An African Thunderstorm Poem
From the west
Clouds come hurrying with the wind
Turning sharply
Here and there
Like a plague of locusts
Whirling ,
Tossing up things on its tail
Like a madman chasing nothing.
Pregnant clouds
Ride stately on its back,
Gathering to perch on hills
Like sinister dark wings ;
The wind whistles by
And trees bend to let it pass.
In the village
Screams of delighted children,
Toss and turn
In the din of the whirling wind,
Women,
Babies clinging on their backs
Dart about
In and out
Madly;
The wind whistles by
Whilst trees bend to let it pass.
Clothes wave like tattered flags
Flying up
To expose dangling breasts
As jagged blinding flashes
Rumble , tremble and crack
Amidst the smell of fired smoke
And the pelting March of the storm
Introduction: An African Thunderstorm Poem
” An African Thunderstorm ” is a free verse poem written by a Malawian poet David Rubadiri. He is very well known writer of Africa. In this poem ,” An African Thunderstorm” he talks about how western captured whole Africa and ruled over them . He talks about thunderstorm which came from West and how it effected the African people.
After the analysis of the poem, we will come to know about the theme of the poem and it’s meaning. The poet actually aims to colonization of the White men through his poem ” an African thunderstorm.” What changes took place when the Thunderstorm came there . And how did the people react to it. So let’s go to the analysis of the poem stanza wise .
Analysis of An African Thunderstorm stanza 1
From the west
Clouds come hurrying with the wind
Turning sharply
Here and there
Like a plague of locusts
Whirling ,
Tossing up things on its tail
Like a madman chasing nothing.
The poet opens up the poem with the image of a cloudy and windy day where the clouds are rushing from west to Africa. The wind is very wild and in hurry . It is spreading everywhere as fast as possible like a plague. Plague is a disease that is transmitted to other people very fast. The wind has no any fixed direction. It is whirling and tossing things up on its tail . The wind is causing a lot of damage.
Summary and meaning of Stanza 1
The poet explains how the white men from west entered Africa and took Africa under them. They came hurrying and spread in all the direction. They started capturing different areas of Africa . ” Like a plague of locusts ” they entered every places , every villages and towns of Africa . They also destroyed everything that came on thier way.
Analysis of An African Thunderstorm Stanza 2
Pregnant clouds
Ride stately on its back,
Gathering to perch on hills
Like sinister dark wings ;
The wind whistles by
And trees bend to let it pass.
The phrase here ” Pregnant cloud ” means there is something with the clouds . The clouds are carried by wind on its back with due respect. The clouds are moving ahead gathering themselves to reach the top of the hills. The poet uses the term ” sinister ” which is a sign of danger. The cloud is showing its evil nature. The wind blows producing whistle sound and the trees let the wind pass through them .
Summary and meaning of Stanza 2
The clouds here symbolise the colonialists who came from western countries with their armies. Their soldiers brought them with great dignity carrying them in thier back. They came to rule over the African people sitting in the crown and being as a king. They showed very dangerous insights of themselves like a sinister. Their soldiers are moving ahead of the leader to make the innocent people aside and let thier leader reach the top place. The innocent African people are still doing nothing and just let the colonialists pass by them to the different places of thier country.
Also read: Mama is a Sunrise by Evelyn Tooley
Analysis of An African Thunderstorm Stanza 3
In the village
Screams of delighted children,
Toss and turn
In the din of the whirling wind,
Women,
Babies clinging on their backs
Dart about
In and out
Madly;
The wind whistles by
Whilst trees bend to let it pass.
The wind and cloud are so much threatful that small children in the village who were playing with joy and happiness got disturbed. Thier cry of happiness changed to the cry of fearfulness. Also the babies are afraid of the wind and clinging back to mother’s back. The babies are afraid of the wind and the cloud , due to their dangerous appearance. Also , mother is moving randomly to hide themselves from the wind. The wind whistle and the trees there let to pass the wind.
Summary of Stanza 3
The poet in this stanza tells us how the women, children and babies were affected by the colonialists. How they reacted in that situation when the colonialists with their armies came to the villages of Africa. The cry of children turns from joy to fearfulness. The babies are clinging back to thier mother’s back due to fear. Also , the women are trying to protect their children moving randomly. But still the soldiers are moving ahead and the general people are letting them to pass through them.
Also read: The Weaver Bird Poem Analysis
Analysis of An African Thunderstorm Stanza 4
Clothes wave like tattered flags
Flying up
To expose dangling breasts
As jagged blinding flashes
Rumble , tremble and crack
Amidst the smell of fired smoke
And the pelting March of the storm
Due to strong wind the clothes of the people of the village gets torn . Their clothes wave like a flattered flags and are flying in the air. Also, there is thunderstorm. The sky is full of blindly flashes . Due to rumble and dangerous cloud, the people over there are very scared. They also hear the sound of crack and smell the fired smoke. The storm continues blowing ahead with furious nature.
Summary and meaning of Stanza 4
The colonialists came to Africa like a wind and clouds. They destroyed everything whatever came across them. The tattered clothes of women shows the situation of the village as well as country. “Tattered flags” also denote how the colonialists destroyed the culture, religion and traditional beliefs of the African people. The colonialists also used different weapons and missiles to hijack the place and to take control over the places they moved. “Like blinding flashes” they fired missiles and guns to kill the innocent people. In they way the colonialists kept moving ahead clearing their way.
About the poet of “An African Thunderstorm”
“An African Thunderstorm” is written by a Malawian poet David Rubadiri. He was born on 19 July , 1930 and died on 15 September , 2018. He was a diplomat , academic and a writer. He studied at King’s College , budo in Uganda from 1941 to 1950. Then he went to Makerere University in Kampala for his bachelor’s degree in English literature.
He has also written plays and novel. His novel “No Bride Price ” and his play “come to tea” are very famous all around the world.
Also read : Night Rain Poem by JP Clark Analysis
FAQs on An African Thunderstorm
What is the message of the poem African thunderstorm?
The poem an African Thunderstorm talks about colonialism.
What is the tone of African thunderstorm?
The tone of an African Thunderstorm Poem is ominous.
What is the setting of the African thunderstorm?
The setting of the poem is a small village in Africa.
Who is the poet of An African Thunderstorm Poem ?
David Rubadiri is the poet of the poem an African Thunderstorm.