The Grieved Lands- Questions And Answers
QUESTION 1: Give a vivid account of “The Grieved Land.”
The first stanza begins with the poet going into memory lane on the causes of African woes which is attributed to the ancient and modern slavery by the Europeans.
“The grieved lands of Africa
In the tearful woes of ancient and modern slave
In the degrading sweat of impure dance
Of other seas
Grieved”
The ancient slavery is the trans-Atlantic slave trade where Africans were forcefully taken away to Europe to work on their sugarcane plantation with their mouth padlocked. Africans were maltreated and dehumanized.
The modern slavery can be attributed to different anti African policies, like the stiffer policies of the I.M.F. The different lottery programmes of the foreign countries can also be categorized as an example of modern slavery. All these contribute to the woes and downfall of Africans.
In the second stanza, the poet refers to Africans as “flower” and the European as “iron and fire.” He uses flowers for Africa to show how beautiful and glamorous Africa was before the Europeans came and dis-organized us. They crushed the flower removing the beauty and the perfume.
This reflects how Africans were incapacitated as a result of the wickedness of “iron and fire,” the European colonial masters.
“The Grieved lands of Africa
In the infamous sensation of the stunning
Perfume of the
Flower
Crushed in the forest
By the wickedness of iron and fire
The grieved lands”
The third stanza discusses how the Africans’ dreams are shattered by the white colonial masters when Africans are arrested, dehumanized, have their hands and mouths padlocked. While the colonial masters are happy with their gruesome achievement for capturing Africans, the Africans are left to lament their woes as a result of maltreatment gotten from the white men. They shattered the natural environment and the cultural gatherings of the people.
“The grieved lands of Africa
In the dream soon undone in jingling of
gaolers’ keys
And in the stifled laughter and victorious voice of laments
And in the unconscious brilliance of sensations
Of the grieved lands of Africa
Alive
In themselves and with us alive
They bubble up in dreams
Decked with dances by baobabs over balances
By the antelope
In the perpetual alliance of everything that lives”
The fourth stanza chronicles how Africans are inhumanely treated, punished and gruesomely punished, which leads to the death of many as life is ejected from them through severe punishment and starving. The dead bodies are then thrown into the ocean.
“They shout out the sound of life
Shout it
Even the corpses thrown up by the Atlantic
In putrid offering of incoherence
And death and in the clearness
Of rivers”
The next stanza and the concluding stanza x-rays the honest and strong determination of Africans in achieving their dreams no matter what happens, they desire to overcome all odds and these make Africans imperishable. So far Africans are still living, they are also in Africa.
“They live
The grieved lands of Africa
Because we are living
And are imperishable particles
Of the grieved lands of Africa.”
QUESTION 2: Discuss the poetic devices used in “The Grieved Land.”
REPETITION: “The grieved lands of Africa” is repeated severally in the poem to lay emphasis and to the people how the poet feels about the experiences of Africans in the hands of the colonial masters. There is also the repetition of “in the” in some lines of the poem.
METAPHOR: We have this in the second stanza where Africans are referred to as “flower” and the colonial masters are referred to as “iron and fire.”
ALLITERATION: This is the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of two or more words in a line of a poem. This is used in lines 3, 7, 16, 22, 24, 25, 27, 37.
EUPHEMISM: This is when something absurd is presented in a mild way. In line 25 of the poem, the killing of Africans is presented in a mild way, “They shout out the sound of life.”
IMAGERY: This is when we are having the mental picture of what we are reading in a poem in our brain. As we are going through the poem, the pictures of what happened to Africans during the period of the enslavement of Africans reflect in our brain.
LANGUAGE: The poet’s choice of words and the appropriate use of figures of speech make the poem understandable.
QUESTION 3: What are the themes of “The Grieved Land?”
These are the themes of the poem:
COLONIALISM: This is the forceful and arbitrary domination of a group of people by another group of people. A good example is the domination of Africans by the Europeans after the Berlin conference of 1884 where Africans were partitioned. The poem vividly captures how Africa was captured and the experiences of Africans in the hands of the colonial masters.
