At A Funeral Curro Notes

At a Funeral
by Dennis Brutus
Dennis Brutus
• Born in Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia) 28 November 1924.
● Moved to South Africa at four years old.
● Classified “coloured” by the South African government, due to his
diverse ancestry (Khoi, French, Dutch, English, German and
Malaysian).
● Attended Fort Hare University and Wits, where he studied English
and then Law.
● Became an activist, educator, journalist and poet.
● Taught English and Afrikaans in various high schools until he was
fired in 1948, for criticising apartheid.
● Worked against the government’s “Coloured Affairs” Department.
● Formed the South African Sports Association in 1959, which
campaigned to boycott racially segregated National and
International sports.
(Image from https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/brutus-dennis-1924-2009/)
● Founded the South African Non Racial Olympic Committee (SANROC) in 1962. The committee aimed to
prevent apartheid South Africa from participating in the Olympics.
● Banned for SANROC activities in 1961 and forbidden to write, teach or publish in South Africa.
● Shot in the back by a policeman when he tried to
escape arrest in 1963. Lay bleeding on a
pavement in central Johannesburg for half an
hour until a “Black” ambulance arrived to take
him to hospital.
● Jailed on Robben Island for 16 months in the cell
next to Nelson Mandela’s. Spent 5 months in
solitary confinement.
● Refuses to accept the Mbari Poetry Prize
(awarded to a Black poet of distinction) while he
was in prison. This was because he had always
resisted racial classification.
(Image from: https://hadithi.africa/why-nelson-mandela-had-no-tears/)
● Went into exile in 1965: in the UK and then in the
USA. He continued to work for the boycotting of
segregated sports in South Africa, and to publish anti-
Apartheid articles and protest poetry.
● Returned to South Africa after the transition to a
democratic government. He was to be inducted in
the South African Sports Hall of Fame in December
2007, but publicly rejected his nomination at the
induction ceremony, saying: “It is incompatible to
have those who championed racist sport alongside
its genuine victims. It's time—indeed long past
time—for sports truth, apologies and
reconciliation.”
● Died in Cape Town on 28 December, 2009.
Image from https://whistleblowersblog.org/whistleblower-news/remembering-dennis-

brutus-1924-2009/)
SUMMARY
• This was written in memory of Valencia

Majombozi who died shortly after qualifying to
be a doctor.
• She qualified after enormous hardship and sacrifice
by her parents; her mother taking up cleaning jobs
to put her through medical school
• She died during the Sharpville Massacre and the
speaker went to her funeral
• The poem is ultimately about the years of sacrifice
that end in nothing; oppressed people cannot live
their lives freely
Black, green and gold at sunset; pageantry 1
And stubbled graves Expectant, of eternity, 2
In bride’s-white, nun’s-white veils the nurses gush their bounty 3
Of red-wine cloaks, frothing the bugled dirging slopes 4
Salute! Then ponder all this hollow panoply 5
At a Funeral For one whose gift the mud devours, with our hopes. 6
(for Valencia
Majombozi, who
died shortly after
qualifying as a Oh all you frustrate ones, powers tombed in dirt, 7
doctor)
Aborted, not by Death but carrion books of birth 8
Arise! The brassy shout of Freedom stirs our earth: 9
Not Death but death’s-head tyrrany scythes our ground 10
And plots our narrow cells of pain defeat and dearth: 11
Better that we should die, than that we should lie down. 12
TITLE
• The title indicates death/loss of life.

• Indicates setting
• ‘a’ impersonal – refers to any funeral. Contrast
to poem – personal dedication
STRUCTURE
• Two equal stanzas

• Specific Rhyme Scheme (aaabab
cccdcd)
• Formality of poem mirrors the formal
rites and rituals of a funeral ceremony
• Elegy
• Protest poem
GREEN GOLD
BLACK
• Colours of the ANC – at that time a
banned organisation (resistance
movement) at the centre of the
struggle.
• Also colours of academic regalia – the
‘Black, green and graduates/colleagues at the funeral.
gold at sunset: • The colours are used along with the
word ‘pageantry’ in a romanticised
pageantry’ (line 1) manner: it references the elaborate
funeral display given to her as she was
seen as heroic.
• Pageantry - It is a show because none of
this matters in the wake of her dreams and
hopes that are lost with her
The government didn’t show any regard for this
final place of rest – graveyards were neglected.
And stubbled
Expectant The grave is personified as a mother
graves: expectant, waiting for her child. The cemetery awaits (hungry
of eternity (line 2) for) new corpses which will lie their for eternity
In bride’s-white, nun’s-white veils the
nurses gush their bounty/
Of red-wine cloaks, frothing the bugled
dirging slopes (L3-4)
The connotation of this image of brides and

nuns in white is one of purity, innocence and
goodness (the dr was all of the above). A
contrast is created by the ‘red-wine cloaks’ of
the nurses. The image is reminiscent of blood,
sacrifice and violence (manner is which dr died).
gush and bounty; the nurses who mourned for
the doctor came in large numbers
A dirge is a funeral song. Frothing the bugled
dirging slopes - A Boy Scout with a trumpet is
blowing the Final Post, back behind the hill at
the cemetery. This is generally played at the
funeral of a soldier.
Salute! Then ponder all this hollow
panoply (line 5)
Honour/pay respects to the doctor. Exclamation mark –
it is an instruction!
WE are instructed to honour the doctor
Hollow: emptiness/meaningless
Panoply: splendid display.
Ponder: The speaker forces the reader to contemplate
the implications of this death: these funeral gestures
are meaningless as many others will encounter the
same fate if action is not taken.
For one whose gifts the mud devours with our
hopes (line 6)
one=doctor
The mud/ground is personified; Like a starved animal,

