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 SSMOULDER,

What does this

word imply ?

Look at the red words. What type

of place do you imagine? Is this a

pleasant place?

Account for the

use of

alliteration in

this line.

GANG

What does this

word imply ?

Why has the

poet included

this word?

GIRL FLINGS

TORMENTED BY THE FLIES.

Why has the

poet told us

this detail?

What is

implied by the

use of this

word?Why the

repetition?

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?

PROWL SHARP

Comment on the use of this

word. What does it imply?

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 rippleLike a broad river sighing through the reeds.

What is the mood of this stanza?

Account for the change in mood.

PUPPY,

What is implied by comparing

the baby to a puppy?

Onomatopoeia : noises of

contentment

FRAIL NERVES

Implies vulnerability

Why is he frail?

Tenderness

Literally the mother is feeding her hungry boy.

Metaphorically she is feeding his soul

SIGHING

Why is the river seen as

“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 imbibesAn old unquenched, unsmotherable heat-The curbed ferocity of beaten tribes,The sullen dignity of their defeat.

Takes in/

absorbs

OLD UNQUENCHED, UNSMOTHERABLEHEAT-

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!

D D

What is the use of

alliteration here?

Gloomy

silence

The Zulu people still have

dignity, even in their defeat,

even though they are

oppressed.

Her body looms above him like a hillWithin whose shade a village lies at rest,Or the first cloud so terrible and stillThat bears the coming harvest in its breast.

What are the connotation of

this image? Is it positive of

negative ?

W W

What is being said about

the mother in this image?

She is a

beacon of

hope, she is a

mother to all

the oppressed

people.

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