“The Metaphors of Africa”
“Wishing Africa” is known as a poem by which many thought provoking metaphors are used
to make it come alive by giving someone great pictures. First of all just what
metaphor? A metaphor is actually a figure of speech which make comparison among two unlike
things, without using the words like or as. Marilyn Brooks utilizes metaphor to form
one of the most interesting and dramatic poems.
The importance of this composition lies within the
There are metaphors all through out “Wishing Africa, but the former is not really a
metaphor yet a simile becuase with the use of the phrase as. “The wind delicate as
Queen Annes lace” (4) may be the first simile in the poem. This collection is significant because it
helps to let the reader feel the composition, to feel Africa. It shows the gentle ways of the
environment, or the peacefulness of The african continent.
This helps to show how come the poetic voice
would like to go back. Another metaphor inside the stanza can be, “The ladies bodies had been
variable as coral” (9). This is one of the most imaginative lines in the poem. It gives the
feeling of beauty, as if swimming underwater in the Great Hurdle Reef, taking a look at all the
amazing creatures.
This is significant because the poetic voice is trying to show how
great and wonderful Africa was. In addition, it serves as a great illustration of the differences
between not just the women, but likewise ways of pondering. The woman might represent
different experiences the poetic voice has had seeing that leaving The african continent which has improved its
brain about the country and wishes it could go back there only one more time. Or they
could represent the various parts of Africa that the poetic voice yearns for so much.
Another stanza is known as a transition from your first. “I am threaded / with pale veins”
(13-14) is a first metaphor in the stanza. This is used to show so why the graceful voice
are not able to not return to the country it longs for. The words “threaded” (13) and “pale veins”
are the important concepts inside the metaphor.
The word “threaded” (13) shows the image of pain.
There are many possible factors behind the pain, the only limit is the visitors
imagination. Also, when a bit of clothe is manufactured, many bits of thread are threaded
together, and there is no way to get a solitary thread away without destroying the whole part
of clothe itself. Probably the poetic voice is saying there is no way that they can get away
via his “pale veins” or perhaps past, his past being his heritage or skin tone.
The term “pale”
(14) is used to illustrate that the poetic voice is white colored. It could be that he (poetic voice)
was a slave owner or trader mainly because it was in The african continent and now this realizes that what it would was
certainly not right and is grief troubled. The next metaphor in the second stanza is, “I am full with
dying” (15). The key terminology here is naturally, “full of dying” (15).
This kind of illustrates
the poetic voices sorrow intended for leaving Africa or his sadness pertaining to doing what he would while
in Africa. Think of staying full with something, that something is all you think about, most
you know. Now think about getting “full of dying, ” all the poetic voice considers is
fatality and that torments him everyday. Or maybe the poetic voice killed many Africans
during his stay there and now that haunts him every second of his life as he tries to escape
The initial metaphor inside the third stanza is, “I grew meats in the earths blond aspect
(25).
The key concepts are “grew meat” (25) and “earths blond part (25). This
shows one aspect of the particular poetic tone did although in Africa. “Grew meat, ” (25) means
that he (the poetic voice) was a plantation owner that owned slaves, that grew fruit, therefore
the word beef, the fleshy part of the fruits. “Blond aspect of the earth, ” (25) refers to the
sunny or perhaps tropical environment of The african continent.
The writer used these kinds of terms since they trigger
thought and feeling with in poem by giving the reader the sense that the earth is alive. “I
did it every with very little bloody stitching, ” (26) is the next metaphor. This kind of metaphor is usually
significant since it again shows the graceful voices misery and repent. These “bloody
stitches, (25) maybe the slaves the poetic tone of voice used to do his work in The african continent.
The
real terms “bloody stitches” delivers a whole different feeling to the poem.
This kind of feelings greatly contrast coming from those of the first stanza. Bowering uses these phrases
because they will suggest discomfort and struggling. The pain and struggling that the graceful voice
experiences everyday of his existence due to the specifics of what he would while in Africa.
Bowering uses the next line again to so, just how the graceful voice is definitely unhappy with
what this individual did in Africa. “I am scented with computer virus, ” (31) is the following metaphor. The main element
terms inside the line happen to be “scented” (35) and “virus” (35). The word “scented” is employed to show
thatthe poetic tone is tainted with what this individual did in Africa and cannot move away from it
like “scented” by a skunk.
The word “virus” is used becuase whenever a computer virus is believed
of loss of life closely associated with it. The poetic words used Africans and wiped out Africans to do his
light man’s job. Again, the next line are not actually a metaphor due to word
while, (it can be described as simile), nonetheless it is vital towards the poem. “I am light as a geisha/ my root base
indiscriminate” (35-36), this series again dates back to the colour of the graceful voices pores and skin.
The image of the “geisha” (35) is used because it is a flower with white colored flowers. Bowering
continually introduces the image of white (referring to skin color) because it is key to
understand the poem to know that the poetic voice is known as a white person. The additional key
principles here are “my roots indiscriminate” (36). Bowering is trying to demonstrate that the
graceful voice is usually lost or confused.
The word “roots” (36) can there be to illustrate the graceful
voices family line. Again, all of us as viewers, are not sure his earlier, but every one of the metaphors and
simile assistance to give a picture of the actual situation could be. The term “indiscriminate” is
important because it implies that the graceful voice doesnt know in which he comes from and
therefore will not know where to go now.
Mayrilyn Bowering used many metaphors to make the poem “Wishing Africa.
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These kinds of metaphors open and associated with poem come alive with every expression. She makesyou
as the reader, think. The metaphors likewise make the audience feel the power of the words because
the arrive off the webpage and with your mind. Bowering’s “Wishing Africa” contains several
very innovative and mind opening metaphors.
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