[Applause] [Music] a disturbing yet intriguing poem the old height is a caribbean folklore character she's an old woman who is like a mix of a shape-shifter a witch and a vampire in some caribbean countries it's called asukuna in others it's called a jumbi and in others a baku it's also known as a fire ass or angeli these all refer to the same thing let me know in the comments what country you're from and whether you've ever heard of this character anyway this vampire woman likes to drink the blood of babies exciting isn't it at night time she turns into a ball of fire and goes off to find some baby juice in the daytime she lives amongst everyone else like a regular old woman i'll read the poem after that we'll get in between the lines [Music] you think i like all this stupidness gallivanting all night without skin burning myself out like cane fire to frighten the foolish and for what a few drops of baby blood you think i wouldn't rather take my blood seasoned in fat black pudding like everyone else and don't even talk about the pain of salt and having to bend these old bones down to count a thousand grains of rice if only babies didn't smell so nice and if i could only stop hearing the soft soft call of that pure blood running in new veins singing the sweet song of life tempting an old dry of woman who have been holding her final note for years afraid of the dying hum then again if i didn't fly and come to that fresh pulse in the middle of the night how would you mother name your ancient dread and who to blame for the murder inside your head believe me as long as it have women giving birth a poor old height like me can never be dead the title tells us what or who the poem is about the only interesting thing here since we already know what a high is is the all it's not old there is no it's contracted to all to make it less formal and more dialectic we'll see that the entire poem while written in english is littered with guyanese creole still the krill is not so deep that you won't be able to understand the language if you're not from guyana in the caribbean creoles as opposed to english are sometimes associated with rural areas and also with unsophisticated or uneducated or elderly people the poems language builds the context of this story it gives us the setting of this rural village-like caribbean community where instead of internet and computers we have doffy stories and people believing in things like hikes and rolling calves the people are superstitious also the whole story feels more credible with the touches of creole reading this poem in standard english would just not have given you the same effect it wouldn't have the same immersion and realism you will also notice that the first person narration is used which humanizes the hag by saying i she is able to connect with the reader and appeal to our emotions when commenting on a poem you can look at the effect of language all right let's look at the first couple of lines you think i like all this stupidness gallivanting all night without skin burning myself or like cane fire defraying the foolish and thought a few drops of baby blood we see here that the old hag through rhetorical questions and sarcastic banter is basically saying that she doesn't like her own actions she doesn't behave this way because it's fun or because she wants to she seems to be saying that she can't help being who she is and she can't help doing what she does she calls her nightly routine stupidness which is a very guyanese thing to say we see another very caribbean word with gallivanting which means wild movement running around busy bodiness the word also suggests that the heights actions are senseless crazy she gallivants all night without skin in the old folk tales the high sheds its skin and turns into a ball of fire at night time she says that she burns herself out like cane fire in order to frighten the foolish we have a simile here that i'll explain in a moment who are the foolish they must be the people who believe in the myths of the high the superstitious people but why would the people who believe in her be foolish if she's real it might be a case where only if you fear the hag can she hurt you those who don't believe in her cannot be harmed by her this is a typical mindset when it comes to caribbean superstition and supernatural phenomena for example some people think that if you don't believe in obia a kind of witchcraft it can't harm you same for the hague so the haik is saying you think i like doing all this madness you think this is fun for me you think i want to do this look at the simile that compares the ball of fire the height turns into to cain fire what is the similarity well they are both fire but that's not all cane burns quickly as it's very dry the imagery here is one of a wild rapid fire spreading over land and eating of the cane similarly she burns out quickly we can see that it is exhausting and even frustrating for her to be turning into fire we also have a pun in burning myself out she's literally burning herself out because she turns into fire but to be burnt out also means to be exhausted we can hear the sound of the fire in the alliteration in lines 3 and 4. listen to the alliterated sound fire to frighten the foolish so far we have a very argumentative hug we can clearly picture this old guyanese woman who is loud and quarrelsome and who never runs out of words we have some of those in jamaica too she is frustrated because she can't stop herself from doing what she does and she needs people to understand that it's not her fault