An African Thunderstorm by David Rubadiri PDF

An African Thunderstorm by David  MEET THE POET James David Rubadiri was born in Liuli, Malawi, on July 19, 1930. He was a poet, novelist, playwright, university professor and diplomat; the first permanent ambassador of his country to the United Nations. Rubadiri atte...

An African Thunderstorm by David  MEET THE POET James David Rubadiri was born in Liuli, Malawi, on July 19, 1930. He was a poet, novelist, playwright, university professor and diplomat; the first permanent ambassador of his country to the United Nations. Rubadiri attended King's College, Budo in Uganda from 1941-1950, then Makerere University from 1952-1956 where he graduated from with a bachelor's degree in English literature and History. He went on to the University of Bristol from 1956-1960, where he received a Master of Arts degree in English literature. 2  MEET THE POET ◉ Publications: Growing Up With Poetry: An Anthology for Secondary Schools, 1989; Poems from East Africa, 1971; No Bride Price (novel, 1967) in which he shows his disillusion with the post-independent style of Kamuzu Banda, that guided Malawi toward its independence from the British Empire. ◉ His poems are a combination of African influences and European poetical forms.​Although there is a certain melancholy in his poems, which is a common characteristic of black poets from Africa and other regions of the world, it is maybe the black humor that better describes the poetry of Rubadiri. In his creations, that melancholy is accompanied with irony and sarcasm that painfully touch the vital experience 3  OUTLOOK ◉ David Rubadiri's "An African ◉ the poem can also be taken as Thunderstorm" describes an an allegory for the violent intense storm that sweeps upheaval that Western nations through an African village, inflicted on Africa during the as well as the way villagers colonial era and its aftermath. scramble to prepare for its The storm, in this reading, approach. First published in represents the devastation of the 1960s, around the time colonialism and of the that Rubadiri's home conflicts that tend to arise in country of Malawi gained its wake. independence from British colonial rule, 4  Summary ◉ The speaker describes the ◉ The poem opens with storm clouds that ride the wind as winds and thunderclouds "pregnant" and "stately," implying that they're full of blowing in from the west, rain and possibly full of violently churning up items in ominous significance, but are grand-looking as well. These their path. The storm's clouds hover over the senseless destruction is like hilltops like the dark wings of some evil creature. The trees that of an invading insect bending in the path of the swarm (like a biblical "plague strong wind that passes by. of locusts"), or like an insane person running after nothing. 5  SUMMARY ◉ The poem turns to the ◉ The women's clothing is responses of villagers in the ripped off by the storm, storm's path. Children scream exposing their naked bodies, with excitement, and the noise and then waves in the wind is blown around by the wind as like torn up flags. Lightning it churns. Women frantically flashes vividly, thunder scramble, rushing in and out rumbles the ground, the air of doors, as the babies they're smells like fire and smoke, carrying fearfully cling to and a violent rain begins. them. Nearby trees continue 6  STRUCTURE ◉ Rhyme Scheme: ◉ The poem ‘An African Thunderstorm’ has no specific rhyming pattern and is therefore written in free-verse. ◉ Background of Poem: ◉ David Rubadiri was often regarded as one of the most prominent voices in African poetry. One of the influences of the poem may have been how the Europeans came from the west to invade Africa.​ ◉ Physical setting: ◉ The events in the poem take place in a rural village in Africa. 7  CONTENT ◉ Stanza 1 "Clouds come hurrying with the wind, Turning sharply, Here and there" This shows that the clouds are moving with great speed and in erratic and unexpected patterns/directions. "Like a plague of locusts" The wind is compared to a plague of locusts here to show it as destructive. Locusts are associated with famine and destruction, most notably in the biblical story of Moses and Pharaoh of Egypt- where one of the ten plagues was a plague of locusts. 8  CONTENT ◉ "Tossing up things on its tail" Once again, the destructive, disruptive quality of the wind is shown. As it moves, it leaves things 'tossed up' in its wake. "Like a madman chasing nothing" The wind is now likened to a madman's unfocused wandering in its directionless movement. A madman usually poses a threat to the people around due to his lack of restraint and sanity, similar to how the wind is being painted as an impending doom ready to wreak havoc upon anything it encounters. 