EVERY STONE THAT TURNS ANALYSIS

EVERY STONE THAT TURNS (analysis)

ANALYSIS AND COMPILATION DONE BY: BLESSING MPOFU [BLEZOE]

ANALYSED AND COMPILED BY:BLESSING MPOFU

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 EVERY STONE THAT TURNS ANALYSIS

The Snake Never Stirs: Poem Analysis

• The poem tells the story of the persona who for a long time has been waiting in a queue to
get served but the queue doesn't move so the persona's opportunity doesn't arrive. So
disillusionment and disappointment have set in. He is hopeless at the end since he is tired of
waiting for an opportunity. The poet employs or uses images of living things-animals and
trees to show the desperation and level of disappointment in the persona.

• To begin with the title, 'The Snake Never Stirs',you realize that the snake symbolizes a line or
long queue. That it 'doesn't stir' means it does not move so that the persona's chance
comes.

• The first stanza uses the image of a paw maybe of a cat/feline that is hungry. Because of the
hunger it pounces on a cricket (gurwe) out of desperation.

• The second stanza uses the image of sapless skeletons of musasa trees that creak and groan.
A skeleton is an animal frame of bones without flesh which shows the musasa trees are
emaciated and almost dying, without sap to sustain themselves. This is an image of death
that creates a desperate atmosphere of hunger. Groaning shows pain.

• The third stanza utilizes a thin dog described as 'a hungry mongrel' that is bony or skeletal. It
is tired of chasing inviting stenches or smells around the village but gets nothing all the time.
It moans as a sign of desperation. This mongrel symbolizes a human being tired of looking
for maybe employment opportunities or promises of jobs that do not come to fruition.

• The fourth stanza tells of the persona spending so many years or a long time squatting in
the queue that doesn't move. The long wait had brought desperation to the persona.

• The fifth stanza describes the queue as long as the folkloric snake that has neither head nor
tail. Again this shows the length of the queue and the idea of the persona's chance never
coming or appearing nearer than before.

• The sixth stanza tells that the snake or the queue never stirs. It does not show any
movement or any flicker. The persona keeps starving and his dreams keep dying or
dwindling because no opportunity comes his way. The persona is becoming increasingly
desperate or is losing hope of ever striking a chance.

• The last stanza presents a very painful scenario. The persona imagines or envisages himself
getting opportunities that never come to fruition or that never beome reality. They are
things that are imagined in his soul but never become real or tangible.

ANALYSED AND COMPILED BY:BLESSING MPOFU

@KING_BLEZOE
 EVERY STONE THAT TURNS ANALYSIS

• The poem paints a grim or gloomy or bleak picture of an individual whose dreams never
become reality. The tone is very desperate or hopeless. The themes of disillusionment,
suffering , desperation and despondency pervade the whole poem. The poem is a free verse
one sentence divided into 7 stanzas to clearly articulate the bitter and desperate tone.

• Mafaiti-he loved to pluck a louse: Poem Analysis

• The name Mafaiti" is a symbolic name. It's a guerrilla name that suggests the comrade loved
fighting or combat during the liberation struggle. It symbolizes one with a fighting zeal or
spirit. He loved plucking or removing lice from a comrade's hair. Lice are symbolic of dirty or
filthy conditions. The comrades spent a long time without bathing or washing their clothes
creating a conducive environment for the breeding of lice in their hair and clothes. This
points to the fact that the conditions in which the comrades survived were very tough and
deplorable.

• The persona (or voice in the poem) reminisces on the period during the liberation struggle.
He remembers a comrade by the norm de guerre(guerilla name) Mafaiti and how he enjoyed
or loved plucking lice from a fellow comrade's hair. The tone of the stanza is very ironic. It
appears plucking lice was enjoyable yet it shows the comrades were living in filthy
conditions. He also recalls the comrade skillfully doing it and in the process talking about his
wife and son. Mafaiti missed his wife and son. This brings out a nostalgic tone. It also brings
out the sacrifice made by the comrades. They abandoned their families for the higher calling
of fighting for the liberation of the country. The persona also developed nostalgia as a result
of Mafaiti's passion for his wife and son.

• Stanza 5 says the persona marvelled or admired the way the louse grew fat in his hair. Again
the comrade brings out irony. There was no way this could be admired. Rather it's a way of
revealing the harsh conditions of the war that created fertile ground for breeding of lice.

