SUMMONS
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CO – ORDINATOR: RICHARD S. MABALA.
PUBLISHER: TANZANIA PUBLISHING HOUSE.
YEARS: 1980
It is the first collection of poetry in English in Tanzania. Although Tanzania was under British colonialism. The poets in this collection are young people brought up in the ferment of the policy of socialism and self reliance. Their poetry is therefore would be expected about problems of building socialism. They are about and against ideologies which mystify the vision people have of themselves and of their lives.
They are also about ordinary human questions and about the search of the poets for personal happiness and meaning in their life. There are about the suffering of our people under imperialist exploitation, in alliance with its local argents who include bureaucrats, and dishonest leaders.
SUN RISE (Jwani Mwaikusa)
v Behold!
v The sun has risen
v And with the sons of the land have risen too
v Forward they go
v Well armed
v Singing praises to the beauty of the sunrise
v With the determination of long – term warriors
v Challenging the enemy
v With the courage of free mind
v And the vigour of clean purpose
v Sit and wait brethren
v Wait and see what glory they bring at sunset
v How they pay homage to the land –
v And their people.
Analysis of the poem
a. What is the poem about?
The poem is about the sons of the land who have risen up singing the beauty of the sunrise. They are challenging the enemy waiting for a victory at sunset.
b. For whom does the poem tell us that the sun has risen?
From the poem, the sun has risen to the oppressed ones (the sons of the land i.e. peasants or workers who should rise up against oppression, exploitation, discrimination)
c. The poet talks about “challenging the enemy” who do you think the enemies might be?
The enemies might be oppressors, humiliators, exploiters, imperialists etc.
d. What events do you think the “sunrise and sunset” probably symbolizes?
The sunrise symbolizes the beginning of the struggle against evils in the society or period of rain, while sunset symbolizes the end of the struggle, and a period of harvest.
e. With the determination of “long – term warriors” what do you think the word ““long – term” tells us about the poet`s view of the struggle?
The word “long – term” means the distant future. The word implies that the struggle will take a long time.
f. There is one line that does not have normal word order. Which line is it and why is it so?
It is line 4, “Forward they go” it`s function is to stress the word “forward” to encourage people to continue with the struggle.
g. The poem contains two major images. What are they?
The images are sunrise and sunsets.
ü Sunrise - symbolizes the beginning of the struggle (rainfall)
ü Sunset – symbolizes the end of the struggle or freedom time or area of harvest.
h. What is the theme of the poem?
The poem talks about evils of colonialism/imperialism or oppressive ruling class.
Therefore the main themes are; Exploitation, Oppression and Humiliation of the lower classes by the powerful class.
i. What type of poem is this?
It is a sonnet poem, because it has fourteen verses with free verse.
DEVELOPMENT (Kundi Faraja)
A man of the people
Enters his office
To sit on the throne
Of party and state
His stick of power
Across the table.
He looks into the files
To see the demands
Of the millions of the people
Who for years since Uhuru
Have just managed to survive
They ring out one message
Man of the people
You have always been telling us
What we need…
Health centers,
More schools,
Clean water,
Better transport facilities,
Better living conditions.
Do you plead incapable
To bring about development?
I declare running
Better than walking
For a young and poor country;
I plead fighting underdevelopment
Tougher than fighting
A wounded buffalo
With a pocket knife;
I plead underdevelopment
Strong than the blows of the sea
When the hurricane is at the height,
I plead fighting underdevelopment
Tougher than combating colonialism;
I see that it`s more difficult
To maintain peace
Than to stop a coup d'état
I plead the cry
Of the nation
More painful than the yell
Of a woman
As her husband dies of sickness;
It`s more painful than the screams
Of a man
Dying in agony
In the coils of the greater python
Found in the African forest
How is development
To be brought brother
When the people to whom
We have entrusted power
Are corrupt?
I plead the stomachs
Of the privileged few
Greater than the rift valley;
They cannot be satisfied
With a normal share.
I plead the thirst
Of the minority
Greater than that of the Sahara;
No rains can quench it.
I reckon the minority
More sensitive to egoism
Then to National Development;
Nothing that is not theirs
Is of ant interest
Their response to egoism,
Is faster than camera film to light
But as slow as tropisms
To nation – building
The majority plead
Exploited
Cheated.
Disregarded
But brother
How is the development to come?
Analysis
i) What is poem about?
The poem is about development in developing countries. The poet argues that whenever there is selfishness, corruption, exploitation, and oppression there will be no development.
ii) Is the persona happy in this song? Why?
The persona is unhappy. He is complaining about the behaviour of some leaders who are corrupt, selfish, and irresponsible. Such leaders lead the countries into underdevelopment
iii) What does the term “Egoism” means in this poem?
