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READ THIS
The poet describes a herd of zebra which he sees on the grasslands at dawn. He is enraptured by their
stark beauty as they roam the land freely, and then as a stallion romps with a filly.
NOTE ON THE POET
Roy Campbell was born in Durban in 1901 and was at one stage considered to be one of South Africa's
best poets. His popularity, however, has waned in recent years so that today his poetry is hardly ever
read.
Educated at Durban High School, he spent much of his youth in the great outdoors -- something that is
reflected in many of his poems like "The Zebras". As soon as the Great War was over, however,
he moved to England where he attended Oxford University.
He married Mary Garman, a marriage which did not carry his parents' consent and therefore meant that,
for a time at least, Campbell was struck off from his inheritance. He had two daughters by this marriage.
In 1925, he returned to South Africa and founded a literary magazine called Voorslag which was
meant to promote cultural development amongst the Afrikaners whom the poet regarded as backward and
uncouth.
Very soon disillusionment set in, however, and he returned to England. His disillusionment continued even
there as he fell foul of his own fellow poets -- and even of his wife whom he found was not averse to
lesbian affairs.
During the early 1930s he settled in the Provence region of France -- the scene for one of his greatest
poems, "Horses on the Camargue". During this time he was slowly drawn to Catholicism and
drunkenness.
In the mid-1930s, due to a loss in a civil lawsuit, the Campbell family fled to Spain where the poet became
an avid supporter of the fascist dictator, General Franco. It was this support which saw the poet's
reputation slump amongst his literary colleagues.
When World War II broke out, the poet moved back to England and enlisted for military duty. It was
during those years that he became close friends with the Welsh poet and fellow drunkard, Dylan Thomas.
After the war, the poet returned to the Iberian Peninsula but this time settled in Portugal. He died in a car
accident over the Easter weekend of 1957.
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:
Into the flushed air snorting rosy plumes
That smoulder round their feet in drifting fumes.
- What is a "plume"? Why should these plumes be "rosy"? (4)
[Need help?]
A plume is a feather, or a cloud of smoke or a cloud of steam.
In the context of this poem, it is a cloud of steam given off by the exhaling of the zebras in the cool
morning air.
The plume is "rosy" because it is picking up the orange colour of the dawn sun or is reflecting the
scarlet of the flowers at the zebras' legs.
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- Why should the "rosy plumes" be said to "smoulder round their feet"? (4)
[Need help?]
The poet is comparing the plumes of steam to plumes of smoke. Where is the fire? It's all around the
zebras feet!
Remember that they are wading through knee-high scarlet flowers which reminds the poet of fire at their
feet -- and the fire gives off plumes of smoke, which are the plumes of steam from the zebras breath.
And so the plumes of steam reflect the scarlet of the flowers and it reminds the poet of fire burning all
around the zebras, while the plumes of steam from their breath glow red and remind the poet of smoke
given off from the "burning" scarlet flowers.
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"With dove-like voices call the distant fillies."
- Explain the poet's choice of the word "dove-like" to describe the sound made by the
zebras. (4)
[Need help?]
Perhaps the term "dove-like" is a perfect word to imitate the sound made by the stallions. This
would be an example of onomatopoeia, wouldn't it?
On the other hand, the poet appears to be contrasting the gentle noise in calling the fillies with the brute
power of the stallions.
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- What word tells us that zebras are rather horse-like creatures? (2)
[Need help?]
The word would be "fillies", wouldn't it? A filly is a female zebra but also a female horse.
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While round the herds the stallion wheels his flight,
Engine of beauty volted with delight,
To roll his mare among the trampled lilies.
- Is there just one male zebra in the herd or are there more than one? How do you
know? (4)
[Need help?]
It would seem that there are several males in the herd. The poet speaks of "dove-like voices" --
plural voices -- that are calling the fillies.
As with most animal herds, however, there might be several males in the group but only one of these has
the right to breed. This right is gained by fighting the other males -- only the winner is allowed to breed.
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- Why does the poet suddenly single out for our attention the solitary stallion? (4)
[Need help?]
Up until now, the poet has focussed on the sheer beauty of the zebras, even the males in the herd. By
shifting his attention to the stallion, however, he can also dwell on the contrasting brute strength of the
beast.
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GENERAL QUESTIONS:
What type of sonnet is this? How do you know? (4)
[Need help?]
This is a Petrarchan sonnet.
The lack of a rhyming couplet is the dead give-away. All Elizabethan sonnets end on a rhyming couplet,
but there is none in this poem.
Notice also that the poet has divided his poem into an OCTAVE and a SESTET. This is a typical device
employed in a Petrarchan sonnet, where there is one message or argument in the octave and another in
the sestet.
Elizabethan sonnets, on the other hand, work on three quatrains and the rhyming couplet.
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What is the theme of the Octave? (2)
[Need help?]
The OCTAVE focusses on the beauty of the zebras in the dawn light. The poet uses the metaphor of glory
of musical instruments to put this message across.
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What is the theme of the sestet? (2)
[Need help?]
The SESTET focusses on the contrasting brute strength of the stallion and its romping with the filly.
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