[Music] [Applause] hello students teachers and lovers of poetry today let's do an analysis of an african thunderstorm by david robadieri in several poems that we've looked at so far we've looked at the grandeur the beauty the tranquility of nature in this poem an african thunderstorm we see how vicious and destructive nature can be let us together unravel the trembling rumbling flashing images of this incredible storm that sweeps through an african village and leaves people scrambling and scampering first i'll read the point and then we'll go in between the lines [Music] an african thunderstorm from the west clouds came hurrying with the wind turning sharply here and there like a plague of locusts whirling tossing up things on its tail like a madman chasing nothing pregnant clouds ride stately on its back gathering to perch on hills like sinister dark wings the wind whistles by and trees bend to let it pass in the village screams of delighted children toss and turn in the ding of the whirling wind women babies clinging on their backs dart about in and out madly the wind whistles by whilst trees bend to let it pass clothes wave like tattered flags flying off to expose dangling breasts as jacket blinding flashes rumble tremble and crack amidst the smell of fired smoke and the pelting march of the storm let's start with the title an african thunderstorm by the way this poem is full of tricky little details so you will have to be patient as we work through everything we will leave no stone unturned okay the title already we see that there is danger thunderstorms are powerful deadly the title doesn't just say a storm but a thunderstorm this evokes images of lightning and thunder incredible forces of nature we see not only the power of the storm but also the size the scale it's not a nigerian or kenyan or ugandan storm but an african thunderstorm a raging beast of nature of continental proportions why might it be important to say that the thunderstorm is african well we can expect to find themes that relate perhaps to race or geography perhaps to african people or african culture african history this thunderstorm either belongs to africa or happened to africa the point is there's a connection between the storm and africa we all know that storms in literature usually represent problems trials conflicts so here we are probably dealing with a serious problem faced by african people see how much we can get from the title alone let's go to lines one and two we see that clouds come hurrying with the wind where are the clouds and wind coming from they're coming from the west these two lines provide a lot of information let's get into it first we see that the poems narrator the speaker is being approached by the wind and clouds how do we know they're heading in his direction he says they're coming hurrying so the perspective of the speaker might be one of fear anticipation anxiety clouds and winds are coming toward him not only are the clouds coming but they are hurrying this is personification the clouds and winds aren't moving slowly clouds in other points are usually said to drift lazily and aimlessly but these clouds are on a mission and they have a strong fast wind to push them along again where are the clouds and winds coming from from the west by now it might be obvious that the word west here actually means the western world meaning the us canada australia new zealand europe they are usually considered to be the west geopolitically speaking so to be clear the western skies the west here is a symbol for the western world those powerful countries so we see some clouds and winds coming from the west what could all this be about obviously these clouds and winds will develop into the thunderstorm the title speaks of what storm what problem did the west bring to africa if you look at the title and the first two lines and also look at when the poem was published sometime in the 1960s when many african cultures were suffering at the end of the west then it becomes clear that the african thunderstorm has nothing to do with nature and lightning and thunder and wind and rain and clouds instead this thunderstorm is colonialism oppression racism injustice social turmoil this is the meaning of the african thunderstorm this poem is what we call an allegory meaning it is a story that explains some political or social issue in this case we're getting into what it was like for the african people who are under the colonial subjection of the west the storm is itself a symbol for colonialism so the main theme of this poem is colonialism and its effects on people specifically africans there's also the theme of man versus nature a theme that runs through many poems we've looked at so far but this theme of man vs nature is used to illustrate the more important theme which is that of colonialism and its effects look at the quickness and abruptness of the next two lines turning sharply here and there we feel a sense of rapid senseless movement the approaching storm seems to be going everywhere it seems to be moving haphazardly randomly here and there might also suggest that the problems of colonization this kind of oppression is not just here in africa but is there in other parts of the world as well look at the word sharply literally in this case it means abruptly the clouds are making sharp quick angular turns but sharp also means having an edge that can easily cut something like a knife being sharp so through the diction used here we see that the storm is moving rapidly but more importantly it is dangerous it is cutting through houses and people perhaps it is sharp we see too that the poems form so far is depicting the sharpness and randomness of the storm the lines are all over the place look at the short sharp lines with that one long line line two sticking out by the way looking down the poem we see that there are very few punctuation marks from beginning to end marking the speed and relentlessness of the storm we'll see that as we move forward next two lines like a plague of locusts whirling this is a biblical illusion here we allude to the plagues of egypt one of the plagues that god sent was locusts which destroyed the egyptians crops forget about locusts what is a plague this is a terrible disease or any kind of widespread destruction so we see that this simile of saying that the clouds and wind are like a plague of locusts means that they have come to destroy to kill everything in its path this storm has come to bring suffering and death the storm just like a plague of locusts is whirling now we get the image of a tornado or cyclone the wind is whirling spinning the whirling motion is often linked to dizziness confusion which is what the storm also brings if you say my mind is in a