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"Small Passing" deals with the shock of losing one's baby in a society where death is an
everyday reality.
For the mother, the death of her own child is a tragedy beyond parallel and yet the poet gets
reminded often -- mainly by males -- that this is nothing compared with the greater tragedy
happening all around her in apartheid South Africa, where death is the norm.
On the other hand, the Black women do not see it that way. They are able to comfort her and
see in her loss a genuine catastrophe which is indeed comparable with all the other tragedies
happening around them. Hers is literally no small passing.
ABOUT THE POET
Ingrid de Kok is the professional name of Ingrid Jean Fiske. She was born in Johannesburg
in 1951 and grew up in Stilfontein, a gold mining town in what is now the North-West Province
of South Africa.
She studied at Queens' University in Canada before returning to South Africa. Today she is an
Associate Professor at the University of Cape Town's Centre for Extra-Mural Studies.
To date she has published three collections of poetry, and her poems have appeared in at least
eleven overseas anthologies. They have also been translated into several different languages,
including Turkish.
She has been the recipient of at least three prestigious prizes for her contribution to English
Literature.
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:
"In this country you may not
suffer the death of your stillborn."
The poet often refers to "this country".
- What is her tone in doing so? Be able to explain your answer carefully. (4)
[Need help?]
The poet is bitter that the country in which she lives should have such an indifferent attitude
towards her suffering. She is bitter that she is not being allowed to mourn the loss of her own
child.
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"And this woman's hands are so heavy when she dusts
the photographs of other children
they fall to the floor and break.
Clumsy woman, she moves so slowly
as if in a funeral rite."
- Why are the woman's hands "so heavy [that] when she dusts the photographs of other
children they fall to the floor"? (4)
[Need help?]
The woman is the black maid who works for a white family in South Africa. Her own children
are living in a rural area or in the township while she lives in a room in the backyard of the white
family in the white suburb. She seldom sees her own family, so they have become strangers
to her.
Her "hands are heavy" as she is filled with sadness and despair when she sees the
photographs of the white children. The photographs remind her of her own children whom she
rarely sees. She is so filled with despair that she drops the photograph.
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- Why does she "move so slowly as if in a funeral rite"? (4)
[Need help?]
A "funeral rite" is a custom which we associate with funerals, for example, the church
bell tolls, candles are lit, and people follow the coffin in a slow procession. The black woman
is suffering because she misses her own children. It is as if they are dead and she is in a
funeral procession for them.
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"On the pavements the nannies meet.
These are legal gatherings.
They talk about everything, about home,
while the children play among them,
their skins like litmus, their bonnets clean."
- Explain the significance of the words: "These are legal
gatherings." (4)
[Need help?]
During the apartheid era in South Africa, The Riotous Assemblies Act meant that black
people were forbidden to meet in large groups as the government feared that it could lead to
what it called "subversive activity", as well as riots and protests against the white government.
These meetings were banned. If they occurred, they would be broken up by the police.
The nannies are the maids who clean the houses and look after the children in the white
suburbs. They gather at some time during the day when their work is done to chat amongst
themselves. Their gatherings are thus legal because they are not engaged in any protest
action. They are peaceful social gatherings with no political agenda. The presence of the white
children also conveys the non-political nature of the gathering.
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- Explain the significance of the simile, "their skins like litmus". (4)
[Need help?]
Litmus paper is used to gauge and test for acidity and alkalinity. It's initially white in colour but
turns reddish in the presence of acid and blue in the presence of an alkaline. Like the paper,
the children are white, and are in contrast with their black nannies who are caring for them.
The fact that there are white children at this gathering is a gauge or indication that this is not
a political gathering but rather one of a social nature. The presence of the white children is an
indication that the black nannies are not contravening the South African "Riotous
Assemblies Act" which forbad the public gathering of three or more people. (The three
wise men at Jesus's crib in Bethlehem could have been arrested under the Riotous Assemblies
Act!)
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"Child shot running,
stones in his pocket,
boy's swollen stomach
full of hungry air.
Girls carrying babies
not much smaller than themselves.
Erosion. Soil washed down to the sea."
- The poet refers to the "child shot running, stones in his pocket". What is her
intention behind the inclusion of these words? (4)
[Need help?]
The poet refers to the suffering of mothers who have lost their children. These mothers have
lost their children due to politics, such as when they were shot dead while stoning the police.
People alluded to such incidents when telling her that her suffering was not as great as that of
others.
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- At the end of this section, the poet deviates from references to people and speaks about
soil erosion. What is the connection? (4)
[Need help?]
Soil erosion causes the fertile top soil to be washed away. This means a reduction in the yield
of the crops, leading to famine and starvation.
The poet uses the erosion as a metaphor for the destruction of the people. Just as the fertile
soil is washed away, so there is an erosion of the positive power of the people. The police state
washes away the "fertility" of the nation by destroying family life, by making life harsh and
unrewarding, etc.
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"I think these mothers dream
headstones of the unborn.
Their mourning rises like a wall
no vine will cling to.
They will not tell you your suffering is white.
They will not say it is just as well.
They will not compete for the ashes of infants.
I think they may say to you:
Come with us to the place of mothers.
We will stroke your flat empty belly,
let you weep with us in the dark,
and arm you with one of our babies
to carry home on your back."
- The word "they" is repeated in this section. To whom does "they"
refer? (2)
[Need help?]
"They" refers to the mothers who understand the poet's suffering.
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- What effect has the poet created by repeating the word? (4)
[Need help?]
The poet contrasts these mothers with the people mentioned in Stanza 1 who kept repeating:
"Do not". In doing so, she points out the difference between people who do not
understand the impact of the death of the child and mothers who do sympathise with her
mourning. The poet points out how easy it is for those who do not understand to give advice,
telling her to pull herself together. These mothers do not try to diminish the death of her child
and her suffering.
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- How does this section contrast with the rest of the poem? (4)
[Need help?]
The poet says that the black mothers who have lost children understand her suffering. They
will not tell her that her suffering is less important than theirs. They understand how deeply a
mother is affected by the loss of a child and they will sympathise with her, even though she is
white and regarded as privileged. They understand that her privileged status does not mean
that her suffering is less important than theirs. She suffers the anguish of her child's death just
as much as they do.
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What is the poet's intention with the writing of this poem? (4)
[Need help?]
The poet wants people to realize that ANY death — even that of an ordinary baby
— is important and causes suffering. People must stop telling mothers thus affected
that their suffering is not as great as the suffering of others. ALL suffering is important.
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