all she really wants as she will continue to explain is to be normal she doesn't like any of this we encounter some important themes here we're talking about identity the hike is saying i am who i am and i can't change you better just accept me as i am do you think people are capable of changing themselves are we fixed or can we become someone else if a child grows up in poverty and violence if he comes from a broken home can he end up becoming educated getting a good job and being an excellent father or has his destiny already been decided by his parents the poem is telling us to look at questions like these by the way i'd love to hear your opinion on these things in the comments we also see the theme of social isolation the hague is an outcast because of what she is and what she does think about those who are cast aside by society because of their identity we all know in some way what racism is in some countries black people are treated unfairly just because of their racial identity people are also alienated because of religious beliefs people are treated badly because of physical impairments also think about ex-convicts a person will serve his time in prison and return to the streets maybe he has changed but he still can't get a job he's cast aside the poem is telling us to look at realities like these in line five we see why the hike does all this gallivanting all this skin shedding and turning into fire and all that madness and for what a few drops of baby blood these rhetorical questions come with a tone of dissatisfaction annoyance displeasure the hag is saying the juice isn't worth the squeeze it's not worth it doing all this every night just for a few drops of baby blood really doesn't make sense it's frustrating think about it adults have a lot more blood in them than babies the height logically would prefer to drink the blood of adults to get more blood but for some reason she just can't help going for the babies it's just in her nature to want these babies blood the next three lines contain the argumented rhetorical questions you think i would rather take my blood seasoned in fat black pudding like everyone else she's saying she would rather have her blood well seasoned like everybody else she would rather have her blood seasoned in fact black pudding here we have some gustatory imagery which is the strong appeal to the sense of taste what is black pudding black pudding also called blood pudding or blood sausage is a kind of sausage made by cooking and cooling blood the blood is cooked with spices and seasonings and maybe potatoes so black pudding is not a pudding but instead a sausage made of blood it's a delicacy in many caribbean countries so the hike is saying i'd rather have that delicious belly filling blood than the little drops of baby blood by the way let me know if you have ever eaten black pudding i have never had it and i never will here we encounter another theme one we encountered in a stone's throw we see social hypocrisy these people who condemn the hag for consuming blood they consume blood as well but in a different way in life we often judge and condemn people for their sins for the wickedness even while we ourselves are wicked or at the very least imperfect the rest of the stanza is another illusion and requires some knowledge of the folk tale of the hag she says and don't even talk about the pain of salt and having to bend these old bones down to count a thousand grains of rice so she's frustrated about the salt and the rice more illusion so let me explain in the myth of the hague salt is a deadly weapon against her since she has no skin when she is in high mood salt can cause her immense pain and it can even kill her it's like throwing salt on a snail not a pretty picture this is why she says and don't even talk about the pain of salt what about the rice the myth goes if you put rice at your front door the hike if she wants to get into the house must first count the grains of rice of course if there's a lot of rice there counting grains could take many hours by then it will be sunrise and she can only stay in hike mode at night much like a vampire this is why she says and having to bend these old bones down to count a thousand grains of rice so not only is the hag frustrated because she has to do all this work for just a little bit of unseasoned baby blood but she's also frustrated because there are so many ways to prevent her from getting even that little bit of food a woman who can turn into a ball of fire sounds powerful but in reality she can be stopped with cheap common things like rice and salt here we see another theme sometimes in society we might view certain people as rich and powerful as untouchable well in reality they might actually be quite vulnerable they might have a deadly weakness or might not be as happy as they seem you know how many rich or famous people kill themselves every year you know how many people who appear rich are actually bankrupt okay back to the point the highener goes into her baby addiction if only babies didn't smell so nice and if i could only stop hearing the soft soft call of that pure blood running in new veins notice the alliterated sound throughout the stanza reflecting the tenderness of the babies and also how fun she is of them i'll read this stanza so listen for the alliteration if only babies didn't smell so nice and if i could only stop hearing the soft soft call of that pure blood running in new veins singing the sweet song of life tempting an old dry up woman who have been holding her final note for years afraid