Africa

Africa

By Maya Angelou

Thus she had lain
sugarcane sweet
deserts her hair
golden her feet
mountains her breasts
two Niles her tears.
Thus she has lain
Black through the years.

Over the white seas
rime white and cold
brigands ungentled
icicle bold
took her young daughters
sold her strong sons
churched her with Jesus
bled her with guns.
Thus she has lain.

Now she is rising
remember her pain
remember the losses
her screams loud and vain
remember her riches
her history slain
now she is striding
although she has lain.

Summary of Africa

• Popularity of “Africa”: “Africa” by Maya Angelou, a well-known American poet, writer, activist and feminist, is a symbolic poetic piece. The poem first appeared in 1975 in her collection, Pray My Wings Are Gonna Fit Me Well. It shows how Africa went under the storm when the whites dominated it. It also explains how this beautiful land lost its original form. Beauty of the poem lies in its metaphorical presentation of African continent.
• “Africa”, As a Representative of Sorrow: This poem is about the miserable plight of Africa. It begins when the speaker personifies Africa and talks about her unparalleled beauty, like golden deserts, beautiful rivers, and fields. The peaceful tone changes in the second stanza where the speaker says that the peace of Africa was disrupted with the arrival of some strangers. They were not gentle; instead, they robbed Africa and took her sons away. They tried to convert her natives into Christians. They left no stone unturned to strip the land of its resources, culture, and people. In the final stanza, the speaker dwells on the terrors of the past. Although Africa is still growing, yet she seems unable to forget the traumatic past.
• Major Themes in “Africa”: The brutal side of humanity, history versus present, and misery of Africa are the major themes of the poem. Using metaphor and personification as a central device, the poet has brilliantly described how the white men in power destroyed the beauty of Africa. They silently entered this land and ruthlessly robbed all her riches, leaving this fertile ground in a state of shock and pain. Although many years have passed since this invasion, yet the injustices, torture, and barbarism she faced in the past still haunt her inhabitants. In other words, the speaker tries to say that the world can never forget the dark history of Africa.

Analysis of Literary Devices Used in “Africa”

literary devices are tools that the writers insert in their texts to create meanings and depth. The analysis of some of the literary devices used in “Africa” shows this fact as follows.

1. Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line such as the sound of /e/ and /o/ “took her young daughters” and again the sound of /e/ in “remember her riches.”
2. Allusion: Allusion is a belief and an indirect reference of a person, place, thing or idea of a historical, cultural, political or literary significance. The poem alludes to Christianity such as;

“took her young daughters
sold her strong sons
churched her with Jesus”

3. Anaphora: It refers to the repetition of a word or expression in the first part of some verses. Maya Angelou has repeated the word “remember” in the second stanza of the poem to emphasize the point such as;

“remember her pain
remember the losses
her screams loud and vain
remember her riches”

4. Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line such as the sound of /s/ in “sugarcane sweet.”
5. Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line such as the sound of /t/ in “took her young daughters” and the sound of /h/ in “although she has lain.”
6. Enjambment: It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an end at a line break; rather, it rolls over to the next line. For example:

“Thus she had lain
sugercane sweet
deserts her hair
golden her feet
mountains her breasts
two Niles her tears”

7. Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. Maya Angelou has used imagery in this poem such as “her screams loud and vain”, “Over the white seas/rime white and cold,” and “mountains her breasts.”
8. Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between the objects that are different in nature. The poet has used the extended metaphor of beautiful woman just to show how the plight of her country.
9. Personification: Personification is to give human qualities to inanimate objects. The poet has personified Africa throughout the poem such as;

“Thus she had lain
sugercane sweet
deserts her hair
golden her feet
mountains her breasts
two Niles her tears.”

10. 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 of black and white to point toward the effort of the Christianity to other the Africans and Africa.

Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in “Africa”

Poetic devices show the use of rhythm, harmony and appropriate mood in the poem. The analysis of the poetic devices used in this poem shows this fact as follows.

1. Diction: The poem shows metaphorical diction with a serious as well as tragic tone.
2. End Rhyme: End rhyme is used to make the stanza melodious. Although this is a free verse poem yet it has some rhyming words in this poem such as; “pain/vain”, “guns/sons” and “tears/years.”
3. Octave: Octave is an eight lined stanza borrowed from Italian poetry. Here first and the last stanza are octaves.

4. Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are three stanzas in this poem with each having the same number of verses.

Quotes to be Used

The following lines from the poem “Africa” are useful to quote in discussions when talking about the maltreatment and unjust behavior Africans received in the hands of white supremacy.

“took her young daughters
sold her strong sons
churched her with Jesus
bled her with guns.
Thus she has lain.”