• Stanza 6 brings out a very sad tone. Mafaiti died during the war. His wife and son were
informed at the end of the war .Fire in stanza 6 is a symbol of war. It was real fire that
claimed the lives of some of the comrades including Mafaiti.

• Now the persona is unsure whether to visit Mafaiti's wife and son to tell them how Mafaiti
loved to pluck a plumb louse off a famished (hungry) comrade's skull.

ANALYSED AND COMPILED BY:BLESSING MPOFU

@KING_BLEZOE
 EVERY STONE THAT TURNS ANALYSIS

• So basically the poem brings out the themes of sacrifice, suffering and death experienced
during the liberation struggle. Many comrades sacrificed their lives, families and time for the
Liberation struggle. These are the likes of Mafaiti.

• Private Affair Poem Analysis.

• The title of the poem refers to something done secretly or in private with noone watching.
The persona is reminding a co-freedom fighter about what used to transpire or happen
during the war of liberation. Shitting or bowel emptying or defecation that used to be done
privately was something public during the war because of the nature of war. One could not
enjoy the luxury of privacy when shitting during the war because it was dangerous to move
around. One had to shit close to where he or she stayed and close to his friends. This
exposed the combatants to diseases like cholera, typhoid etc.ln the first stanza, the persona
reminds a fellow former combatant or freedom fighter Tafirenyika of the moment of mirth
(joy, hilarity or merriment) they shared during the war. Because during the war moments of
happiness were rare and far apart, this one they considered a moment of joy which is very
ironic. Tafirenyika is a symbolic name that refers to sacrifice of dying for one's country. So
Tafirenyika was a fighter who was prepared or ready to die for his country Zimbabwe. The
stanza shows through the phrase, "shared in the gloom" that most of the time it was gloomy
for the fighters. They mostly suffered during the liberation struggle. Life was always
uncertain.

• The second stanza shows they emptied their bowels a metre apart from each other meaning
this business of shitting was not private at all during the liberation struggle like it is supposed
to be in a normal situation. This brings out the abnormality of the situation. They smelt the
stench from their faeces that awakened green flies or green bombers that flew to their
faces.
• The persona further says they lamented or cried over the wasteful nature of their bowels or
bellies for quickly digesting what they had eaten. Because of the scarcity of food in the bush,
the combatants ended up envieing dogs that eat their vomit. This shows the fighters also
faced starvation because they didn't wish their bellies or stomachs to quickly empty what
they had eaten.
• Stanza 5 shows the fighters squatted close to one another exchanging interesting or
imaginations or stories over stinking or badly smelling shit (faeces). They talked about stories
from and about home and thought about what would end their struggle and suffering. The
stanza brings out a nostalgic tone. The combatants really missed home and their loved ones.

ANALYSED AND COMPILED BY:BLESSING MPOFU

@KING_BLEZOE
 EVERY STONE THAT TURNS ANALYSIS

• Stanza 6 describes vividly the bush life and it's hardships. The fighters cleaned their anuses
or backs by pushing rough sticks between their 'malnourished' bottoms. The word
'malnourished' points again to the idea that the combatants were not well fed. They lacked
enough nutrients to nourish their bodies because it was a war situation.

• The 7th stanza is in quotes. It says "Shitting used to be a private Affair" implying that they
missed home where they used to shit privately with nobody watching.

• The eighth stanza brings out an ironic tone because it says the combatants "laughed and
choked over steaming shit". This was because of the difficult war situation that did not allow
them to shit in private. They had to do it close to others, not very far away from others
because danger lurked or was found everywhere. However, the stanza ends on a hopeful
tone since the combatants assured each other that shitting would some day become a
private pleasure again with magazines and tissues for cleaning themselves to soothe the
bottom instead of using rough sticks that injured the soft tissues of the back.
• The last stanza says the envisaged or anticipated revolution or change would not socialise
shitting. Shitting would be private.

• Looking at the foregoing, the poem clearly shows through imagery and diction that life
during the liberation struggle was very hard and difficult. There was starvation and suffering.
Combatants endured a lot of hardships to the extent of making defecation or shitting
something public. Combatants slept close to their shit to avoid falling into danger that lurked
everywhere. The persona and his fellow fighters missed home terribly bringing out a
nostalgic tone through out the poem