The term “Egoism” refers to selfishness. It is thinking of one`s own interest or needs without thinking about others. It is also means not sharing what one has with others.
iv) Trace the verses which trace the possible themes and tell what themes they carry?
a) “…the people to whom we have entrusted power. Are corrupt” These verses carry theme of corruption.
b) “I reckon the minority, More sensitive to egoism” these verses are portraying the theme of selfishness.
c) “The majority pleads exploitation” it depicts the theme of exploitation.
v) Discuss the themes found in this poem?
a) Selfishness. It is the thinking of one`s own interest or needs without thinking for others, or it is the behaviour of not sharing what one has with others. In the poem, the poet has depicted selfishness of leaders as one of obstacle against development in the developing countries like Tanzania.
The leaders are sensitive to selfishness than building the nation. He says:
“I reckon the minority
More sensitive to egoism
Then to National Development”
It is true that the selfishness of most leaders is very dangerous in the process of development.
b) Corruption. It is immoral action where one gains his favour by giving bribes. It can be in terms of sex or materials. This is a problem which most of developing countries and even the developed ones are facing.
In this poem, the persona argues that it is very difficult for a nation to develop when corruption dominates the society. We cannot get development with the corruption. The persona says,
“How is development
To be brought brother
When the people to whom
We have entrusted power
Are corrupt?”
Therefore the poem maintains that corruption hinders the development.
c) Classes in the society. In this poem, the persona has pinned down the two major classes in the society. The first class is the upper class in which the persona seems to dislike it.
To him this class includes the minority who are selfish and corrupt. It is the class of the people whom we have entrusted power.
The poet say,
“I plead the stomachs
Of the privileged few
Greater than the rift valley;
They cannot be satisfied
With a normal share.
The second class is that of the majority who are exploited, cheated, and disregarded. In the last stanza, the persona says:
“To majority plead
Exploited
Cheated.
Disregarded
But brother
How is the development to come?
d) Exploitation. It refers to the use of manpower or materials selfishly or unfairly. In this poem, the minority are selfish and not satisfied with what they have. The poet says:
“To majority plead
Exploited
Cheated.
Disregarded
But brother
How is the development to come?
The lower class is complaining that the upper class is exploiting them. So with this evil, there will be no development.
d) Poor social services. The persona has discussed the issue of social services in the society. Since independence, people have been demanding better living standards and improvement of social services. But all these years of Uhuru have proved failure. Leaders have proved incapable of bringing development. People need health centers, more schools, clear water, better transport facilities and better living conditions. In the second stanza, the persona says:
v He looks into the files
v To see the demand
v Of the millions of the people
v Who for years since Uhuru
v Have just managed to survive
v They ring out one message
v Man of the people
v You have always been telling us
v What we need…
v Health centers
v More schools
v Clean water
v Better transport facilities
v Better living conditions.
v From the above stanza, development seems to be tough. Luck of social services are indicators of underdevelopment.
v According to the persona, all these problems have been contributed by leaders. They are not capable. Here says,
“Do you plead incapable
To bring about development?”
6. What do we learn from this poem?
v The lessons we get from the poem is that; wherever there is egoism, corruption, exploitation, poor leadership, then it is too difficult to develop. Therefore, we should fight against all these evils.
7. What is the form of the poem?
a) Type of the poem.
v This is an open form of poem. The poem length varies systematically in the length of the verse, and in number of verses in each stanza. There is no pattern to explain the poetic form.
b) Structure of the poem
The poem has twelve stanzas. The first has six verses, the second has fourteen, the third has two verses, and the fourth has ten verses, while the fifth has five verses, the sixth has ten verses, the seventh stanza has five verses and the eight has five verses.
The ninth stanza has four verses, the tenth has five verses but the eleventh stanza has four verses and the twelfth stanza has six verses.
e) Language/ diction
v The language used in this poem is simple, ordinary, clear and straight forward. Although the language characterized by the following:
i) Repetition of words for emphasis i.e. “plead” “underdevelopment” “development” and “A man of the People”
v For stance, “A man of the people” emphasizes an irony towards leaders.
ii) Barbarism: the poet has also used a swahili word, i.e. “Uhuru” in the 2nd stanza.
f) Hyperbole
g) Exaggeration is used to magnify the ideas, example, “the stomachs of the minority greater than that of the Sahara”
iii) Personification has been used in this poem. This can be seen in the fourteen stanza when a country is given qualities of running and walking. The persona says:
“I declare running
Better than walking
For a young and poor country…”
d) Tone/voice
v The altitude of the poet is ironic, sympathetic or satirical. The persona is in very deep feeling.
e) Mood. The state of mind of the poet is ironic, serious and angry: this is due to exploitation, selfishness and corruption. The pardoner hates the leaders who are selfish, corrupt and exploiters.
f) The relevance of the Poem. The poem is relevant to all developing countries, like Tanzania and other African countries where corruption is rampant. The persona says: “How is development
To be brought brother
When the people to whom
We have entrusted power
Are corrupt?”
