hi guys for today's lesson we will be looking at the poem vultures by Chinua Achebe when we look at the outline of the poem we see that it begins with a description of the vultures that makes em seem repulsive and gory however they are also portrayed as showing affection which only makes their behavior more revolting the second section of the poem describes the Kommandant of belsen which was a Nazi concentration camp where thousands of Jewish people were murdered and their bodies burned during world war ii as with the vultures the Commandant's love for his family makes his evil deeds in being responsible for thousands of deaths seem even worse the title of this poem is a literal reference to the scavenging bird species described in the first section of the poem but it is also a metaphorical reference to the people who commit evil deeds the theme for this poem is the strange coexistence of gross evil and tender love as well as they look at human behavior this poem was written by one of Africa's greatest writers Chinua Achebe who was born in Nigeria in 1930 he has written novels essays as well as poetry and most of his writing looks at the relationship between African mysticism and modern Western culture he passed away in 2013 in the first section of this poem we can see that the first stanza begins with a relentlessly long sentence fold with dark silent miserable descriptions he uses alliteration in the second and third line drizzle of one despondent dawn but this is an enjambment line so doesn't give the ebb and flow usually associated with alliteration this helps to emphasize the beat tone at eBay is trying to achieve he uses the description of the vulture seating position perching high on broken bones of the deep tree it unclear whether he is describing the tree as being bone-like or if the vultures are actually perched upon a mound of bones the birds themselves are described and painted in a grim image having already described them as harbingers a word closely associated with the bringing of death he describes them as having bashed in heads and gross feathers and later in the final line he describes them as having cold telescopic eyes giving the birds an August mechanical feel suggesting they should even really be classed as animals he then continues to describe their actions again this is very grim as they pick at the eye of a corpse he further describes the vultures eating the corpses bowel Achebe skilfully contrasts the light of love with the dark of death by mentioning that in the darkest of environments the charnel-house a storage place for corpses they is the presence of love he also personifies love itself he uses the exclamation point on the phrase her face turned to the wall because love cannot stand to look at the atrocities contained within here we also look at the cleverly constructed character of the Kommandant his description is not particularly flattering his only physical description describes his hairy nostrils but his actions are kind and really human he brings chocolate home for his children a kind gesture and action you would not probably associate with a war criminal attribute makes us see that even this horrible man has a soft side and that is represented by the description of his interactions with his child it is almost as if his child represents his good side and the vouchers represent his bad side Achebe also produces the harrowing image of the smell produced by Belson the smell that lingers on the Kommandant himself described as human roast considering the man smelling this way and then hugging his tender offspring this is a very powerful image Achebe brings the poem to a close by describing how even the ogre that is the Kommandant has a soft side which is shown in the preceding stanza he emphasizes the solace that should be taken in the small mercy praises bounciest providence his language here is particularly infected and evokes fantastic contrasts describing the commandments humanity as a tiny glowworm which is encapsulated in cruel I seek heaven even the word encapsulated isn't accidental suggesting that his warmth is trapped this gives a picture of a evil man that would rather be rid of the warmth if possible this is further emphasized by the line the very germ of that kindred love that is not the voice of the narrator but rather a peek into the psyche of the Kommandant and showing the narrator's omniscience this is a virtual import the idea that the Kommandant views his softer side as a curse this leaves the poem on a very bleak note when we look at the form and structure of the poem we can see that the poem is written in four stanzas in free verse with no rhyming pattern it contains lots of enjambment lines giving the poem a fast paced but with a jarring rhythm that mirrors the dark tone of the poem the first stanza is considerably larger than the other three taking up 23 lines that are all very short the other three stanzas of eight eleven and eleven lines respectively each section of the poem is marked by a line indentation rather than a new stanza this could possibly indicate how one idea flows to the next as the poem develops the arrangement of lines appears to almost be like a list and a building up of evidence the short lines running on to the next could suggest a continuous flow of content that supports the poet's theme for the tone in section one we can see it as disgust and revulsion for section two there's a tone of puzzlement as the speaker marbles that the wrath could find a place in the heart of such an ugly creature with such disgusting habits for section C almost a horror as the speaker contrasts the unimaginable evil that the commandment is guilty of with his feelings obtained a kindness for his children who wait for their daddy to come home in Section four the term becomes resigned and pessimistic as the speaker offers a choice of being thankful grateful for the capacity for love or feeling despair because the capacity for evil seems to go together with it both are an integral part of human nature hi thanks for joining us for today's lesson I hope that you like and subscribe down below so that you can be ready for the next lesson as it is uploaded thanks bye