The Black Woman Analysis
Content
The poem “Black Woman” was written by Leopold Sedar Senghor in 1945 originally in French before it was translated into English language.
In the poem, the poet shows his passion and love for Africa, his beloved continent.
He wrote the poem in condemnation of brutalities and segregation against the black race all over the world. He showers encomium on Africa bringing out the beauties.
The title of the poem “Black Woman” is a personification. The poet personifies Africa as a woman to transfer the amazing qualities of African women to Africa.
In the first five lines, the poet praises the beauty of African women, the color “black” which he refers to as life helps in bringing out the beauty.
He also expresses how caring Africa is in lines 4 and 5. He expresses how he was taken care of as a baby to illustrate how motherly Africa is.
“Naked woman, black woman
Clothed with your colour which is life,
with your form which is beauty!
In your shadow I have grown up; the
gentleness of your hands was laid over my eyes.”
After the motherly care, he has traveled far and near and looks upon Africa as his promised land where he is returning to because of the beauty that he compares to the flash of an eagle.
“And now, high up on the sun-baked
pass, at the heart of summer, at the heart of noon.
I come upon you, my Promised Land,
And your beauty strikes me to the heart
like a flash of an eagle.”
Leopold Senghor further expresses his love for Africa by showering encomium on her calling her all sorts of lovely names and equating her to everything beautiful.
She radiates beauty and happiness. He compares her to a limitless savannah that shudders beneath the caresses of the east wind; a good drum that sounds very well when beaten; and a woman with a lovely sonorous voice.
The poet greatly adores the African Woman in this poem and he turns her to a goddess in the course of praising her. She compares her skin to that of an athlete and the princes of Mali.
Her limbs are compared to that of an antelope and describe how beautiful the skin is. Africa is presented here as a strong-willed being, that nobody or any challenge can overcome.
“Oil that no breath ruffles, calm oil on the
athlete’s flanks of the Princes of Mali
Gazelled limbed in Paradise, pearls are stars on the
Night of your skin”
The encomium continues in the remaining lines of the poem, referring to her as his love, adoring the skin, the hair as well as the eyes.
He further tells her that he is celebrating her in his poem before the other races destroy her.
Themes
Patriotism: A patriot is a person who passionately loves, defends, and supports his or her country.
Leopold Sedar Senghor is seen here as a patriot because of the great love he has for Africa which propels him to compose this poem.
It is the great love he has for Africa that makes him title the poem “black woman.” He makes use of the good qualities of African women to show how much he loves Africa.
These can be found in all the stanzas of the poem.
Beauty: In the course of showing his love for Africa, the poet brings out the beauty in Africa. He equates the beauty in African women with that of Africa and this runs throughout the poem.
“Clothed with your colour which is life,
with your form which is beauty!”
Kindness: The poet presents Africa as being kind and gentle. This quality makes Africa an excellent nurturer that nurtured him from a baby to an adult. He sees Africa as being caring, humane, and not wicked.
“In your shadow I have grown up; the
gentleness of your hands was laid over my eyes.”
Sturdiness: Africa is described as being strong and ruggedly made so she is not of any delicate contexture that can easily be defeated or overcome by any challenge or any advances of the enemy. She can easily weather any storm with her structure.
“Oil that no breath ruffles, calm oil on the
athlete’s flanks of the Princes of Mali
Gazelled limbed in Paradise, pearls are stars on the
Night of your skin”
Happiness: Africa, according to the poet radiates happiness to the people as a result of the good qualities of the continent. He refers to her as “a delight of the mind.”
“Delights of the mind, the glinting of red
gold against your watered skin”
Jealousy: Towards the end of the poem, after expressing his mind on Africa bringing out the beauty, he concludes that he has brought out the beauty in Africa before the other jealous continents destroy the beauty as a result of jealousy.
“Naked woman, black woman,
I sing your beauty that passes, the form
that I fix in the Eternal,
Before jealous fate turn you to ashes to
feed the roots of life.”
Poetic Devices
Repetition: The essence of repetition in a poem is to lay emphasis and call the attention of the reader. There is repetition, “Naked woman, black woman,” in lines, 1, 11, 21, and 30 of the poem.
Alliteration: This is the repetition of a consonant sound at the beginning of two or more words in a line of a poem. This is used in lines;
1- Naked woman, black woman
2- Clothed with your colour which is life
7- pass, at the heart of summer, at the heart of noon.
11- Naked woman, dark woman
12- Firm-fleshed ripe fruit, sombre raptures
13- of black wine, moth making lyrical my mouth
14- savannah stretching to clear horizons,
17- Carved tom-tom, taut tom-tom, muttering
20- Spiritual song of the Beloved.
21- Naked woman, dark woman
22- Oil that no breath ruffles, calm oil on the
24- Gazelled limbed in Paradise, pearls are stars on the
30- Naked woman, black woman
Personification: This is when the qualities of the animate are given to the in-animate. This is used throughout the poem. Africa is personified here as a “black woman.”
The poet makes use of the qualities of African women represented by “black woman.” These qualities are used to bring out the good qualities of Africa to show the extent of the love the poet has for Africa.
Personification is extensively used in this poem from the beginning to the end. The use of some personal pronouns in the poem also gives credence to the use of personification in the poem.
The poem persona addresses Africa as a human being with the use of these personal pronouns,” I, your, you, my, me.”
The mentioning of some parts of the human body in the poem also gives quality to the personification; “hands, voice, skin, hair, eyes.”
Simile: This is the comparison of two things with the use of like or as. This is used in lines 9 and 10, where how the beauty of Africa strikes the poem persona’s heart is compared with a flash of an eagle.
“And your beauty strikes me to the heart
like a flash of an eagle.”
Enjambment: (Run-on-line) – This occurs when the sense expressed in a line of verse is not complete in that line and has to be completed in the next lines.
There is always no definite pause at the end of such lines. If we study the poem critically, we shall see that it runs-on-line from the beginning to the end.
Metaphor: We have this in lines 1, 11, 21, 30. “Naked woman, black woman” in these lines is being compared directly with Africa.
Also, in line 8, “I come upon you, my promised land.” Africa is directly compared with the persona’s “promised land.”
Onomatopoeia: This is a combination of sounds in a word that resembles or suggests what the word refers to.
This is used where the poet describes the experience of the blacks under the colonial masters. The choice of words here sounds like a drum if we pronounce the words.
line 17, “Carved tom-tom, taut tom-tom, muttering
under the conqueror’s fingers.