If you want to know by Noema de Sousa

Read the poem below and attempt the practice questions given at the bottom.

If you want to know me
Examine with careful eyes
This bit of black wood
Which some unknown Makonde brother
Cut and curved
With his inspired hands
In the distance land of the north

This is what I am
Empty sockets and despairing of possessing life
A mouth torn in anguished wound
Huge hands outspread
And raised in imprecation and in threat
A body tattooed with wounds seen and unseen
From the harsh whip strokes of slavery
Tortured and mysterious
Africa from head to foot
This is what I am

If you want to understand me
Come, bend over this soul of Africa
In the black dock worker’s groans
The chope’s frenzied dances
The Changana’s rebellion
In the strange sadness which flows
From an African song, through the night.

And ask no more
For I’m nothing but a shell of flesh
Where Africa’s Revolt congealed
It’s cry pregnant with hope.

Practice Questions and Answers

(a) Who is the persona in the poem?
The persona is an African. He claims he is Africa from head to foot.

(b) In which ways has the persona suffered in the past?
 Through physical injury eg anguished wound/tattooed/whips, tortured
 Psychological injury e.g. wounds seen and unseen, enslaved
 Exploitation as a worker

(c) Describe the character of the persona in the poem.
 Appreciative – The persona appreciates the Makonde curver who made sculpture of the African. He was inspired.
 Pessimistic – He paints the African in a despairing/negative/pessimistic light.

(d) Explain the use of the extended metaphor in the poem.
The persona compares himself and all of Africa with the curving by the Makonde sculptor. The entire poem brings out the similarities and reasons behind the various features on the curving with an African. It is a long metaphor.

(e) Explain the historical allusion in stanza 2.
The poet mentions slavery alluding to the slave trade that saw mostly West Africans sold as slaves in America.

(f) How do the last two lines of the poem contrast with the rest of the poem in terms of tone?
The rest of the poem has a despairing/pessimistic disillusioned tone brought out by the despairing sockets, anguished wound, wounds seen and unseen, workers groans, sadness However, the last 2 lines change the tone to optimistic/hopeful/unbeat/sanguine/bullish. He talks of a revolt congealed in a cry that is pregnant with hope.

(g) Explain the meaning of the following words and phrases as used in the poem.
 Tattooed – Permanently marked on the skin
 Pregnant – Full of/plentiful

(h) Comment on the use of personification in the poem
examples – Its cry pregnant with hope
The emphasizes the great optimism/upbeat mood of the African in the fight against all the ills he is facing.