Sample poetry essay

In Gardening in the Tropic, repetition is the most important feature of Olive Senior’s craft.

With reference to at least 3 poems, discuss the validity of this statement.

“Jamaican poet, Olive Senior is one of the most lucid Caribbean poets writing today. It is through her finest Gardening in the Tropics, we are able to see her clarity of thought as well as her capacity to construct the clean precise language that make this collection such a welcome addition to West Indian writing,” Kwame Dawes 1995. Meditation on Yellow, Caribbean Basin Initiative and Stowaway carry the readers back in time where our Caribbean ancestors resided, exploring their pains and pleasures of immigration thus validating the subtitle “Travellers’ Tale.”

Many readers would agree that Senior’s use of repetition, imagery and conversational tone are the most outstanding features in her art of monologue poetry that evokes the horrific journey of our Caribbean ancestors in addition to the brutality they faced by their colonizers. The opening lines of Meditation on yellow, “At three in the afternoon you landed here at El Dorado,” quickly introduce the audience to the setting of the poem, creating a sense of development at the start. It also signals an involvement of a new set of people in the Caribbean who can either have a positive or negative impact on the lives of the settlers. However, the Amerindians being calm and welcoming gave the settlers the Caribbean island and two continents in return for friendship and peace however they received worthless glass beads and hawk’s bells. Already Senior makes the readers aware of the Native Indians cordial attitude towards the white Europeans who took advantage of this, claiming the most valuable asset. Senior, then goes on to introduce the arrival of a new set of migrants, the black Africans who replaced the dwindling Amerindian population, however they were thoroughly dehumanized by the whites due to their colour and race, "skin burnt black as toast, for which management apologizes". Her craft of repetition, “want” and “give” describes to her readers her strong disapproval of the exploitation process, “five hundred years of solitude” carried out by the Europeans to the African population revealing the nature of the whites as discontented, materialistic, and supercilious. It is through this device that Senior evokes feelings of sympathy and pity for the African slaves and Amerindian tribe while the readers' develop detestation for the Europeans. Nevertheless, the poet sheds light on the humorous line, “our piss the same shade of yellow” highlighting the persona’s mockery, frustration and belittling of the Europeans. In that, it is ridiculous to feel superior to another race just because their skin tone is different however they fail to understand that our bodies function the same hence we are all equal human beings. Consequently, the use of repetition reinforces the hardship of our Caribbean ancestors and the insatiable whites, " Just when I thought I could rest pour my own fever grass and lemon, cut my ten in the kitchen take five."

The title “Caribbean Basin Initiative” is a play on the words as this area was officially unveiled by the United States President Ronald Reagan in 1982 as a means for economy growth in the Caribbean through increased trade in the USA. In Senior’s poetry however, she describes the terrifying journey of the Haitian people who chose the dangerous route of migration in small open boats. The beginning lines of this poem tell a short story of Haitian residents who are migrating from their mother country in search of a new place to settle and better their standard of living for them and their family, “these waters where our dreams lie.” They have full hope that one day their dreams will become a reality and their hardships and sufferings will come to an end. However, their journey was everlasting and soon members in the boat started dying due to malnutrition. Despite this, the persona never gave up on his dream and continued to sail to the USA however, he was caught and captured by the USA coast guards and taken to a cell in Guantanamo Bay. Subsequently, he was set free but continued to hope for better things to come. Through Senior’s powerful use of imagery, “limpets we cling” the readers are able to visualize and compare the limpets, marine creatures (gastropods) that cling to rocks and the hulls of ships to that of the Haitian people trying their best to fit on board the boat as there were many passengers. Senior engages the audience to witness the desperation of these Haitians to look for a better life and a higher standard of living, evoking feeling of sympathy and pity. Additionally, Olive Senior uses her technique of repetition, “past” and “though” to indicate the intensification of the reality of the situation in that there is no sense of direction to where the persona is going as his family have all died and left him alone. Also the repetition of the first and last stanza, “like limpets we’ll cling on craft that ply in these waters where our dreams lie” reinforces the fact that in spite of the persona’s hardships, there is hope that this dream in these passing waters will take him somewhere and become a reality. Senior continuously evoke to the readers that despite the struggles and suffering of our ancestors there will always be hope for a better future.

In Senior's Stowaway, she starts her poem with the craft of conversational tone which quickly link the readers to the persona whereby making them a part of the story she’s telling. “I feel it, though I cannot see to hold my thoughts together” this quote, illustrates to her readers that the persona is on a secret sea journey hoping that he would not be found but his instincts tell him otherwise. This quickly links the readers back to the title of the poem "stowaway" which defines a person who secretly boards a mode of transport without being detected. Senior then further goes on to briefly describe the emotions of the persona during his sea journey as he's portrayed as being blinded, unable to think soundly, mentally. In other words, his thoughts are out of control as he knows it will not be long before he’s discovered on the boat. According to Senior, Stowaway is symbolic for the negative thoughts in the persona's mind that could lead to depression or a mental breakdown, "my thoughts together-they're running loose all over, someone's bound to trip." Furthermore, it is believed that the main reason behind the persona's emotions is mainly because he has experienced the ill treatment aboard the voyage of the middle passage from Africa which confirms his identity as an enslaved individual. This is evident with reference to the imagery Senior implements “one day light will enter this grave” hints on the past experiences the persona suffered during the middle passage. Senior thus, evokes feeling of hope that the persona is not found by the European merchants as he would be severely tortured. Moreover, the closing lines “that my eyes be blinded only by the promise land” refer to the land promised by God which is rewarded to that person who has lived a faithful life of hope, according to the Hebrew Bible.

Ultimately, through Senior's poem, she makes the readers aware of the torture and psychological impact the Europeans had on our Caribbean ancestors. Gardening in the Tropics by Olive Senior, specifically Traveller's Tale focuses on the evocative ways and forms in which the lives of our Caribbean ancestors were circumscribed, influenced and molded by the Europeans that had a dramatic effect on the entire region. However, it is through her techniques of writing mainly repetition, conversational tone together with imagery in her poetry that serves to portray issues of migration and colonization. “Poetry matters because it is a tool for helping us to discover who we are. As individuals, as Caribbean peoples, as citizens of the world” according to Olive Senior.