world it means you're in a state of confusion if you say my life is in a world it means many things are happening rapidly and you don't feel like you can control anything in the next line we see that the storm is getting stronger now it's actually doing something it is tossing up things on its tail this means it is digging up and flinging things around maybe soil maybe houses or pieces of houses maybe people it is raging and tossing things around perhaps people's lives are being turned upside down as we come to the last line of the stanza we see another simile the storm is like a madman chasing nothing this continues the depiction of craziness and haphazard movement it also brings in themes around insanity also mentality so to recap stanza one the storm which is colonialism is a destructive and insane force we see diction to support this like hurrying sharply plaguing locusts whirling tossing madman next we see pregnant clouds riding stately on the storm's back the addiction here is dense literally the clouds are pregnant with rain meaning they're full and ready to burst but we know that these clouds are also pregnant with danger with doom first the clouds were swift and mad now they ride steadily this word means dignified noble worthy of respect grand impressive now we see the pompous pride of the colonizers who think they are superior to the african people we see the storm as colonization and the clouds as the colonizers themselves they roll in like royalty and take what they see they think they're stately they think they're royalty they think they are superior beings stately here might also be a pun in reference to state as in the clouds are related to a state or a country this reinforces the idea of one country oppressing another several western countries oppressing several african countries riding on the back of something is also an interesting image as it brings to mind the impression of the colonizers riding on the backs of the africans not literally well hopefully not literally meaning they are exploiting the africans the storm has been moving quickly but it is now slowing down it has found a place that it wants to stay it has found a people that it wants to continue to destroy the storm is gathering to perch on hills perch here gives us a metaphor in which the storm is also a bird we see a simile in the next line the storm or maybe the clouds are compared to sinister dark wings first we got the image of a bird and now we have zoomed into the wings both sinister and the dark give us images of evil and danger villainousness the storm is like an angel of death sweeping over africa then we see some auditory imagery the wind whistles by we hear the whistling of the wind also we hear it clearly in the alliterated sound in wings wind whistles this is the sound of a storm or at least the sound of the wind that is coming to take the storm to us next we see that trees bend to let it pass the trees are personified they're bending to let the storm pass this storm is powerful and they can't stand up to it they bow in the presence of the stately storm they don't want to be destroyed by the storm so they bend it to let it pass even the trees are afraid of this storm so in stanza one the storm was approaching quickly and menacingly in stanza 2 the storm has arrived and is making itself at home let's look at the next four lines together in an african village children are screaming delightedly and these screams toss and turn in the din in the noise of the storm so the storm is wreaking havoc and we have kids screaming in delight the light is usually used to describe a pleasant kind of excitement so why are the children delighted in this storm this here is irony perhaps dramatic irony dramatic irony is a special type of irony where something probably danger is obvious to the reader but not obvious to the characters in a text here we see the storm as dangerous but the kids see it as something exciting back in 2004 hurricane ivan hit jamaica i watched as my family and as the entire country prepared for the storm being a child i was excited to see what the storm would bring what would happen even during the storm itself what i felt was anticipation excitement a kind of delight this was my first hurricane and i didn't quite appreciate the danger it brought instead i felt as if this was an exciting event plus since it meant no school it was doubly exciting to me similarly the children in the village are naively excited about the storm hence the screams of delighted children but even though the kids seem to be excited the word screams provides an undertone of anxiety perhaps their delight soon turns to dread as they realize what the storm is capable of we have some personification in these lines we see toss and turn in the din of the whirling wind what is tossing and turning the children right no not the children the screens of the children the sound of screaming gets mixed in with the noise of the wind the wind is so strong that it is drowning out the screams people can't even hear the children screaming because of how loud the storm is also we get the image of how easily nature can manipulate can control and destroy can outdo and subdue humans imagine the wind grabbing the screams and just tossing and throwing them about a din is a loud noise it is also a commotion chaos the storm is not only loud but very chaotic we hear the storm's power and noise in the alliteration in the lines we have the repeated sound in toss and turn we have the repeated sound in whirring wind we also have some consonants or perhaps internal slant rhymes in the repeated sounds as we say in the din of the whirling wind also look at how irregular the line lengths are this is because there is no order to the storm compared to the stanza about the clouds riding steedly that stanza is quite regular because at that point the storm was not yet violent when you look at the form of a poem how the stanzas are arranged how long the lines are the punctuations used you need to be able to comment on how the form matches the meaning why is this stanza written in this way why is that stanza written in that way why is the point presented in this way you have to understand how everything works to bring the poem together next up we see women with babies on their backs darting about running around trying to find some safety they dart in and out madly again we see language of madness reminding us of the madman chasing nothing that we saw earlier first the storm was mad now the people are mad it is as if colonization has affected the people's minds has made them go insane we can also see a contrast between the children's response to the storm and the adults respond to the storm the children are delighted but the adults are