HOLLOW HEADS (Jwani Mwaikusa)
v Hollow heads torture me with ignorance,
v Blind eyes harass me with darkness,
v Deaf ears tire me with silence,
v Dumb voices deafen me with gibberish,
v Blank minds confuse me with emptiness,
v And, above all,
v There is power and command.
Ø With wits and ears and eyes,
Ø I have speech and strong mind,
Ø But I remain weak and powerless,
Ø They oppress me, they torture me,
Ø They fight me, they kill me,
Ø It`s fight to bring me down to silence,
Ø To darkness and gibberish, to ignorance,
Ø And through brainwashing, to emptiness,
ü All right, my friend,
ü It`s a battle and I will fought it,
ü Eyes and wits and eyes and speech,
ü And strong conscience,
ü These are my weapons,
v And I fought to the last cell.
a) How many stanzas does this poem has?
This poem has four stanzas.
b) How many verses does each stanza has?
The first stanza has seven verses, the second has eight while the third stanza has five verses and the last stanza has a sing line.
c) What is the poem about?
The poem is about an individual who complains about oppression. He says, he is tortured and oppressed. He is tired of being oppressed and he or she has decided to wage war against all evils.
d) Does the persona fear his enemy?
No, he does not fear his enemy. He is ready to die. In the last stanza he comments that he will fight to the last cell (to death)
e) What are the themes of this poem?
i. Sacrifice – the persona in this poem is ready to die fighting against the enemy. He is tired to oppressed, exploited, and humiliated. He is determined to do away with all evils through battle. This can be seen in the 3rd stanza when the poet says:
“All right my friends,
It`s a battle and I will fight it
Ears and wits and eyes and speech,
And a strong conscience,
These are my weapons”
It is obvious that the persona is ready to lose his life to make sure that oppression and exploitation do not continue.
2. Protest. The persona is seen to protest against exploitation, and oppression. For example when he says, “Hollow Heads” is a protest against oppression. The persona argues that despite the fact that he is ignorant, blind, deaf and oppressed on top of these problems, there is power and command. Because of these evils, the persona is protesting actively. He is ready to die; he will not stop till the end of his life in the last stanza he says,
“I will fight to the last cell”
3. Consciousness. The persona in this poem is aware of problems. He knows that ignorance tortures. He is also aware that the enemies surrounding him are strong. So there is a need for sacrificing. He is aware that all these evils have a negative effect to him. They torture, kill and silence him. In the second stanza he says:
“With wits and ears and eyes,
I have speech and strong mind,
But I remain weak and powerless”
v So, he needs to be strong and powerful.
4. Oppression. Is a situation where freedom of the people is restricted by those in power. People can be oppressed economically, socially, culturally and psychological. In this poem the poet has depicted the persona being oppressed as a result of his ignorance and selfishness of the people in the authority.
In the first stanza we see the persona being oppressed due to ignorance, but in the last verse of this stanza, we see the persona putting emphasis on oppression done by those who are in power. That is why he says that “above all there is power and command”
FORMS OF THE POEM
a) Type of poem
It is a free verse/ open form type of poem
b) Structure. The poem has four stanzas. The first stanza has seven verses, the second stanza has eight verses, the third stanza has five lines and the last stanza has one verse.
c) Language / diction. The language used is clear and straight forward. However, the poet`s choice of words helps us to reflect the anger of the persona as well as the hope to be free physically from enemies.
E.g. “hollow heads”, “harass”, “tire”, “confuse”, indicate the anger of the persona.
The repetition of words is used to serve the emphatic role, e.g. Torture, emptiness.
d) Figure of Speech.
Personification. e.g. Hollow heads torture me”
Irony. The persona calls his enemies friends. In 3rd stanza he says;
“All right, my friends,
it`s a battle and I will fight it”
iii. Tone/voice.
The tone is that of seriousness because the persona is ready to fight till his/her last blood.
iv. Mood.
The mood of the persona is sad because he/she is oppressed, tortured and confused.
LIVE AND LET DIE (KUNDI FARAJA
v One says that
v My children are dwarfs
v That no one seems taller
v Than the other.
v That they never take a bath,
v That they are soiled.
v That they eat lice
v From their clothes
v Let them eat, brothers,
v Until the system changes,
v Until exploitation ends;
v Let them eat brothers,
v Because we are on the way
v To build Ujamaa
v But, at present,
v The system has not changed
Ø Let them eat, brother.
