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The poet thinks about his daughter -- not yet even conceived -- and how she will exist in an
apartheid ravaged South Africa. He contemplates her joy when he reads poetry to her as she
lies in his arms. He sees the delight in her eyes.
And yet, he also sees her future life, where she will be a victim of the heinous system, where
she will be discriminated against simply because of the colour of her skin and where her fragile
spirit could be broken -- if not completely destroyed.
A WORD ABOUT THE POET
Shabbir Banoobhai is a contemporary South African poet. He was born in Durban in 1949
during the heigh days of the apartheid era.
After leaving school, he attended Springfield College to gain a teaching diploma. He
simultaneously studied through Unisa to obtain the B.Com degree and subsequently followed
accountancy as his chosen profession.
While at Springfield College, he worked as Assistant Editor of the college newspaper, and also
served for a year as President of the Students Representative Council.
His poetry reflects the fate of the greater South African community who were victims of the
Apartheid system. His later travelling to other oppressed countries, however, has seen him
broaden his horizon to include them — most notably those of Sarajevo.
While at college, he met with the prominent South African poet, Douglas Livingstone, who was
to have an influence on Banoobhai's poetic blossoming.
Livingstone would later describe Banoobhai as "An obsessive and talented poet, a
precocious master of the word and a fine lyricist to boot. Almost every line of his work was
subliminally ignited by the ancient great Islamic poets.
"He shares their prime qualities: sensuality, passion, brilliance of imagery, a holistic
approach to nature, and of course, love of God."
Banoobhai's poetry is a mixture of political, personal and spiritual ideas. He says of his own
work that his aim is "to promote a vision of a more humane society — a society that
not only respects all its members as human beings but which considers them as spiritual beings
and essentially divine."
The poet's dedication to the Muslim religion must undoubtedly be reflected in his poetry,
although his mystical writing is also directed against narrow-minded and exclusive religious
thinking.
His personal poetry is chiefly for his two daughters and his wife — and for his friends.
Shabbir Banoobhai has a personal website called Veils
of Light in which he publishes his thoughts and reflections. It is well worth a visit.
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:
"you cannot know the fears i have
as i think about you."
- Although it would appear that the poet is speaking about his daughter, is it at all possible
that this is not so? Of course, to answer this question, one needs to get into the mind of the
poet. (4)
[Need help?]
In an email to me, the poet had this to say about his poem:
"While I think it is more than acceptable to conclude that the poem is for my daughter, in reality
the poem was written before we had children, before our first child was even conceived, as we
were debating the merits of bringing up a child in a 'sun-darkened land' where the
'eclipse' may one day close her eyes prematurely, or where she may never know the
meaning of living in freedom.
"Yet because of my love for all human life (and naturally more so at that age for my own child),
in the poem the future became the present through the force of that love. The child therefore
became alive and I started to love her as if she was already with me, and I pledged to her
(before her presence on this earth) all the love I had to offer."
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The poet himself says that these words are about the future, and that the future tense
dominates this poem until he writes "i cannot live with the thought of having you, loving you
any other way" for "a day without such care has no meaning".
- In what way would this use of the future tense help us to understand what is in the poet's
mind? (4)
[Need help?]
The poet says this of his use of the future tense:
"Note the transition from the future to the present. I have now managed to fuse the two into
one, for the kind of love I felt was one that had to exist in the present for it to be considered true
love in the future. It would not do to withhold that love until the child arrived. And it could not be
a lesser love that would grow to a greater love.
"The love for the child was everything it could be from the beginning. It was my way of doing
justice not only to the child but also to my love for the child. The physical became immaterial.
Past, present and future did not matter. Love was everything!"
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"shadows of a sun-darkened land
flow over you
and the eclipse
closes your eyes"
- Why is South Africa referred to as a "sun-darkened land"? (4)
[Need help?]
The sun is the source of life. For this reason, the ancient peoples referred to the sun as a god,
as with the Egyptian sun-god, Ra.
In South Africa, however, the apartheid system with its gross injustices was snuffing out all life.
People in that country were living only a half life, a life where the sun was being eclipsed and
could not shine with its full strength -- bequeathing only a partial life to the people.
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"we shall find for you a name
your name shall bring light"
- Why should the child's name "bring light"? (4)
[Need help?]
A name creates individuality, creates a person. In a country that is eclipsed by the apartheid
system, therefore, the father hopes that the inner spirit of the child will keep her free and
enlightened. Perhaps by giving her a name, he will be able to bequeath some justice to her.
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How would you describe the tone of this poem? (4)
[Need help?]
How would you describe the tone here? Concern? Fear? Adoration? All of these are possible.
But you would need to explain why each is so.
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Why does the poet use the lower-case throughout, and also does not use full stops? (4)
[Need help?]
There is no definite answer to this question. Why does ee cummings write the way he does?
He just does.
The lack of full stops, of course, does cause one to think. It leads to double meanings, when
one line runs into another and sometimes produces a second meaning other than in one where
a full stop had been used.
Consider for instance the following extract, the first as it is written without a full stop, and the
second with a fullstop:
"nor hunger, nor thirst overwhelm your waking world with wonder"
"nor hunger, nor thirst. Overwhelm your waking world with wonder!"
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Would you say that the father is being indulgent towards his child? (4)
[Need help?]
Is it indulgent to be really concerned for one's daughter? Indulgence is to spoil her, but is the
father spoiling his child? He does indeed worry that he thinks too much about her. And he
fears he is being indulgent. But is he?
And what about the poet's personal comment that he is thinking of a child of the future? Can
one be overindulgent towards a child who has not yet been born?
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