A Far Cry from Africa by Derek Walcott - Explanation
Stanza 1
In the beginning lines of the stanza, the poet describes the turbulent times and a war-like situation in Africa by telling that the wind is blowing roughly and touching the yellowish-brown skin of the African people. On the lands of Kikuyu, a tribe of Kenya who like flies feed upon blood spilled on the "veldt" i.e. open fields. Th quantity of blood is so much that the poet called it a stream of blood. The beautiful land hailed by the poet as "paradise" is scattered with a large number of corpses. Silence prevails the land until "worm", a colonel shouts to his companions to not pity those who are dead. The poet says that the scholars and political observers give statistics of how enabling the colonial reign and policies are, but in reality, the rule has no bearing on the white child is brutally murder in his own bed by the members of Mau Mau terrorist group or the insignificant and inferior treatment of "savages" i.e. Kikuyu like Jews by the Britishers.
Stanza 2
The beaters, here, symbolizes British army who walks and cuts the long bushes in search of their enemy, tribe people and the "cries" of Ibises surround the region who have flown from "parched" river or plains i.e horizon since the inception of civilization of human beings. The poet justifies the violence inflicted on animal by another animal as this is a part and parcel of nature but what do we call when a self-proclaimed "upright man" i.e colonial man tries to achieve salvation by beating and killing people of weak race. He calls the native tribe "delirious" who begin a war with beating a drum made of animal carcass and on the other hand, there are other people i.e. British who make contract of peace after showing their courage and killing and scaring the native people.
Stanza 3
The Colonial power has its own "dirty cause" to capture the regions inhabited by native tribe population. Considering themselves as superior, they pronounce their actions as reasonable and intended for the benefits of the local people. And when a local group reject their actions, they are thrashed. The poet describes this war as between a "Gorilla" and "Superman". When the poet takes cognisance of the conflict between them, he is struck by emotional blow because blood of both races, European and African flow in his veins. He can't take sides to support either one of them. He shares his sympathy for Africa and England due to his love for English language. He thinks of alternatives to keep himself from choosing one side over other. He can't sit back and relax while both sides of his people slaughter each other. It is not possible for him to leave Africa and live without any worry.
In the beginning lines of the stanza, the poet describes the turbulent times and a war-like situation in Africa by telling that the wind is blowing roughly and touching the yellowish-brown skin of the African people. On the lands of Kikuyu, a tribe of Kenya who like flies feed upon blood spilled on the "veldt" i.e. open fields. Th quantity of blood is so much that the poet called it a stream of blood. The beautiful land hailed by the poet as "paradise" is scattered with a large number of corpses. Silence prevails the land until "worm", a colonel shouts to his companions to not pity those who are dead. The poet says that the scholars and political observers give statistics of how enabling the colonial reign and policies are, but in reality, the rule has no bearing on the white child is brutally murder in his own bed by the members of Mau Mau terrorist group or the insignificant and inferior treatment of "savages" i.e. Kikuyu like Jews by the Britishers.
Stanza 2
The beaters, here, symbolizes British army who walks and cuts the long bushes in search of their enemy, tribe people and the "cries" of Ibises surround the region who have flown from "parched" river or plains i.e horizon since the inception of civilization of human beings. The poet justifies the violence inflicted on animal by another animal as this is a part and parcel of nature but what do we call when a self-proclaimed "upright man" i.e colonial man tries to achieve salvation by beating and killing people of weak race. He calls the native tribe "delirious" who begin a war with beating a drum made of animal carcass and on the other hand, there are other people i.e. British who make contract of peace after showing their courage and killing and scaring the native people.
Stanza 3
The Colonial power has its own "dirty cause" to capture the regions inhabited by native tribe population. Considering themselves as superior, they pronounce their actions as reasonable and intended for the benefits of the local people. And when a local group reject their actions, they are thrashed. The poet describes this war as between a "Gorilla" and "Superman". When the poet takes cognisance of the conflict between them, he is struck by emotional blow because blood of both races, European and African flow in his veins. He can't take sides to support either one of them. He shares his sympathy for Africa and England due to his love for English language. He thinks of alternatives to keep himself from choosing one side over other. He can't sit back and relax while both sides of his people slaughter each other. It is not possible for him to leave Africa and live without any worry.