her history slain
The culture, traditions, languages killed due to the Transatlantic slave trade.
41 Matching Annotations
- Aug 2022
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www.afropoets.net www.afropoets.net
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Now she is rising
After all she has been through she is finally getting up from her battered position.Africa is on the rise and transforming back its natural beauty.
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now she is striding although she has lain.
This last two lines depict the resilience of Africa and the people.Both recovered from the damage done by whit oppressors..
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remember her pain remember the losses her screams loud and vain remember her riches
Africa will always remember the pain and losses that the continent has endured. The riches that were stolen from them.
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rime
Frost that lays on the surface of a cold object.
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icicle bold
Meaning the oppressors were bold and cold as icicles .
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bled her with guns.
Those that disobeyed the brigands were shot with guns.
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churched her with Jesus
Forced to convert to Christianity and worship Jesus. Even though Africans had their own belief system, traditions and culture before the oppressors arrived to their land.
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Thus she has lain.
Repetition to line one and line 7. The speaker is reminding us of the woman's metaphorical physical condition. Through all the unfortunate events the woman has laid down. Not for joy, or slumber but of pain for she had been abused and exploited.
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took her young daughters sold her strong sons
Referring to the Transatlantic slave trade. African girls were taken to become housemaids and nannies. The boys were mainly sold to work in the fields and work farmlands.
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brigands ungentled
Brigands means robbers/ thieves/bandits . The thieves were not gentle.
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Over the white seas rime white and cold
On the white oppressor's journey to black Africa the traveled across the sea whit with frost and rime. Rime is the white frost the covers the surface of a cold object.
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Black through the years.
She has been Black though all her years of life and will remain being Black.
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mountains her breasts
Her breast are large and strong. Symbolic for the geographical location of the two largest mountains; Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya Africa being close together as a woman's breast.
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golden her feet
Metaphor for her feet are as precious and valuable as gold. Or the color of her feet had been gold tanned from the sun.
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two Niles her tears.
Metaphor for saying the woman had so much tears she could fill the Nile river twice. The Nile river is the longest river in the world.
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Thus she has lain
Repetition of line 1 "Thus she had lain." Meaning she has laid down.
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deserts her hair
Her hair is symbolized as a desert. Desert meaning sun golden hair large as the deserts in Africa. Majority of North Africa consist of deserts much like the hair on a woman's head.
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sugercane sweet
The woman is described as "sugarcane sweet". This is a metaphorical sweet meaning the woman is caring, kind and docile. This also a metaphor for Africa being a nice place. Sugarcane sweet is symbolic for the actual sugarcane grown vastly in Africa.
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lain
Lain refers to laid down. The woman had laid down. Africa had laid down.
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she
"She" refers to the continent of Africa. The speaker is personifying Africa as a woman.
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Thus
The speaker is telling a story
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- Jul 2022
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www.gutenberg.org www.gutenberg.org
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And be like him, and he will then love me.
After the lessons of God the "white english boy " will learn to love like God
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And gives His light, and gives His heat away,
His light-God's blessings,
His heat- God's Love
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bear the beams of love;
God's love is unbearable for some
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And round my golden tent like lambs rejoice.”’
Simile- Refer to children singing and celebrating to lambs rejoicing
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Come out from the grove, my love and care, And round my golden tent like lambs rejoice.”’
God will call them from the darkness , to his love and blessings. I joyful peace they shall rejoice in his name.
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The cloud will vanish, we shall hear His voice
The darkness in the lives of black people will disappear when we hear the voice of God.
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when our souls have learned the heat to bear
Meaning -no matter what we have been through, we will always accept and reciprocate God's love.
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Are but a cloud, and like a shady grove.
Suggest black people are of a shady dark cloud.
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When I from black, and he from white cloud free, And round the tent of God like lambs we joy,
When we are free from equality of the racist society and move on the Heaven with God we be equal, and we will be able to play in one peace.
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To lean in joy upon our Father’s knee; And then I’ll stand and stroke his silver hair,
To learn to live together as on in the love and glory of "the All Mighty Father".
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bereaved
Bereaved-deprived, robbed
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I’ll shade him from the heat till he can bear
I will spear him from the love, blessings and wisdom God is trying to inform us about until he is ready to understand.
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Look on the rising sun: there God does live,
‘Look on the rising sun: there God does live" Referring to Heaven, way in the sky beyond the sun
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I am black, but O my soul is white!
The poet creates a symbolic divide between skin color and color of one's soul.
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southern wild
Allusion to Africa
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these black bodies and this sunburnt face
Metaphor- the poet suggest god's love (the heat, the beams of love) is reason for the color of black people's skin. Sunburnt face are the lesson learned society about Black people. Equality amongst Black People.
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And flowers and trees and beasts and men receive Comfort in morning, joy in the noonday.
Every living things benefits from God's love and his blessings: therefore show gratitude. Most living things are mostly awake in the noon, they are most joyful at this time.
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White as an angel is the English child
Simile- The poet uses the word "as" to compare the English child (from the White race) to a being White as an angel. The color white symbolizes purity
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My mother taught me underneath a tree, And, sitting down before the heat of day, She took me on her lap and kissèd me,
Imagery - The author uses imagery to gives readers a feel, a mood and setting of the conversations with his mother. I.e ( "Taught me underneath a tree"appeals to touch and smell
Figurative language/ setting -I.e ( "sitting down before the heat of day") meaning Dusk , Dusk is before the sun comes up, so its less heat in the beginning of the day.
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