A Far Cry From Africa: Structure, Figures of Speech, Theme

The Title of the poem “A Far Cry From Africa” can maybe mean that the poet is writing about African subject from a distance. Writing from the island of St. Lucia, he feels that he is at a vast distance both literally and metaphorically from Africa.

Structure of the poem: A Far Cry From Africa

The Poem is written in free verse, which consists of two stanza one consisting of twenty one lines and the other with eleven lines. It has no rhyme scheme pattern. The poet makes use of rich figures of speech, which describes the poem: That the beginning simile, the poet compares the action of Kikuyu with flies, “Kikuyu, quick as flies”.  Violence is compared with natural law, as the poet views colonization no better than the law of jungle. The hysteric of the people in Africa is compared with that of beats, “delirious as beats.”
Figures of Speech

The use of metaphors can also be seen in this poem, “worm” for the British Colonizer. The poet use a ironic statement, such as “corpses are scattered through a paradise”, to describe the death and inhumanity that has occurred in both Africa and Europe.

Alliteration: “Batten upon the bloodstream”, “colonel on carrion cries”.

The poet uses repetition towards the end of the poem:

How can I face...?     How can I turn...?

The First three lines depict the poem’s Setting on the Africa plain or veldt. 

Theme
Split identity, isolation, cruelty, violence, religion and love are the major themes of the poem. Walcott belongs to both African and European roots ad he identifies himself as Mongrel. Walcott hybrid heritage prevents him from identifying himself directly with one culture and creates the sense isolation.

The Wind “ruffling the Tawny pelt of Africa” in the beginning of the poem refers to cruelty of Mau Mau uprising against the Violence of the British colonialism. The words “corpses, paradise, dead, Jews ad cursed” creates an atmosphere of religion in the poem. Walcott’s feeling of affection for Africa and fondness for English tongue is the theme of love.

Worked Cited:
https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/far-cry-africa