9  CONTENT ◉ Stanza 2 ◉ "Pregnant clouds ride stately on its back, " ◉ The poet's choice of the word pregnant to describe the clouds shows that the clouds are carrying something- probably rain, waiting to be released upon the land below. The clouds are said to be riding 'stately' on the back of the wind, which shows how the wind carries the clouds in a sort of dignified manner. This could be related to how high above the ground the clouds are (a sense of dignity) and how slowly clouds move in the wind. 10  CONTENT ◉ "Gathering to perch on hills, like sinister dark wings;" The clouds are described as gathering over hills. The use of 'perch on' as opposed to 'hover over' relates the clouds to birds. Comparing the clouds to 'sinister dark wings' also relates them to birds, more specifically crows (in their dark colour). The clouds are described as sinister as well, showing that their presence is threatening. ◉ "The wind whistles by, and trees bend to let it pass." These lines give the sound the wind makes, but more importantly, it shows the power of the wind as it forces the trees to bow and bend before it. 11  CONTENT ◉ Stanza 3 "In the village, screams of delighted children toss and turn in the din of the whirling wind." Here, we can see that the quick, whistling wind and the looming clouds don't have an effect of total fear on the children. They seem excited, either by the wind tossing up everything in its path, or by the rain to come. By saying that their screams 'toss and turn in the din of the whirling wind,' the poet relates that the children's delighted shouts are lost in the 12  CONTENT ◉ "Women, babies clinging on their backs, dart about, in and out, madly;" This shows a contrast to the delighted screams of the children. Instead of being excited, babies latch on to the backs of their mothers (likely in fear), and the women move about erratically in a sort of madness as the storm approaches. 13  CONTENT ◉ Stanza 4 "The wind whistles by whilst trees bend to let it pass." We see a repetition of the lines at the end of stanza 2, to once again show the wind bending nature to its will as it blows past. Stanza 5 "Clothes wave like tattered flags, flying off to expose dangling breasts" The clothes of the people in the village wave violently in the powerful wind, to the point that they fly off of their bodies. This also brings attention to the state of their clothing- "tattered flags"- showing that 14  CONTENT ◉ "As jagged blinding flashes rumble, tremble and crack amidst the smell of fired smoke and the pelting march of the storm." The 'pregnant clouds' now seemingly release their terror upon the earth below. This terror obviously includes lightning (blinding flashes), thunder (rumble) and heavy rain (pelting march). We also get the possibility of lightning setting things aflame- "the smell of 15  LITERARY/FIGURATIVE DEVICES ◉ Alliteration ◉ Personification "Clouds come hurrying with the "Clouds come hurrying with wind" (line 2) the wind." (line 2) "The wind whistles by" (line 14) The clouds are said to be "Toss and turn" (line 18) 'hurrying,' which is a human action of quick movement. "In the din of the whirling wind." (line 19) ◉ "Trees bend to let it pass." (line 15) "The wind whirls by" (line 25) The trees 'bend' to allow the wind to pass by. This personification shows, of course, the power of the wind in its ability to force the trees to bow. 16  Literary/Figurative Devices ◉ Personification ◉ "Pregnant clouds ride "Screams of delighted stately on its back, children toss and turn." gathering to perch on hills" (lines 17-18) (lines 11-12) The screams of the children are ◉ The clouds are 'riding' on the said to toss and turn in the back of the wind, which is really wind. This conveys the wind's to convey how the clouds are speed in how it throws around being carried by the wind. The the sounds as well. clouds also gather to 'perch' on hills. This is to show how the clouds, like birds, come to rest on top of the hill. The ascription of the clouds as 'pregnant' is also a human characteristic, to show the clouds carrying something to be released. 17  Literary/Figurative Devices ◉ Simile "Like a plague of locusts" (line 6) The wind is compared to a plague of locusts due to its destructive power. ◉ "Like a madman chasing nothing" (line 9) The wind is compared to a madman chasing nothing due to its seemingly erratic, aleatoric movements. ◉ "Like dark sinister wings" (line 13) The clouds are said to be like dark sinister wings to relate them to birds (as they perch on the hill) and convey a sense of evil. ◉ "Clothes wave like tattered flags" (line 27) The clothes are compared to tattered flags due to their torn appearances and how they flap and move in the powerful winds. 18  MOOD/THEMES ◉ MOOD: Impending Doom and Terror ◉ THEMES: -Nature -Man vs nature -Colonization/Colonialism/ Social Turmoil 19