ANALYSED AND COMPILED BY:BLESSING MPOFU

@KING_BLEZOE
 EVERY STONE THAT TURNS ANALYSIS

• Rufaro-cheering ourselves: Analysis of the poem

• The title of the poem suggests happiness at the attainment of independence in 1980. In
1980, Zimbabwe attained her independence from her former colonial Master Britain. The
celebrations were staged at Rufaro Stadium in Mbare, Harare. Rufaro Stadium is thus a
symbolic name that stands for the heavy celebrations that followed the attainment of
independence in 1980.
• Stanza 2 says even the enemy was there defeated but planning to frustrate. It shows as
Zimbabweans, we need to be watchful of the machinations of the former colonial master.
The word 'frustrate' tells the former colonial master was not happy with our attainment of
independence.
• Stanza three mocks the former colonial master. It says the jack (the name of the British flag-
Union Jack)was jeered (laughed at or mocked) .lt was heavy with fat and blood of the sons
and daughters of Zimbabwe who died in the liberation struggle. Fat symbolizes the wealth of
the country and blood stands for the dead who lost their lives during the liberation struggle.
The image of the Jack being lowered down from the flagpole like a punctured tick is a simile
meant to express the defeat and humiliation of the whites. A tick is a parasite that survives
on blood. The sight of it being punctured is cause for celebration. The mood is celebratory.
The tick in this instance symbolizes the British, the former colonial master full of blood of the
freedom fighters.
• Stanza 4 refers to the presence of the Prince, a royal figure who represents the British crown
or Monarchy. He was present to concede (accept) defeat and to take the Jack or British flag
to its home. The home is the British island situated in the West where the sun sets. The
direction of the island, where the sun sets symbolizes the end or defeat of the former
colonial master.
• Stanza 5 explains the essence or importance of the Zimbabwe ruins. Ruins in this case
symbolize Zimbabwe as a country. At last, the 'Zimbabwe bird on the ruins breaks free from
stone as wing responded to wind'. This statement suggests that the bird which symbolizes
Zimbabwe is at last free from bondage or colonialism. This is seen as the Zimbabwe flag is
hoisted and flies in response to the blowing wind signalling a new era of independence in
the country.
• The last stanza captures a celebratory mood where the persona is part of the jubilation and
happiness whistling and ululating with others on the dawn of a new era symbolized by the
new Zimbabwean flag. The lost and the living were united in a Great Zimbabwe.
• The poem generally points to the happiness that came with the attainment of
independence. It however suggests that the former colonial master was not happy with our
attainment of independence
• . Even today the former colonial master is attempting to derail our hard fought
independence. Therefore we need to be wary of the enemy

ANALYSED AND COMPILED BY:BLESSING MPOFU

@KING_BLEZOE
 EVERY STONE THAT TURNS ANALYSIS

• Analysis of the poem Farewell (pgs15-16)

• Farewell is basically an emotional poem in which the persona, a fighter in liberation struggle,
bids goodbye to the gun or firearm or weapon he used throughout the war. The weapon had
become a part of his life, like his lover or sweetheart. The poet employs similes,
personification, metaphors, symbolism, historical allusion, apostrophe, Irony and war
imagery to put across and reinforce his themes of war, gratitude and hope of the future

• In the first stanza, the persona bids farewell to his gun which he calls his love because of his
long association with it. He is very grateful to his gun for being faithful like a shadow. The
simile 'like a shadow' reinforces the idea of loyalty, of never abandoning his partner. The gun
stuck or clung to him even when there was gunfire or ambushes at night. The gun was
always ready to serve any time of the day.

• The second stanza addresses the gun. The stanza is in the form of an apostrophe. The stanza
addresses the gun, a silent listener. The persona reminisces on some nights in Manica
Province of Mozambique when they met "surprise eruptions of bushes deadly mixed grill of
bullets and grenades'. The persona employs personification. It looks like the gun is a human
being that is listening to the persona reminiscing about the war.

• Stanza three continues the address. The persona recounts how he and the gun clutched and
rolled, his fingers stroking and tagging the sensitive trigger that in response discharged lead
(bulkets)back into the bushes. The persona sort of romanticizes the war. It appears like it
was play time yet it was war, serious war.

• Stanza 4 ,the persona remembers again 'the naked nights'. The nights are again personified
as if they are humans that can undress or put on clothes. The images of the nights and
generous stars also bring out the setting and theatre of war-that it was fought sometimes at
night. It also reveals the tough conditions experienced by the fighters. They slept out in the
bush where the stars provided light. That is why the stars are described as generous. The
Dream was the strong hope of gaining independence and freedom.During this tough time,
the hope seemed to shatter or fall apart or disappear due to fatigue (tiredness) and
loneliness. However, the persona received reassurance from his or her gun that comforted
him with its wooden smoothness of the butt and the steel slenderness of its body. The
stanza is a pictorial illustration of a gun. It shows the persona was fond of the gun and very
proud to be associated with it.

