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The poet considers the harshness of the Cape Colony: its bleak mountains, its gales and shipwrecks, and
its slavery and other civil crimes. He nevertheless concludes that there are some strong links which hold
him to the Cape, links of family and friends.
ABOUT THE POET
Although he only spent six years in South Africa, Thomas Pringle nevertheless has the reputation for being
the father of South African poetry because he was the first successful English speaking poet and author
to describe this country.
He was born in 1789 in Blakelaw in Scotland and was educated at Kelso Grammar School before
continuing to the University of Edinburgh. It was there that he developed his love for writing which would
guide his future life.
He began work as a clerk before taking up a career in the editing of journals and newspapers. During this
time he also developed his talent for writing poetry. When one of his poems caught the attention of the
great novelist, Sir Walter Scott, a friendship sprang up between the two men.
Conditions were harsh in the United Kingdom at that time as the country struggled under a recession
following the conclusion of the Napoleonic wars. When Pringle saw an offer for a free passage to the
Eastern Cape as part of what became known as the 1820 Settlers, he decided to apply.
Although the settlers were meant to be frontier farmers, Pringle soon saw an opportunity to continue his
career in newspapers. He therefore settled amongst the growing urban community at Graham's Town
where he founded South Africa's first newspaper, The Graham's Town Journal.
He was soon lured by the greater opportunities offered in Cape Town, and there he founded another
newspaper called The South African Commercial Advertiser. His continual criticism of Governor
Lord Charles Somerset, however, saw his newspapers quickly suppressed, thus starting the first battle
for freedom of the press in South Africa.
In the meantime, with no prospect of earning an income in Cape Town, Pringle returned to England. He
settled in London where an article he had written while at the Cape caught the eye of the Anti-Slave
Society who appointed him as their secretary. It was then that he published much of his poetry and
sketches which he had drafted while in South Africa.
Pringle did not see the eventual liberation of slavery. He died of TB in 1834. He was only 45 years of age.
Although he was buried in Bunhill Fields near London, his bones were exhumed in 1970 and re-buried at
the Pringle Family Church at Eildon in the Baviaan's River Valley in the Eastern Cape.
He had only spent six years in South Africa and has been described as a man "of distinctly limited ability
who died a material failure". He has nevertheless inspired admiration for what he managed to achieve.
Have you looked at the questions
in the right column?
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TEST YOURSELF!
Read the left column and then answer
the following questions:
Some questions on the structure of this sonnet.
- What type of sonnet is this? How do you know? (4)
[Need help?]
This is a Petrarchan or Italian sonnet. Its 14 lines are broken up into an octave and a sestet, each with
its own theme. It has a rhyming scheme of abba abba cdcdcd. This is all typical of a Petrarchan sonnet.
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- What is the theme of the octave? (4)
[Need help?]
The octave deals with the harshness of the Cape's climate and weather, as well as the immoral ordering
of its society.
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- What is the theme of the sestet? (4)
[Need help?]
The sestet gives the positive values of the Cape, of the warmth of kindred and friends which made the
place attractive to the poet.
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"O Cape of Storms! although thy front be dark,
And bleak thy naked cliffs and cheerless vales."
- Comment on the poet's continued use of "thy" and "thee" throughout this sonnet. (4)
[Need help?]
The poet chooses to direct his sonnet directly at the Cape of Storms as though it were a god or a very
important person. He therefore uses archaic language: "thy" and "thee" instead of "you" and "your".
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- What does the poet mean when he says "thy front be dark"? (4)
[Need help?]
There are probably several different meanings here. First, Table Mountain itself is a giant fortress of dark
grey sandstone. In gloomy weather is looks dark, in fact positively black.
On the other hand, the Cape sometimes has "dark" weather: gale force winds, gloomy skies and rain.
But its moral status was also dark: being the home of slaves and brutalised servants.
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- Would you agree that the poet is being somewhat elementary when he says, "And bleak thy naked
cliffs and cheerless vales"? Indeed, it's fairly meaningless from a poetic point of view. What do you
think? (4)
[Need help?]
One does suspect that the poet is being somewhat gloomy about this. The naked cliffs and the valleys
"bleak"? It is true that the moors of Yorkshire are bleak on a windswept and overcast day but this is hardly
how one would refer to Cape Town except on the very occasional windswept and rainy days in winter -
but it is VERY occasional.
And "vales" because he needs a syllable less to give him 10 syllables in the line whereas "valleys" wouldn't
do it? It's what our lecturer would have called "trite" when I was in English I. Or am I being disgustingly
harsh on the man?
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"And perilous thy fierce and faithless gales
To staunchest mariner and stoutest bark."
[Need help?]
A "bark" was a type of sailing ship. Indeed, from it we get the words "embark" and "disembark". It was
a good word to use in Shakespeare's day. But was it still a good word to use in the mid-19th century?
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- Why would the gales be "faithless" and the mariners "staunchest"? (4)
[Need help?]
There could be a little TRANSFERRED EPITHET going on here. The gales can't be "faithless" but a
religious person could believe that the crew of the ship needed faith. A faithless crew would be at the
mercy of every gale whereas those with faith would have God on their side.
At the same time, a person really did put his life at risk to sail on those old sailing vessels in the days
before steam. Sometimes as many as 50% of the crew could die on the two month voyage between
England and South Africa. Yes, that's how long it took. And they were always at risk of being wrecked
and killed in a gale. The mariners really did need to be "staunch", dedicated and brave (or perhaps
foolhardy).
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