going mad they are terrified even the babies seem to sense the danger they can feel the sense of danger through their mother's behavior how do we know they feel the danger they're clinging to their mothers we get the sense of sporadic movement of quick steps in the rhyming couplet here dart about in and out what are they going in and out of maybe their houses maybe they're trying to secure the babies maybe they're just running to wherever seems to be the safest place maybe they're escaping falling debris could they still be scampering to prepare for the storm i don't think so as the storm is already happening are they darting in and out of the village who knows all we know is they're running about madly earlier we saw trees bending to let the storm pass we see that line again why is this repeated why is this so important so back when we first saw the trees bending they were the first things the storm was interacting with after that we see how the people deal with the storm this time the trees are here to give us a comparison between how the trees and how humans deal with the storm the children are screaming the mothers are darting in and out the babies are clinging whilst whilst trees bend to let it pass whilst here makes this a comparative line the humans are doing this while the trees are doing that it suggests that humans and nature handle disasters differently while humans probably become agitated and fearful and try to resist or escape the trees just bend they just give in they just allow the storm to pass do the people bend no they do not the people are resilient the african people do not bend they fight back they run they plan they do not give up they do not bend like trees we can also notice a bit more windy alliteration in wind whistles wilds going down we get an interesting simile clothes wave like tattered flags flying off literally the woman's clothes have been ripped and torn during the chaos the ripped clothing is compared to tattered flags but the simile is a little ambiguous are the clothes like tattered flags that are flying off or are the clothes flying off like tattered flags either way the introduction of flags into the poem specifically tattered or torn up flags reinforces the idea of colonization the african flags have been tattered have been torn up and stolen and soiled the flags are a metanim they represent the countries a flag represents a country doesn't it just like their clothes during the storm the people's flags have become tattered and if the flags are flying off it means the countries are losing their national identities their flags are disappearing into the wind of colonization but there might be another meaning maybe the flags that are being torn and thrown away are the flags of the colonizers maybe we are seeing a rebellion in action anyway let's go back to the literal happenings as the woman's clothes are torn away their naked bodies are exposed we see dangling breasts literally the clothes are torn up by the storm exposing their breasts but this could be symbolic of sexual violation during slavery and during the height of colonization african women were often raped they were dominated by the colonizers maybe this is a reference to the men ripping off the women's clothes after that we get more imagery of the storm we see jacket the blinding flashes this is some wicked imagery that points the lightning the lightning is jagged which connects to sharp inline three the lightning is dangerous like a jagged knife there's a difference between jagged and sharp when something is jagged it is rough uneven this fits the image of torn clothes and screaming women we see blinding because the lightning is bright but also because the people are blind what do i mean if the torn flags are those of the african people then the flying away of the flags might refer to their loss of identity they are losing sight of themselves the blindness might also be spiritual blindness the wickedness the perverseness of the colonizers and then we have the flashes which are the flashes of lightning but the word is actually a pun here the flash also means to briefly and often unintentionally expose one's naked body or underwear particularly in public this is a reference to the women's dangling breasts what is rumbling trembling and cracking in the next line rumble and also crack are onomatopoeias that refer to loud noises or things breaking or shaking the storm is causing the walls of the houses maybe the roofs to shake and split apart we can also imagine thunder as the rumbling sound what about trembling the people are trembling and what about the fired smoke in the next line by the way what even is fired smoke it might be the smoke that remains as a fire is put out maybe cooking fires have been extinguished by the storm and so the families must now go hungry maybe fireplaces have been extinguished by now and the families must now grow cold maybe the fire and smoke refer to gunshots that are blasted by white men the crack from the previous line could then refer to the cracking of whips which might be referenced to slavery by the way we get some rumbling alliteration in the repeated sound rumble tremble amids smell smoke let's read the last stanza all together and then look at the last line clothes wave like tattered flags flying off to expose dangling breasts as jacket blinding flashes rumble tremble and crack amidst the smell of fired smoke and the pelting march of the storm the marching here is like an army and the pelting refers to how violent the storm is the pelt means to bombard with missiles to throw things at someone to beat to hit the storm marches on pelting the african people the storm is personified as it pelts and marches and that marks the end of the poem so we saw themes of colonization social and political turmoil we saw man versus nature we saw how men respond to nature versus how nature responds to nature we got incredible images of this wicked storm and hopefully you've got a thorough understanding of this brilliant important poem some critics might think that this poem has nothing to do with colonization at all and only depicts a literal storm i disagree with that viewpoint seeing the number of evidences that point to political undertones especially in the diction in the first and last stanzas however you can understand the poems either talking about just the literal storm or you can see it as being about a storm that represents colonization neither interpretation is incorrect just make sure that you're able to justify with textual evidence whatever interpretation you choose if this video was helpful be sure to give it a like and share it with other students or lovers of literature thanks for watching see you in the next analysis [Applause] you