ANALYSED AND COMPILED BY:BLESSING MPOFU

@KING_BLEZOE
 EVERY STONE THAT TURNS ANALYSIS

• Stanza 5 shows the pride the persona and the gun have after surviving every trickle of
danger. Legends are heroes for achieving great feats, for example, fighting and surving such
a brutal war.

• Stanza 6 the persona gives an emotional farewell again similar to the one in stanza 1.The
persona feels the job has accomplished. Dawn invades the cave. Dawn is a symbol of new
life, a new beginning. In a cave there is darkness but when dawn comes, a new life is
expected. The stanza captures the happiness, euphoria and high expectations that fighters
had at the attainment of independence in 1980. The dissipation of the persona's dream is a
sign of very high expectations within the fighters and the masses at the attainment of
independence. The persona sometimes dreams bursts of the gun's giggling which is its spurt
of bullets or fire showing his attachment to the gun even after war.

• The last stanza reaffirms the strong partnership between the persona and his gun as history
making. It is a partnership that surpasses even the slash of a razor. It is cast in stone.

ANALYSED AND COMPILED BY:BLESSING MPOFU

@KING_BLEZOE
 EVERY STONE THAT TURNS ANALYSIS

Analysis of the poem ''We surrendered our balls"

• The title of the poem refers to the end of a match when players surrender the balls for safe
keeping. However, it has a metaphorical meaning. 'Surrending our balls' may means giving
away one's testicles or manhood as a sign of defeat or weakness. Balls symbolize testicles.In
this poem, this second meaning is the one being referred to. The poem paints a sad picture
of disillusionment of the famed comrades or comrades at the end of the war of liberation.

• Stanza 1begins with praise of the freedom fighters. They were referred to as 'MaComrades' .
This was an affectionate name of the freedom fighters. They are heroes of the struggle who
survived the harsh weather conditions, defied diseases and outsmarted (cheated or beat)
death.

• They were also affectionately known as Vakomana. To the masses they were romantic boys
in blue jeans, broad brimmed hats and seiko watches that adorned them and made them
look very charming or smart. They were loaded with bazookas, bandolias and AK 47 guns
and they were rumoured to have the mysterious power to melt or disappear from the
enemy.

• The third stanza refers them to another praise name of the freedom fighters, Magandanga.
This means they were terrorists or violent fighters who charmed village girls, motivated povo
or the masses to sing all night at pungwes and convinced them to slaughter their chickens.
They were highly regarded by the masses.

• Stanza 4 gives yet another praise name for the comrades. They were known as
Zimbabweanos in Portuguese Mozambique who pawned or exchanged donated clothes for
bread, chicken, kachasu and cigarettes. This was to them a way of survival during the
difficult period of the liberation struggle.

• They were also called vanaMukoma, the senior brothers or wonder boys who proved Ian
Smith's mad One Thousand Years into 13. Ian Smith had declared arrogantly that it would
take Zimbabweans 1000 years to rule Zimbabwe but he was proved wrong by vanaMukoma.
This historical allusion shows vanaMukoma were very brave and determined fighters.

ANALYSED AND COMPILED BY:BLESSING MPOFU

@KING_BLEZOE
 EVERY STONE THAT TURNS ANALYSIS

• However, stanza 6 refers to them as MaComrades who are now suffering like villains. A
villain is a bad person persecuted or suffering for his sins. However, the comrades brought
about the independence of the country and therefore they should not suffer like villains.
This is the Irony of it all that after independence the comrades are suffering instead of
rejoicing and enjoying the fruits of their labour.

• In stanza 7,the poet asks rhetorically what happened to their never -say -never spirit or their
undying spirit or spirit of determination that enabled them to achieve many feats or acts of
bravery. It appears it was a fluke or a passing act of courage that could not be repeated.

• Stanza 8 the persona asks the comrades if maybe when they gave away their grenades at
demobilisation (end of war when surrendering guns and going home) they surrendered their
testicles. Testicles are a man's show or sign of strength. Testicles are a sign of one's
manhood. If one has his testicles he can fight for himself. The simile" like surrendering tennis
balls to the master after a game" shows that the guerillas put themselves in an unenviable
position or a position of weakness or exploitation when they stopped fighting.