the mud eats up or ‘devours’ the wonderful gift of
healing, life and hope represented by the talents of the
young doctor.
The tone of the first stanza is one of defeat,

hopelessness, despair, despondent. L3-4 – reverence
Mood: Somber/mournful
Line 7 -8 Oh all you frustrate ones, powers tombed in dirt
Aborted, not by Death but carrion books of birth
Frustrate – frustrated because they are unable to
live fully.
they are powerful enough to cause frustration (to
the government) rather than being passively
frustrated.
“aborted” (i.e. killed before they could live), not by
Death but by “books of birth” (a
reference/allusion to the dompas or passbooks).
Carrion - decaying, dead animals. The passbook
is compared to “carrion”, implies that the
passbook laws are more deadly and corrupting
than Death itself.
Life begins as a death – doomed from birth by
virtue of being black
Line 9-10: Arise! The brassy shout of Freedom stirs our earth;
Not death but death’s head tyranny scythes our ground’
L9: Arise: Stand up, rise up –
command/imperative. Call to action; the start
of a revolution.
Brassy – the sound of the bugle awakens the
dead.
Freedom is personified as shouting to awake
the dead
L10: The death’s head symbol was worn by
Hitler's secret police and death squad, The
poet therefore compares the South
African apartheid government to the death-
head wearing Nazis in World War Two
Death is not destroying South Africa, but
“death-head tyranny” (system), instead.
‘And plots our narrow cell of pain
defeat and dearth:’ (line 11)
‘Better that we should die, than that we
should lie down.’ (line 12)
The speaker concludes by

expressing the idea that is better
to physically die in the fight against
apartheid than to ‘lie down’
(surrender) and accept the
injustices with which people were
forced to live
The tone is defiant, rebellious and

confrontational.
Mood: vengeful
Intention and Theme
• Intention: Highlight he suffering or the plight of

the oppressed.
• For readers to be made aware of the impact of
apartheid on human life
• Themes:
❑ Destruction of life
❑ Sacrifice of life
❑ Destructive effect of apartheid
What Dennis Brutus has to say about the poem …
“It's about a young woman called Valencia Majombozi, an African woman

who managed to qualify as a doctor after enormous hardship and sacrifice
by her parents. Her mother took in washing and ironing, did the cleaning of
apartment buildings, and put her through University. She got her medical
degree and then, by an incredible irony, just after Valencia had completed
her internship, she died. I went to her funeral. The poem is about the years
of sacrifice that end in nothing, and you could read the poem entirely on
that level, as just an expression of frustrated and aborted hopes.” (Denis Brutus - from
https://escholarship.org/content/qt6tc554rb/qt6tc554rb_noSplash_cafc5459b573a0ac2fe60c436aae168b.pdf?t=mniomb)
I saw a film in South Africa called "Judgement at Nuremberg." It begins with the
tanks rolling through the streets of Berlin with the Panzer Divisions whose
insignia was a skull and crossbones - the death's-head - being wildly cheered
by the audience. The Nazis are regarded as great heroes by the South African
regime and people imitate them; the Nazis are the model for how one should
behave if you are a white in South Africa. I was trying to say that it is not the
physical event of Death which destroys the Blacks; their destruction does not
come from Death which I capitalize but from a tyranny which is associated with
the death's-head. I'm saying it's the Nazi system in South Africa which destroys
people; they're destroyed even before they die.
“... you can see how one could look at the poem simply as a description of
the funeral of a particular person or see it operating at another level, as a
poem which is making a political statement. In the last two lines I'm
anticipating prison. I anticipate the "narrow cells." and I assume that in
resistance to the system it is necessary to go to prison. Then I conclude by
saying ‘Better that we should die than that we should lie down.’ … That's a
very conscious change of mood and tempo to make the concluding
statement. ” (Denis Brutus -
https://escholarship.org/content/qt6tc554rb/qt6tc554rb_noSplash_cafc5459b573a0ac2fe60c436aae168b.pdf?t=mniomb)
The Last Post
• The Last Post is a piece of music that is usually
played on a bugle at military funerals. Its tone is
sombre and respectful.
• https://youtu.be/McCDWYgVyps
• The poet says that all this ‘pageantry’ (line1) is

‘hollow’ (line 5).
• The speaker says that this impressive collection

of tributes, this ‘panoply’ / showy parade (line 5) is
meaningless and lacking in substance.

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At a Funeral

Image from https://whistleblowersblog.org/whistleblower-news/remembering-dennis-

• This was written in memory of Valencia

• The title indicates death/loss of life.

• Two equal stanzas

The connotation of this image of brides and

The mud/ground is personified; Like a starved animal,

The tone of the first stanza is one of defeat,

The speaker concludes by

The tone is defiant, rebellious and

• Intention: Highlight he suffering or the plight of

“It's about a young woman called Valencia Majombozi, an African woman

• The poet says that all this ‘pageantry’ (line1) is

• The speaker says that this impressive collection

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