INHUMANITY: Africans were greatly dehumanized and badly treated as if they were not human beings. They were captured and enslaved on their own land by the colonial masters. They had their hands and legs chained and padlocked as well as their mouths.
OPPRESSION: Africans were greatly oppressed by these colonial masters on their land with the maltreatment meted out to them.
DEATH: Many Africans lost their lives through the inhuman treatment meted out on them by the colonial masters and the dead bodies are emptied into the ocean, especially those that died in transit.
“Even the corpses thrown up by the Atlantic
In putrid offering of incoherence
And death and in the clearness
Of rivers””
DETERMINATION: Despite the inhumanity and the severe punishment meted out to Africans, the strong determination is still there. Africans were so determined to achieve their dreams against all odds.
“In the harmonious sound of consciences
Contained in the honest blood of men
In the strong desire of men
In the sincerity
In the pure and simple rightness of the star’s
Existence”
QUESTION 4: Identify three effects of Colonialism on Africans as shown in “The Grieved Land.”
The poem is about the colonialism of Africa by the European which has some effects on Africans.
One of such effects is the dehumanization of Africans. Africans were treated that time like animals; as if they were not human beings. They were badly maltreated on the way to Europe that some could not survive it and were thrown into the ocean.
“Even the corpses thrown up by the Atlantic
In putrid offering of incoherence
And death and in the clearness
Of rivers”
They are also taken to their sugarcane plantations with their mouths padlocked; this is an inhuman treatment.
Also, the onslaught and the deaths of Africans in the hands of the Europeans result in depopulation of Africans. Many people lost their lives while in transit and in Europe because of the way they are treated.
Another effect on Africans is that Africans are left in sadness. The third stanza discusses how the Africans’ dreams are shattered by the white colonial masters when Africans are arrested, dehumanized, and have their hands and mouths padlocked. While the colonial masters are happy with their gruesome achievement for capturing Africans, the Africans are left to lament their woes as a result of maltreatment gotten from the white men. They shattered the natural environment and the cultural gatherings of the people.
“The grieved lands of Africa
In the dream soon undone in jingling of
gaolers’ keys
And in the stifled laughter and victorious voice of laments
And in the unconscious brilliance of sensations
Of the grieved lands of Africa
Alive
In themselves and with us alive
They bubble up in dreams
Decked with dances by baobabs over balances
By the antelope
In the perpetual alliance of everything that lives”
QUESTION 5: Comment on the language of “The Grieved Land.”
Language in a poem refers to the various literary devices used by the poet to make the poem comprehensible. Agostinho Neto has made use of some literary devices and figures of speech to make the poem appreciable.
In the second stanza, the poet makes use of symbols; flower is used to symbolize Africans while iron and fire symbolizes the Europeans.
He uses flowers for Africa to show how beautiful and glamorous Africa was before the Europeans came and dis-organized us. They crushed the flower, removing the beauty and the perfume. This reflects how Africans were incapacitated as a result of the wickedness of “iron and fire,” the European colonial masters.
“The Grieved lands of Africa
In the infamous sensation of the stunning
Perfume of the
Flower
Crushed in the forest
By the wickedness of iron and fire
The grieved lands”
There is also the use of alliteration which is a figure of sound; it is used for sound effects. This is the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of two or more words in a line of a poem. This is used in lines 3, 7, 16, 22, 24, 25, 27, 37 of the poem.
Repetition is used in the poem. “The grieved lands of Africa” is repeated severally in the poem to lay emphasis and to show to the people how the poet feels about the experiences of Africans in the hands of the colonial masters. There is also the repetition of “in the” in some lines of the poem.
Euphemism is not left out in the poem. This is when something absurd is presented in a mild way. In line 25 of the poem, the killing of Africans is presented in a mild way, “They shout out the sound of life.”
All these put together are the means used by the poet to pass across his messages to the people.