• The whole poem paints a gloomy picture of the freedom fighters after the war. They had
high expectations of prosperity and luxurious lives after the war but it did not happen so
they looked like they had surrendered their balls

ANALYSED AND COMPILED BY:BLESSING MPOFU

@KING_BLEZOE
 EVERY STONE THAT TURNS ANALYSIS

Analysis of the poem 'Uprooted Tuber'

• The title of the poem refers to a root plant or potato /mbambaira that has been uprooted
from the soil where it was getting food but is now feeling lonely. The tuber is a symbol of a
comrade who has been removed from his natural environment like a tuber that has been
uprooted.

• The first stanza says the persona used to despise or look down upon his homestead with
mud and grass thatched huts and toad stools. To him the huts were ugly and they marred or
spoiled or soiled his pride/ego/vanity.He felt ashamed to be part and parcel of the ugly
looking huts. He craved or intensely liked homes of brick and zinc. In a way he despised his
roots or background or poor upbringing. However, stanza 3 tells us that he longs to go back
to his roots because now he is sheltered by bullets, bush and harsh weather conditions.
There is a nostalgic tone because he is now suffering like an uprooted tuber due to the
dangers he is facing everyday. He longs to go back to the ugly huts. In the last stanza stanza,
the persona is in the bush fighting but longs or wishes to go back to his roots but fears that
he might find his home or the huts reduced to dust and cinders. Cinders refer to fragments
of planks or lava from volcanic eruptions. He fears this possibility because of the destructive
war.

• The poem makes use of symbolism to strengthen the nostalgic tone and the suffering the
persona is experiencing in the bush fighting in the liberation struggle.

ANALYSED AND COMPILED BY:BLESSING MPOFU

@KING_BLEZOE
 EVERY STONE THAT TURNS ANALYSIS

The mirror stares back

• In the poem “the mirror stares back” the poet uses flashback to show experiences during the
liberation struggle .The setting Chimoio has a historical background as it used to be where
ZANLA fighters had camped and and where training for the war occurred. It is through
biographical criticism that is noted that the poem is an allusion to Thomas Bvuma’s
participation in the liberation struggle (Chimurenga).

• The name Takafirenyika is a shona word which means “ we died for the country”.
TAKAFIRENYIKA then becomes symbolic for the freedom fighters of the country who died for
the country in sacrifice just in order to liberate the country from colonial regime.

• The poet raises issues to do with gender equality in the poem. The persona tells of how they
met female comrades at Chimoio. The women are therefore symbolic for females who also
participated during the war. During the colonial era, women were only subordinates to men
and they only perfomed chores at home . The poem therefore celebrates women
participation in the chimurenga.

• In the second stanza, personification is used to describe the mirror as staring back.
Tafirenyika is left horrified at the object that stare back at him as if the mirror has eyes.
Visual imagery is then presented in the poem to describe how untidy his hair was; the hair
shaven by lice to show the harsh conditions which soilders were subjected to during the
Chimurenga

• The mirror which Takafirenyika holds is symbolic. It symbolizes a reflection and the truth.
When he stares at the mirror, he is horrified at the image that stares back at him. His
horrification is also symbolic to show how doubtful he is about Zimbabwe’s future towards
freedom after the war. When he says “this is the man that used to be” , the reader develops
feelings of compassion at Takafirenyika who is not sure whether the liberation struggle will
yield better results

• There is also a dialogue in the poem between the persona and Takafirenyika .Takafirenyika’s
statement “this is the man that used to be…” perhaps shows how he misses the good days
whereby they had good living conditions. The persona interrupts his statement to motivate
Him into accepting reality and the freedom which they are fighting to attain.

• The poem also has a humorous tone in the last stanza as the poem ends in comic relief.

ANALYSED AND COMPILED BY:BLESSING MPOFU

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 EVERY STONE THAT TURNS ANALYSIS

PETALS OF THE UNKNOWN

• The poem “petals of the unknown” is about the outcries of a war veteran who is expressing
the betrayals of the liberation struggle. The personae is showing how he lacks opportunities
in the liberated Zimbabwe and thus the intention of the poem is to show the unfair
outcomes of the war whereby the freedom fighters are not considered in Zimbabwe.

