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The poet describes his feelings as he travels on a "night train" -- presumably a late-night suburban
train which is taking him to his home in segregated Johannesburg.
He is almost alone on the train and this is something to be feared, for the lone passenger is always open
to be mugged or murdered.
ABOUT THE POET
Fhazel Johannesse is one of those poets who appears to have fallen through the cracks. Very little is
known of him except that he was born in Johannesburg in 1956 and seems to have lived there his whole
life.
He also appears to have lived through religious rifts as a child, with his father being Moslem but his mother
reconverting to Christianity after her husband's sudden death in an accident.
This would have put serious religious stress on the teenage boy who would now have had a foot in both
camps -- and also faced opposition from both.
His poetry appears to have been of fairly short duration, written during the mid-1970s and the early 1980s.
In 1980, Johannesse and Christopher van Wyk started a very short-lived magazine called Wietie
which was a literary platform for Black Consciousness.
This was a political philosophy which took root after Steve Biko's death from police brutality in 1975. The
movement not only promoted active resistance to Apartheid but also fostered a local cultural milieu in
opposition to western thought.
The magazine gave voice to a new generation of writers who were critical of the oppressive apartheid
regime and provided them with cultural weapons for transformation.
The publication was both literary and defiant. It printed fiction, poetry and prose which challenged the
political, cultural and racial milieu.
It did not survive long. The very first issue was banned by the Censorship Board on the grounds of
obscenity because it used a certain word which is now in everyday teenage vocabulary.
The Board also accused the magazine of sedition.
Nevertheless, Johannesse is remembered as a Black Consciousness poet. He published The
Rainmaker in 1979.
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:
"there is no comfort here
in this third class coach
on this green resisting seat"
- What does the fact that the poet is in a "third class coach" tell you about the poet
himself? (4)
[Need help?]
South Africa was a segregated society. Suburban railway carriages reflected this, with Whites travelling
in first class coaches while the Black, Coloured and Indian travellers rode third class.
First class carriages had blue seats, while third class carriages had green seats. Seats there were much
harder than those for White people.
Long distance trains also had second class carriages for poorer White people, as well as second class
carriages for wealthier Black, Coloured and Indian travellers. These were also green but were softer than
in third class.
One can deduce therefore that the poet was part of the population being segregated against -- probably
Coloured although the Black Consciousness philosophy bundled all "non-Whites" as "Black".
This was because the term "non-White" had negative connotations, as if being "White" was
somehow superior to "non-White".
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- Is the poet complaining about the seats in this coach being uncomfortable? How do you
know? (4)
[Need help?]
In one sense, the poet is complaining about the coach being uncomfortable when he says that "there
is no comfort here".
Nevertheless, this is not the point of the poem. Indeed, the poem is about the fear of travelling
third class late at night, not the comfort of the seat itself.
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"i twitch and glance around --
there are few too few travellers
on the night train"
- Why does the narrator "twitch and glance around"? (4)
[Need help?]
The poet is afraid. The third class carriages were dangerous late at night when there were few travellers.
The unsuspecting and defenceless traveller might be mugged or even murdered.
The poet therefore describes how he twitches in nervousness, and glances round in fear.
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- What do you know about the "night train" from this poem? (6)
[Need help?]
The night train is suburban. It stops at many stations -- the poet glances impatiently "at the wrong
stations". On long distance trains, the stations are few and far between.
The train has at least third class carriages, although the poet does not say that there are necessarily first
class carriages on this train. There might or might not have been.
The carriage seats are green and hard -- "this green resisting seat".
There are also very few passengers on the train.
The window close to the poet is closed -- he sees his reflection in the glass.
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"i turn to stare
through the window
into the darkness outside
(or is it my reflection i stare at)"
- What does the poet's staring through the window "into the darkness outside" tell you about his
emotional state? (4)
[Need help?]
The poet could be bored. Or he could be anxious not to stay for too long on the train, and is staring out
at the names of the passing stations.
The poet would also appear to be distracted -- he's not fully sure what it is that he is staring at: the
passing stations or his own reflection in the glass window.
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- Why should the poet ask the question "or is it my reflection"? (4)
[Need help?]
The poet would appear to be distracted. He is not sure what it is that he is seeing.
He is possibly looking out the window to make sure he doesn't miss his station but, because he is also
nervously glancing around the carriage to spot danger, he is simply not certain what he sees through the
window: the world outside or his own reflection in the glass.
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"and glance impatiently at the wrong
stations we stop at"
- What do these lines tell you about the night train? (2)
[Need help?]
The night train would appear to have been a suburban train which stopped regularly at many stations.
Stations for long distance trains were few and far between.
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"out
i must get out of here soon
for in this coach there is a smell
which haunts me
not the smell of stale man but
the whispering nagging smell of fear"
- Why is the word "out" written in italics and placed in a line by itself? (4)
[Need help?]
The poet is probably attempting to put emphasis on the word "out". The italics as well as isolating
the word in a line of its own makes this message stand out clearly.
On the other hand, the emphasising of this single word also paints a graphic picture of the poet himself:
solitary and alone, nervously looking around for possible trouble in the rest of the carriage.
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- What is the "smell" which haunts the poet? (4)
[Need help?]
The "smell" is the smell of fear. There are other smells in the carriage -- like "the smell of stale
man" -- but it is not this that haunts him. It is the smell of danger -- and possible death -- which
haunts him.
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- What is the meaning of the word "haunts"? Why is this word a useful one to explain the poet's
emotion? (4)
[Need help?]
"Haunts" has several meanings:
- to appear as a spirit or a ghost;
- to disturb or distress, or to have anxiety.
It is the smell of fear which "haunts" the poet. The fear itself is almost a ghost or a spirit, which he
can't see or touch but which nevertheless is there and he can smell it.
At the same time, the poet regularly glances around, frequently visiting the rest of the carriage with his
eyes. And the smell of fear disturbs or distresses him, causes him to feel anxious.
The poet therefore uses the word "haunts" in all three of these meanings.
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