of the dying hum we see that the scent of the babies is tantalizing to the high she can't resist the smell also the soft call of the babies is alluring to her we are made to imagine the sweet powdery smell of the babies and imagine a soft sweet cooing as the babies make their little noises we get more auditory imagery in the sweet singing and also in the dying home but are the babies calling no the baby's blood is calling to her it's like when you walk past kfc and you can smell the barbecue zinger calling you because she has an appetite for the babies she hears their blood calling this is personification as the blood is calling out the blood is running in new veins because the babies are new their newborn we see more personification as the blood is singing the sweet song of life this is because babies have their whole lives ahead of them they are strong healthy babies we see that the life that courses through the baby's veins is tempting to the old dry woman the hag you can consider this more personification as the blood is now tempting the hike the same way the snake tempted eve in the garden the hike is said to have been holding her final note for years afraid of the dying home this is a metaphor her life is compared to a song and she's now holding the final note of that song the dying hum is auditory imagery that is meant to contrast with the pleasant sounds of the baby what is the effect we hear the sounds of life and then the sounds of death of mortality the high is nearing death and obviously she sustains herself she stays alive by stealing life from the babies the hag is afraid of the dying home she's afraid of drawing her last breath she's afraid of dying look at how the hike paints herself as a helpless victim at first she was a fiery argumentative defensive woman even sassy we even see many rhetorical questions in stanza one in stanza 2 she sounds pitiful she wants us to take pity not on the babies who she sucks dry but on her because she is forced to do this terrible thing because she is near the end of her life and is just trying to survive here we have another implication for real life think about the people who do terrible things but who consider themselves to be the victims should we feel sorry for a man who rapes and kills women just because that man is suffering from some childhood trauma how should we feel about people who feel helpless as they commit wicked acts there's another thing i want you to think about before we touch the last stanza just as the hag preys on the babies to extend her own life there are people in society who are parasites they feed off others exploit others in order to enrich themselves they are like all hags the first line of the last stanza changes gears we see that a shift is coming as the speaker says then again let's look at it in two parts first i'll read and explain the first four lines of the last stanza then again if i didn't fly and come to that fresh pulse in the middle of the night how would you mother name your ancient dread the fresh pulse here means the baby that the hag wants to drink calling it a fresh pulse is a type of metaphor called a metanim but you can just call it a metaphor the point here is the height sees the baby just as a pulse just as life to be consumed blood to be drunk the hag is saying if i don't come and drink the blood of these babies more to the point if i don't come to your house and kill your baby how would you mother name your ancient dread what is this ancient dread ancient means very old and the dread means terrible a terrible thing what is the most terrible thing that mothers have been fearful of even since ancient times of course they fear the death of their children if i don't come in the night how will you name your agent red how would you understand how would you be able to accept the death of your child when we name something it shows an understanding or ownership of it when zoologists discover a new species they name it when astrologists discover a new star or planet or moon they name it when physicists discover a new sub-atomic particle they name it when mothers have a baby you guessed it they name it now let me put this line in context because it might still be difficult to grasp when tragedies happen people need some amount of closure some amount of understanding of what happened so they can name it if a loved one died their family might get an autopsy done so they can know how that person died this is a way of naming the death similarly if a mother's baby dies the mother wants to know what happened how did my child die they need to understand because that helps them to deal with the pain so the hike is saying i actually serve a very important purpose to your mothers if your child dies in the middle of the night i give you someone to blame me instead of spending your whole life wondering how your child died and whether it was your fault and whether you should feel guilty about it you can just blame me instead so here in this line the hike is saying that mothers should be grateful that they have someone to blame if a tragedy happens if someone kills your loved one i'm sure you'd want that killer to be caught and killed or at least locked up for life it doesn't bring your loved one back but having someone to blame someone to pour your anger on makes things a little easier another idea that comes out of these lines is that of turning to supernatural or religious explanations due to a lack of information the less knowledge we have of something the more likely we are to assume that it is supernatural