• The title” petals of the unknown” give a visual imagery of flowers fallen from an unknown
tree. This is then symbolic for the persona who is expressing how he feels like a lost petal of
an unknown tree. He therefore feels betrayed by the liberation war as he gains nothing from
the war

• In the first stanza, the persona is expressing how he didn’t gain anything from the liberation
struggle but rather is still poor. He expresses that he cannot afford a three roomed house in
budidiro or even a “smoking morris”. It is then ironical that the blacks fought in the
liberation war to end oppression and poverty but rather they are still poor

• Through the [poem, the poet addresses the sad reality of the lifestyle of war veterans. After
the liberation war many survivors found themselves without any houses or any property.
Bvuma therefore uses poetry to speak out on the unfairness of liberation whereby the
heroes of the war are still living in the same harsh conditions as before the war.

• The line “The son of the soil owns no sod of the soil” is an expression by the poet that the
personae owns no land. The line takes back to the popular saying during the war “son of the
soil” (mwana webvu). This is to show that during the war, the fighters were fighting to get
back land from the white colonial regime. It then becomes sad that the fighters have come
back from war and still they own no land.

• At work, the personae is not treated well. He is treated as a street kid. The visual imagery of
a street kid shows how no one wants to associate themselves with him. He is also referred to
as a ”street kid gatecrashing into a private party”. In reality,no one wants to associate
themselves with a street kid and also a street kid is unwanted at a private party. This is
therefore symbolic of how unwanted and despised the personae is by his workers.

• The personae expresses how unrecognised he is. He mentions that he will not be recognised
as hero as his name will mot survive any history books. Bvuma therefore shows the unfair
nature of life whereby the real heroes who fought the war do not get a chance to be
mentioned in any history book. This is then symbolic of how the real heroes of the liberation
war will not be known by the coming generations as they will not get a chance to be written
in any history books.

ANALYSED AND COMPILED BY:BLESSING MPOFU

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 EVERY STONE THAT TURNS ANALYSIS

SURVIVORS

• The intention of the poem is to show the real heroes of the liberation struggle who are the
deceased.

• The personae expresses the intensity of the nature of the liberation war in the first stanza.
he shows that they had to overcome “nature and danger , man and machine”. The word
“beat” is metaphoric for overcoming the struggles of the dangerous nature of the liberation
struggle. The personae also shows how they overcame the machine guns which were after
them in the war.

• The poet employs a rhetoric question in the second stanza. The question “were we the
toughest , the brightest, the smartest?” is symbolic as the personae is actually meaning
that they survived due to their intelligence? He questions if the dead were not intelligent
enough to overcome the war?

• In the third stanza, the poet also asks a rhetoric question; he asks, “those who never saw
April Eighteen were they the bazooka shells?”” April eighteenth” is a symbol for
independence in the poem. He is expressing if the dead were the ones who protected the
ones behind? The use of the word “bazooka” is an onomatopoeia which entails of the
militant atmosphere during the liberation struggle.

• The personae also questions if the surviving fighters are worth being called the real heroes.
He asks “the real heroes are they not the dead?” this rhetoric question implies that the real
heroes are the ones who dead because they sacrificed their lives in trying to attain freedom
not the living politicians who have been given the glory of being called the heroes of the
chimurenga.

• The poem does not just literary just honor the dead because of their bravery and
dedication, the personae is also expressing that the dead heroes are far better than the
survivors. After the struggle, the survivors are bad mentioned by the masses of the people.

• The survivors who are now politicians are receiving the hatred and curses from the people .
this is shown in the line, “Curses that claw the backs of the survivors”

• Overaly, the title “survivors” is symbolic for the politicians who have gained prestige for
fighting the liberation war yet the actual heroes are dead.

ANALYSED AND COMPILED BY:BLESSING MPOFU

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 EVERY STONE THAT TURNS ANALYSIS

SMILE MOTHER

• The poem “smile mother” is about a son who is writing to his mother during the liberation
struggle.

• In the first stanza, the personae tells of a mother who “ waited and wondered “. He is
expressing how the mother was anxiously waiting for her sons who were fighting the war.
Her anxiety is described as “dangling with fear” to show the woman’s fears who is uncertain
whether her sons made it alive from the war.

• The personification of triggers as “they took a nap” is used to emphasise moments whereby
the shooting would stop and the mother would stop to look for her children

• Euphemism is used to describe how the several thousands of people have died through the
word “fallen”.

• The poet uses the word “Ah” to draw attention from the reader to show how saddened he is
when he knows that the mother is worried about him. There is a refrain of the line “smile
mother”to mean that his mother should be proud of them rather than to be sad while
searching for him. We also learn that the mother’s sons are dead. The voice heard in the
poem is of the dead.

ANALYSED AND COMPILED BY:BLESSING MPOFU

@KING_BLEZOE