An Abandoned Bundle

The poet describes the obscene conditions of living in White City Jabavu. Almost as a metaphor to life there, he sees a group of scavenging dogs ripping apart the corpse of a baby which had been dumped. In the meantime, the baby's mother continues with her life without even a care for what she has done.

Mbuyiseni Oswald Mtshali was born in Vryheid (Natal) in 1940, where he grew up and completed his schooling.

He desired thereupon to attend Wits University but was unable to do so because the Apartheid laws forbade Black people studying at "White" institutions except under exceptional circumstances.

Instead, he travelled to the United States where he attended Columbia University, graduating with a Masters degree in Creative Writing and Education.

On his return to South Africa, he completed his first volume of poetry which he called Sounds of a Cowhide Drum. It was published in 1971 and had a dramatic impact because it was the first major work by a Black poet in South Africa.

It was also eagerly studied by liberal White South Africans who were anxious to read poetry from their Black brothers. The anthology, however, was criticised by fellow Black poets on the grounds that it was too conservative and not at all militant.

When Mtshali published Fireflames in 1980, he had responded to his critics. Indeed, this second anthology tended to foster open rebellion, being partially inspired by the Soweto youth uprisings of 1976.

After this second anthology, Mtshali settled down as an educator, first at Pace College in Soweto where he became vice-principal, and then at the New York City College of Technology where he became an Adjunct Professor, teaching African folklore and modern African history.

In 1971 Mtshali was honoured with South Africa's Olive Schreiner Poetry Prize. In 1973 he was awarded the Poetry International Award in London.

"An Abandoned Bundle" is characterised by graphic imagery of appalling savagery. The images are meant to shock.

Indeed, the very powerful visual impact instills in the reader a strong feeling of disgust for the dreadful conditions under which the people of White City Jabavu lived.

Or is the poet commenting on the people in general who are living under the apartheid regime?

Read the left column and then answer
the following questions:


"Scavenging dogs
draped in red bandanas of blood
fought fiercely
for a squirming bundle."

• What figure of speech is being used in "fought fiercely"? What is the effect of using this particular figure of speech? (4)

[Need help?]

"Fought fiercely" is an example of alliteration, is it not? The alliterated f's create the impression of fierceness, determination, resolution. There is also a snarling connotation about the repetition.

• Why are the dogs described as being "draped in red bandanas of blood"? (4)

[Need help?]

A bandana is a large coloured handkerchief that is worn around the neck or the head. The dogs have been tearing the baby to pieces, so that their heads are covered with the blood of the baby -- wearing its blood and looking as if their heads were draped in red bandanas.

• What is the significance of the word "scavenging"? (4)

[Need help?]

"Scavenging" has the connotation of homelessness, hunger and deprivation. The dogs belong nowhere but scavenge for existence, seeking food from whatever source. It could also be a metaphor for the savage way of life of the people of White City Jabavu where they too have to scavenge and murder.

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"I threw a brick;
they bared fangs
flicked velvet tongues of scarlet
and scurried away,
leaving a mutilated corpse --
an infant dumped on a rubbish heap."

• Examine the power of the metaphor "velvet tongues of scarlet". (4)

[Need help?]

A metaphor is a direct comparison where something is said to be something else. In this case, the dogs' tongues are described as being velvet. The poet wishes to contrast the soft smoothness of the dogs' tongues with the savagery of their action in tearing the baby to pieces. Remember too that velvet is a particularly expensive cloth, indicating a contrast between the apparent rich smoothness of the tongues with the savagery of their actions.

• Explain the use of parenthesis in the last line. (4)

[Need help?]

Parenthesis is defined as a word, clause, or sentence inserted as an explanation or afterthought into a passage which is grammatically complete without it, and usually marked off by brackets or dashes or commas. In this case the parenthesis is indicated by the use of the dash. The line "an infant dumped on a rubbish heap" is inserted as if it were an afterthought, that the baby is meaningless in the greater struggle for life. The parenthesis is, in this case, an ironic comment because, indeed, the baby is the centre of the poet's thought.

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" 'Oh! Baby in the Manger
sleep well
on human dung.' "

• Explain what you think the poet means by the words, "Oh! Baby in the Manger"? Why has he chosen these words? (6)

[Need help?]

This must surely be a reference to the biblical story of the birth of Jesus, the baby in the manger. The manger in that story was a cave in which animals were stalled. In this poem, however, the manger is a rubbish heap, a cesspit of human excrement. Why has the poet used these words? Is there a sense of irony that, in a so-called Christian country, this baby could be treated so? Is there a hint that, were Jesus to have been born in South Africa, he too would have been torn to shreds by marauding dogs? Or is it just a hint of the reality of life within White City Jabavu -- that there is no place of refuge for the innocent? What do you think?

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"Its mother
had melted into the rays of the rising sun,
her face glittering with innocence
her heart as pure as untrampled dew."

• Explain the psychological situation of the mother. (4)

[Need help?]

The mother would appear to have given birth on her way somewhere, perhaps to work. She does not want the child but simply abandons it. The baby has no meaning whatever to her and so its fate too is irrelevant. While the baby is being torn apart by the dogs, she proceeds on her way with an air of "innocence", her conscience clear, "her heart as pure as untrampled dew".

• Comment on the use of the word "melted". (2)

[Need help?]

The woman "melts" into the morning. She disappears without a trace, leaving not even a hint of sympathy or anguish.

• Comment on the paradox of this last stanza in relation to the horrific incident described in the rest of this poem. (2)

[Need help?]

Her reaction is indeed a total paradox to the horrific incident which has taken place: her newborn baby torn apart by scavenging dogs while she goes her way without any hint of remorse.

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This poem can perhaps be described as a social metaphor, depicting the appalling condition of life in apartheid South Africa as a whole.

• Comment, referring to the poem to substantiate your answer. (10)

[Need help?]

To view "An Abandoned Bundle" as a social metaphor is a perfectly legitimate interpretation. One does not have to agree with it. One may view the poem differently, merely as a graphic description of a real event. On the other hand, one could legitimately claim that the woman is a metaphor for South Africa: giving birth to an unwanted child is referring metaphorically to the Black population who are also abandoned to their savage fate. In this sense, one could see the savage dogs as the regime police, forever roaming with a never- quenching thirst for destroying the Black people. The poet was criticised by his contemporary Black poets for not being revolutionary enough. Mtshali would later become more radical. Within this context, this poem might just be a hint of where the poet's real thoughts lay.

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