africa
By Derek Walcott
A wind is ruffling the tawny pelt
Of Africa. Kikuyu, quick as flies,
Batten upon the bloodstreams of the veldt.
Corpses are scattered through a paradise.
Only the worm, colonel of carrion, cries:
“Waste no compassion on these separate dead!”
Statistics justify and scholars seize
The salients of colonial policy.
What is that to the white child hacked in bed?
To savages, expendable as Jews?Threshed out by beaters, the long rushes break
In a white dust of ibises whose cries
Have wheeled since civilization’s dawn
From the parched river or beast-teeming plain.
The violence of beast on beast is read
As natural law, but upright man
Seeks his divinity by inflicting pain.
Delirious as these worried beasts, his wars
Dance to the tightened carcass of a drum,
While he calls courage still that native dread
Of the white peace contracted by the dead.Again brutish necessity wipes its hands
Upon the napkin of a dirty cause, again
A waste of our compassion, as with Spain,
The gorilla wrestles with the superman.
I who am poisoned with the blood of both,
Where shall I turn, divided to the vein?
I who have cursed
The drunken officer of British rule, how choose
Between this Africa and the English tongue I love?
Betray them both, or give back what they give?
How can I face such slaughter and be cool?
How can I turn from Africa and live?
Summary of the Poem A Far Cry from Africa
- Popularity of “A Far Cry from Africa”: Written by Derek Walcott, an iconic Saint Lucian writer, Noble laureate, and writer at large, this poem “A Far Cry from Africa” first appeared in 1962. Although it appeared quite early in the career of Walcott, he received Noble Prize quite late on account of other such poems. This poem documents the brutality of the freedom movement started by Kikuyu in Kenya and laments the senseless murder of children in the backdrop of this anti-colonial war. The popularity of the poem lies in the presentation of pacifism in the garb of lamentation for the innocent dead.
- “A Far Cry from Africa” As a Representative of Dilemma of Colonialism and Patriotism: The poet speaks himself for his land in Africa in Kenya, where Mau Mau fighters started their protracted campaign against the British settlers to drive them out of their lands. The colonial policy, though justified itself in killing the violent invaders, Walcott calls the corpses of the dead ones strewn in their paradise. Between the statistics and debates, colonialism continues with its bloody claws, while Walcott only laments the death of the innocents, whether they are British or Jewish children. He goes on to present the natural setting to show that even birds feel disturbed due to the animal violence in the river beds, but this human violence continues with the killing of the rebels backed with the justification of necessity.
He is of the view that a la the Spanish War, this war in Kikuyu also continues to cause bloodshed and carnage. He feels the dilemma of what to call it, whether to use stereotypical titles or superman to show which side he supports. His dilemma stays stuck in his loyalty to his language and the homeland, and finally, he questions whether he would be able to live after turning against Africa and siding British. - Major Themes in “A Far Cry from Africa”: Senseless killing, patriotism, anti-colonialism, and human dignity are some of the major themes of this poem. The poet laments that senseless killing continues in the name of rebellion or freedom movement in which the killers do not spare the children. The poet is against this senseless killing of children, whether they are British or Jewish. He states that despite this, he is to side with Africa, which is his homeland though he faces a tough dilemma. Also, this is his patriotism.
It presents him with this dilemma to decide whether he is with the settlers or with the natives, and comes to the conclusion that colonialism is the worst in that it continues to find out justifications for its stay after giving justification to the violent attackers to continue killing and further fuel the war of justification. These cyclical progressions of arguments destroy human dignity and prolong the senseless war and vituperation showered as a result of it.
Analysis of Literary Devices Used in A Far Cry from Africa
Derek Walcott’s use of literary devices is unique. He showers them on his thematic strands to make his poetic output strong. Some of the major literary devices analyzed below show his skill.
- Anaphora: It is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is repeated at the beginning of the verses. The poem shows the use of “How can I” in the last two verses.
- Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /a/ in “Corpses are scattered through a paradise” and the sound of /o/ in “Only the worm, colonel of carrion, cries.”
- Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line in quick succession, such as the sound of /c/ in “carrion, cries.”
- Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /w/ in “A wind is ruffling the tawny pelt” and the sound of /s/ and /b/ in “The violence of beast on beast is read.”
- Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. Derek Walcott uses imagery in this poem, such as “Corpses are scattered through a paradise”, “What is that to the white child hacked in bed?” and “Threshed out by beaters, the long rushes break.”
- Irony: It means to the contradictory meanings of the words used in different contexts. For example, the verse, such as “upright man / Seeks his divinity by inflicting pain” shows how an upright person seeking divinity when he wants to cause pain to others. This is an apparent example of irony.
- Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between objects that are different in nature. The poet used different metaphors, such as the colonel of carrion is a worm in military terms.
- Personification: It means to use human attributes for inanimate things or ideas. The poet personified necessity saying that it wipes its hands on the napkin.
- Rhetorical Questions: It means to use questions not to elicit answers but to stress the main idea. The poem shows the use of rhetorical questions at the end of the first and the third stanzas, such as,
Between this Africa and the English tongue I love?
Betray them both, or give back what they give?
How can I face such slaughter and be cool?
How can I turn from Africa and live?
- Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from the literal meanings. The poem shows symbols, such as bloodstream, dead, corpses, and hacked to show the bloodbath continuing after the civil war or rebellion.
Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in A Far Cry from Africa
Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is an analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.
- Diction: It means the type of language. The poem shows very good use of formal and poetic diction.
- End Rhyme: End rhyme is used to make the stanza melodious. Derek Walcott has used end rhyme in this poem, such as pelt/veldt or flies/paradise and cries/seize.
- Rhyme Scheme: The poem follows ABABCDEFGE in the first stanza, and the next two stanzas have a different rhyme scheme.
- Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are three stanzas, with the first having ten verses, the second eleven, and the last twelve.
- Tone: It means the voice of the text. The poem shows a didactic, ironic, patriotic, lamenting, and tragic tone.
Quotes to be Used
The following lines are useful to quote when talking about colonialism and the dilemmas in which it leads the people.
I who have cursed
The drunken officer of British rule, how choose
Between this Africa and the English tongue I love?
Betray them both, or give back what they give?
How can I face such slaughter and be cool?
How can I turn from Africa and live?