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At face value, the poem is a description of a thunderstorm raging far away over the Magaliesberg
Mountains beyond Pretoria. The poet watches the lightning flash, hears the thunder rumble and tries to
determine from the time that has elapsed just how far away the storm really is.
There is, however, a deeper meaning. The thunderstorm is a reference to the oncoming revolutionary
storm that was heading South Africa's way, an onslaught of discontent caused by the racist attitudes of
the people and the unjust laws of the country.
From the poet's point of view, this storm was still far away but he knew it was getting closer. He could only
hope that everyone would be safe, huddled away within the seclusion of their homes.
THE POET AND HIS POEM
Adam Schwartzman, a Jewish South African, was born in Johannesburg in 1973. He had therefore not
yet born when the Rivonia treason trial took place in 1963.
Schwartzman's poem is an almost apocalyptic examination of the political storm that awaited the country
as a result of the trial. It views the crisis of the "liberation struggle" in the 1980s as if still something of the
future.
The poet, an academic who worked for a time at the Centre for African Studies at the University of Cape
Town, has been described as having "a strong sensual perception of South Africa, wrestling with the
heritage of segregation and violence in this country".
There is a Rivonia Road in Sandton but it is hardly likely that the poet is referring to it. Instead, he is most
probably looking at the metaphorical road which led from the Rivonia trial of 1963 and culminated in the
armed struggle of the 1970s and 80s.
On trial were 19 African National Congress leaders who had been arrested at Liliesleaf Farm in July 1963.
These included Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Govan Mbeki and Raymond Mhlaba.
Originally the death penalty had been requested but this was changed due to world-wide protests.
Instead, eight defendants -- including Nelson Mandela -- were sentenced to life imprisonment.
The trial would be a pivotal point in the history of the liberation movement in South Africa. Indeed, the
ANC evolved from an organisation that had been trying to achieve change through negotiation and then
sabotage into one which sought the absolute overthrow of the racist regime through an armed struggle.
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:
"Crouching on the roof of your neighbour's garage that slopes
over the garden and your mother's rosery, we watch a squall
drub and clobber the Magaliesberg foothills from far away."
- The poem would appear to be a description of a thunderstorm through the eyes of a couple of children.
How do we know that they are probably children and not adults? (4)
[Need help?]
The poet doesn't specifically say that they are children but he does imply that this is so. For example, they
are sitting on the roof of the neighbour's garage. Although adults sometimes do that -- or they might be
repairmen -- the probability is that they are children playing up there. Put this together with the word
"mother" and the idea of it being a couple of children is reinforced.
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- How do we know that there is more than one child involved? (2)
[Need help?]
The word "we" is the dead giveaway, isn't it?
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- Why does the poet use the word "rosery" instead of "rose garden"? (6)
[Need help?]
Apart from a change in metre -- "rosery" flows more smoothly than "rose garden" -- is
there not also a deliberate playing with words, toying with the idea of it being a "rosary"?
A rosary is a set of religious beads usually used by Catholics as an aid to their prayers. It contains many
coloured beads -- usually some 58 of them. If the rose bushes are in full bloom, it could also give the
appearance of a mass of coloured beads when the children were looking down upon them from the roof.
There is also another use to this play on words. Because the rosary is used for purposes of prayer, is the
poet not hinting that the time had come for South Africans to start praying for God to intervene and avert
the great political storm heading their way?
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- Comment on the use of the words "drub" and "clobber". (4)
[Need help?]
The two words are colloquial -- or is it slang? But there is also a certain onomatopoeic sound to them,
an imitation of the sound of the as yet far away thunder.
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- Why does the poet refer at this stage to a "squall" and not to a full on
thunderstorm? (6)
[Need help?]
A "squall" has been defined as "a sudden disturbance or commotion, a brief and sudden violent
storm". The emphasis is on the suddenness and the brevity of the disturbance.
In the wider political context -- and remember that this poem is essentially a commentary on a political
happening -- it was hoped that the Rivonia trial would be a sudden commotion but brief and soon over,
and that everything would then quickly return to normality.
The poet, however, is referring to the fact that, although apparently a squall at the moment, it would grow
inexorably stronger and that ultimately everything would be engulfed in its fury.
A "squall" is also defined as a harsh screaming. Do you think that the poet is wishing you to share
that meaning, that ultimately there would be loud and harsh screaming when the eventual political storm
engulfed the whole country?
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- Where are the Magaliesberg mountains? (2)
[Need help?]
The Magaliesberg mountains are situated in the Rustenberg area of South Africa, about an hour's drive
from Pretoria or Johannesburg.
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- What significance is there in the words "from far away"? (4)
[Need help?]
The storm was literally far away from the garage roof on which the children were playing. The
metaphorical storm that threatened to engulf South Africa was also still far away back in 1963 when the
Rivonia treason trial took place.
Indeed, 30 years later it had still not engulfed the country, although it was indeed very close by then.
Ultimately, of course, the storm dissipated when commonsense prevailed and the political parties at last
got down to a negotiated settlement which they should have done much earlier.
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