as science evolves and we understand more about certain sicknesses and other phenomena people are less likely to blame god or the devil or demons for what happens increasingly we are turning more to scientific explanations what was once seen as demonic possession might now be seen as epilepsy or seizures what people thought were deaths and resurrections are now understood to be comas believing in the old hague and its connection to baby's deaths is an example of people turning to the supernatural due to a lack of knowledge so to wrap up these lines the ancient dread is the death of babies the fear that mothers have always had and naming that dread means understanding what happened and who to blame the next lines take this even further the hag asks the mothers rhetorically who would you blame for the murder inside your head this has two possible meanings and they're both correct the first one is if a mother's baby dies they might automatically think it wasn't a natural death it wasn't of natural cause and that someone or something killed their baby why because the mothers need someone to blame someone to direct their anger at so the hag is saying she acts as that person to blame the scapegoat the one who accepts all blame and anger from mothers if you still think the hag is evil then you can interpret this line to mean once mothers exist they will always be providing fresh food for the hag since the hag drinks the blood of babies the other meaning of the line is very dark look at the phrase the murder inside your head it means sometimes mothers actually kill their own babies for whatever reasons maybe they didn't want a child maybe the baby is crying for no reason and the mother gets overwhelmed there's a thing called postpartum depression a phase of anxiety of unsettledness and as the name suggests depression this is a thing that many mothers face and in this phase they might actually consider killing their baby or maybe the murder here the death of the baby is accidental either way neither you or i can imagine the level of guilt and sorrow that swirls through a mother's mind if her baby dies the hag is saying even when you murder your own child i take the blame for it so you don't have to spend your whole life feeling guilty now let's step out of the poem for a moment since hikes aren't actually real well i hope not in real life people and at times society as a group try to find scapegoats people to blame for tragedies people to hold responsible you know how many times innocent people get locked up even when those putting them away know they're innocent why do they do this because everyone feels better when we can punish someone for a tragedy can't find the real killer just frame someone so people can feel good in our personal lives we might try to avoid taking blame for things we do and so we try to blame others why were you late for work instead of saying that you woke up late you blame the traffic you blame everyone else for driving too slowly on the road why did you fail your test instead of saying that you didn't study hard enough you blame your teacher for not having taught you well enough imagine if every time you messed up in life you could just blame and punish someone else so you didn't have to deal with the guilt or the consequence this is what the height provides for the mothers and then in the last three lines the hag sounding almost proud and confident affirms that she will always have a role to play in society she says as long as mothers exist she will exist why because babies will always die for whatever reason and mothers will always need someone to blame for it there's a bit of irony in the last line while she's boasting about the role she plays she calls herself poor she will always be poor because she will always be despised by society but the same society that needs her that uses her she might also be sarcastic she might be saying you think i'm a poor thing you consider me to be nothing but a monster but the fact is i am actually of great importance and also once babies are around i can never die let's do a recap and finish up in the first two stanzas it seems as if the hike is a monster a villain then we see her appealing for sympathy and understanding coming to the end we see that the hike is actually being used by the mothers the hike doesn't like her job but because mothers exist and someone needs to be blamed for the tragedies the hag has to take on this responsibility so does the hike really kill babies or does she just take the blame when babies die that's for you to decide as you determine how you want to interpret the poem in the last stanza we encounter one final theme societal roles and responsibilities shakespeare said we are all actors on this stage called life we each have a role to play in society we need the teachers to teach students we need the cleaners to clean what needs to be cleaned we need the doctors to solve health problems we need the policemen to chase down criminals but we also need the criminals so the policemen will have a job we need sick people so the doctors can have something to do we need death so morticians and grave diggers can work we need the hag so mothers can blame someone when babies die what about you what is your purpose your role what is your identity we're all on the stage called life where actors are you happy with the script you've been given with the character you've been assigned no well you can change it you can write your own lines you can decide your own purpose your own identity and as always thanks for watching [Music]