Ø Because the rich nations
Ø Are not yet ready
Ø To die a little
Ø So that the poor nations may live:
Ø Let them drink water.
Ø Let them eat air,
Ø Let them digest the sunshine
Ø Because that is what
Ø I can afford to buy.
Ø Meanwhile I wait
Ø For Uhuru to flower,
Ø For Uhuru to come
Ø When the time is ripe.
ü Let them eat brother,
ü Because the rich man
ü Is convinced that
ü It`s because I'm lazy
ü That they don’t have food,
ü That they don’t good health.
ü That they wear rags.
ü And that their house
ü Is like an abandoned hut
v Let them eat brother
v Because the rich man
v Thinks that it`s because
v I don’t plan my family
Ø Let them eat brother.
Ø Because the rich man
Ø Does not like to hear
Ø That he is reach
Ø Because of me
Ø That I work hard
v But for him and
v Not for myself
v That it is only because
v I'm a slave of a system
v That I lead a poor life
GUIDING QUESTIONS
i. How many stanzas does this poem has?
This poem has six stanzas.
ii. What is the poem is about?
The poem is about a poor person who is disappointed with the existing system. The relationship between the developed countries and developing countries is exploitative in nature.
iii. What do you think the poet means when he says, “to die a little”
He wants the rich nations to relieve the poor nations so that they can develop. Therefore, to die a little” is to be considerate for the benefits of the poor countries.
iv. What type of poem is this?
It is an open form poem. This is because the number of syllables varies in each verse, even the length of the verses varies. There is also a variation in number of verses in each stanza.
v. Themes
Exploitation. It can be looked in different forms; it can be through forced labour, un equal exchange etc. The foreign bourgeoisie uses African government leaders and businessmen as puppets to protect their interest and to help continue exploiting the African masses. The presence of poor living conditions in the society is result of exploitation. The poet says“
ü “one says that
ü My children are dwarfs
...they are soiled
ü That they eat lice…
…let them eat brothers
...until exploitation ends”
In other words, exploitation has made most of the families lead poor life.
a) Impact of neo – colonialism to developing countries. Neo colonialism refers to the use of economic or political pressure by powerful countries to obtain or to keep influence over other countries especially their former countries. The poet argues that since big countries are using their powers in economy and political matters, then the poor countries will not develop. In this poem, neo- colonialism can be evidenced when the poet says:
v …because the rich nations
v Are not yet ready
v To die a little
v So that the poor nations may live.”
The persona sees neo-colonialism as an obstacle to development. Had the rich countries been ready to reduce powers over these poor countries, it would have been easier for poor countries to develop. But the rich people and rich nations are not ready.
b) Poor living conditions. The standard of living among most Africans is below the average. Most people are living poor life. They do not get important and necessary services at better level, i.e. few schools, poor health centers, poor communication systems, etc. Due to this, children are getting Kwashiorkor as a result of underfeeding. The existing system has failed to solve problems in order to improve the living condition. The poet says,
“one says that
My children are dwarfs
That no one seems taller
Than the other
That they never take a bath
That they are soiled
v The health of these children seem to be poor due to poverty.
c) Classes in the society. Two classes of people emerge in this society, especially after independence. The class of poor people does not own anything. That is why the poet says:
…because the rich man
Is not yet ready
To die a little
So that the poor man may live…
This proves that the rich are exploiting the poor. The relationship between these two classes is exploitative in nature.
d) Poverty. It is a state of being poor, or lack of important human needs. Most of African are poor, they can not afford basic needs. On this poem the poet says:
Let them drink water
Let them eat air
Let them digest the sunshine
Because that is what
I can afford to buy
…that they don’t have good health
That they wear rags.
h) What lesson do we get from the poem
The system must be changed in order to improve the living conditions of developing countries. Exploitation done by both the rich people and rich nations is an obstacle to the development.
Form of the poem
a) Type of the poem?
It is a free verse poem.
b) Language/ diction
The language used is very clear and straight forward. The poet has employed images and figures of speech.
i) Satire. “let them digest the sunshine because that is what I can afford to buy”
ii. Symbolism. “to die a little “ to sacrifice a little bit”
iii. Imageries. The poet has used the terms “dwarfs, soiled, rags, abandoned hut” indicating poverty.
d) tone/voice
v The tone of the poet is satirical and sad.
e) Rhyme schemes
v It has irregular rhyme pattern.
f) The relevance of the poem
v The poem is relevant to all developing countries where most people are still poor and there is exploitation of lower class by rich people.
g) Mood of the poet
v The altitude of the poet is sad. He believes that if the system is changed, then development can be achieved
