If you don't stay bitter
for too long

This poem looks at the inner spirit of mankind, but especially the poet's own society which could remain bitter and angry forever at its treatment at the hands of the former colonial power.

This anger, he says, is quite unnecessary. Indeed, if one surveys the world from the vantage of a positive mind, one might see all sorts of advantages and things to be joyful about. It is purely a matter of the mind and of perspective.

Charles Mungoshi was born of farming parents in Rhodesia -- now Zimbabwe -- in 1947. He is regarded as one of his country's most prominent writers.

He has written novels, short stories and poetry, using both the Shona and English languages.

It has been said that his work deals subtly with the cultural complexities of Zimbabwe, and especially of the conflict between the younger and older generations as well as the different rural and urban loyalties.

From 1975 to 1981, Mungoshi worked for the Literature Bureau of Zimbabwe as an editor, and then joined the Zimbabwe Publishing House.

Later he become the "Writer in Residence" at the University of Zimbabwe. After that, however, he tended to work freelance.

It has been said that Mungoshi's poetry paints a "multi-layered world of meaning" in which he uses a short and condensed style of writing.

It has also been said that his poetry rarely makes socio-political statements but this is questionable. Indeed, his socio-political comments are sometimes hidden in what appears to be a rather simple comment on reality.

His writings have won him several awards, including an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Zimbabwe.

Read the left column and then answer
the following questions:


"If you don't stay bitter
and angry for too long
you might finally salvage
something useful
from the old country"

• What is meant by "salvage"? (4)

[Need help?]

Originally, "salvage" meant "the act of saving a ship or its cargo from perils of the seas". Is the poet using this metaphor to refer to the "ship of state" which was Rhodesia but is now Zimbabwe. The ship has continued to flounder in the high seas of bitterness and anger since the colonial period. If one were to put these two sentiments aside, says the poet, then it is still quite possible to salvage something which would be very useful for the future of the country. In other words, not everything in the past is bad, and not everything in the present is good.

• In what way would one "salvage something useful from the old country"? (4)

[Need help?]

The poet would appear to be making a plea for a change of heart. Instead of languishing in the negative state of anger and bitterness at the colonial past, one should adopt a new positive disposition of rescuing whatever is useful from the past.

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"a lazy half sleep summer afternoon
for instance, with the whoof-whoof
of grazing cattle in your ears
tails swishing, flicking flies away"

• Comment on the poet's choice of words in "a lazy half sleep summer afternoon". (6)

[Need help?]

Have you spotted the use of sibilance which is the repetition of the "s" sound. Sibilance creates a lazy, sleepy effect. In comic strip pictures, the use of "zzz" is used to capture sleep, or snoring. Notice that the afternoon itself is said to be "lazy". This is an example of personification. The summer afternoon becomes a person who is dozy in the heat and is falling asleep.

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"birds hopping about
in the wake of the plough
in search of worms"

• What point is the poet making when he speaks of the birds' search for worms "in the wake of the plough"? (4)

[Need help?]

The poet would appear to be repeating the idea that something good may come from the past if only one changes one's attitude and looks at it through refreshed eyes. In this case, he has changed his metaphor to that of the plough. The plough stands for colonialism. Something good happens when the plough rips its furrow through the earth because worms appear and the watchful birds are able to dart down and help themselves to an absolute feast. The past is therefore not all negative. One must forsake bitterness and anger while looking to see what good may spring up.

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"or the pained look of your father
a look that took you all these years
and lots of places to understand"

• What is the "pained look of your father"? (4)

[Need help?]

It is not quite so clear to interpret what the "pained look of your father" might be referring to except perhaps that the father is himself caught up in bitterness and anger from the colonial past. Even that, however, could lead to something positive because it is important to understand the father, to understand why he is bitter and angry. This understanding in turn can be turned to one's own advantage.

• Why did it take "all these years and lots of places to understand"? (2)

[Need help?]

For years after the liberation struggle, there was bitterness and anger. It takes ages to overcome the sentiment. Now all the years have indeed passed by and life has taken them in many directions.

• Contrast the attitude of the father to that of the grandmother. (4)

[Need help?]

While the father appears still to be focussed on the bitterness of the past, the mother is much more philosophical. There is no longer any real threat to life except that of death itself. She therefore takes on a bantering tone, laughing at the hardships, seeking renewal through a positive attitude.

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"If you . . . have the courage to go back
you will discover that the autumn smoke
writes different more helpful messages
in the high skies of the old country."

• Comment on the idea of the "autumn smoke" writing "different more helpful messages in the high skies of the old country". (4)

[Need help?]

Autumn is a season of mists and mellow fruitfulness. There is smoke in the air which rises slowly into the sky, writing metaphorical messages there for all to read. Some read these messages in the negative language of the past but, says the poet, there is also a different message of positivity which is more helpful because it enables one to get on with living in the joy of life. The very term "the old country" bears a message of nostalgia and contentment for the past. It is no longer something to be remembered with bitterness but rather with a sense of longing for what was good in the past that can now be used in the present.

• What does the poet mean when he speaks of "the old country"? (4)

[Need help?]

The reference is to the colonial past of Rhodesia where everyone was not equal but where Whites clung to power. But even then the poet sees a sentiment of nostalgia, looking to what was good in the past which might now be carried into the future.

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