Jared Angira and Marxist Influence

The Kenyan poet Jared Angira was born in 1947 and studied commerce at the University of Nairobi where he was also the editor of the journal Busara. He has spent much of his working life in the Kenyan civil service and published seven volumes of poetry. As a Marxist poet, he once proclaimed: “Karl Marx is my teacher; Pablo Neruda my class prefect (when I am in the classroom) and my captain (when I am on the battlefield).” His poetry shows a critical concern with social injustice in post-independence society and is often critical of Kenyan politics. This fact is evident in his poem “The Country of the Dead”–as his negative sentiment is expressed clearly by the title itself. 

“The country of the dead
I speak
no answer
I weep
no pity
I watch
no colour
I listen
no sound
the country of the dead” (pg. 123)

Angira evinces a deeply personal and moral issue with the inequality he witnesses. Here, I believe “the dead” do not literally mean deceased human beings, but rather a sort of non-committal or inactive population that lacks the will or ability to take political/social action when necessary. How do these views reflect the beliefs of Karl Marx? What kinds of inequality exist within Kenya? Given that Angira studied Marx, what solutions might he propose to eradicate these social inequities?

In his poem “Manna”:

“Children wailed in hunger
Idle mothers rushed
To the screening chamber
Even mothers
Who had worked
Mighty hard
Sank in the scrum” (pg. 124)

We see a continuation of the theme of economic injustice and strife; thousands of innocent civilians are “hungry” and struggling to survive. Where else do these issues appear in the Kenya section of poetry? Can you make connections to other Kenyan poets, or poets from any region of Africa?

From Dante to September 11th

Adonis never ceases to amaze with the wide range of allusions he incorporates into his poetry. He chooses to explore multiple religions, places, and time periods–rather than focusing on just one–to show flexibility in meaning and to encourage a broader world view. Adonis straddles seemingly divergent pieces: a “concerto” on Dante, the Italian poet from the Middle Ages, to a concerto on 9/11, a modern tragedy involving both America and the Middle East, all while managing to make connections between the two.

In “Concerto for the Road to Dante’s Church,” Adonis tackles one of the oldest visions of the afterlife founded upon Roman Catholic beliefs. Dante wrote his Divine Comedy between 1308 and 1321; in particular, Dante’s piece Inferno illustrated his “journey through Hell” which he depicts as a series of nine circles or levels based upon nine different sins. Each circle faces increasingly brutal punishment to match the sin itself. This topic of the afterlife becomes a primary concern for Adonis; on page 302 he pleads, “Dante, the roads to the purgatorio, paradiso, and inferno still pour with tears. There is no/ one in the processions of the gods except corpses. Do the gods hate life so much?/ I ask you and I cry from the gorges of my inferno: How strange monotheism is!” Here, Adonis clearly struggles with the religious tenants of Heaven and Hell. It seems that Adonis would rather emphasize the beauty of life on earth, rather than the uncertainty of death. (I am curious as to whether others agree or disagree with my assumption?)

Additionally, Adonis juxtaposes Dante’s ideas about death with an airport and an airplane; why does he choose this particular setting? It could be foreshadowing or at least a precursor to his “Concerto for 11th/September/2001 B.C.” The attacks on September 11th have forever tainted the feeling of safety; we each fear our deaths, and Adonis uses fear to fuel his tumultuous, controversial poetry. One more thing that stood out to me Adonis’s repeated mention of “the lower layers of creation” (305-306) in “Concerto for 11th/September…” which links back to the nine layers of Dante’s Inferno; in this way, Adonis seems to suggest that there is a special place in Hell for the irreversible, destructive act of terrorism which occurred that day.

The Wound

In keeping with the key themes of “The Wound,” the third and fourth stanzas display a variety allusions and metaphors which can come across in a very vague, almost mysterious manner.

“I named you cloud,
wound of the parting dove.
I named you book and quill
and here I begin the dialogue
between me and the ancient tongue
in the islands of tomes
in the archipelago of the ancient fall.
And here I teach these words
to the wind and the palms,
O wound of the parting dove.

If I had a harbor in the land
of dreams and mirrors, if I had a ship,
if I had the remains
of a city, if I had a city
in the land of children and weeping,
I would have written all this down for the wound’s sake,
a song like a spear
that penetrates trees, stone, and sky,
soft like water
unbridled, startling like conquest.”

Certain phrases within these stanza are also repeated multiple times throughout Adonis’s poetry. “The dialogue” mentioned in the fourth line of stanza three is fleshed out in the “Dialogue” poem on page 37; to whom is the narrator speaking? What does this passage suggest about internal struggle and personal consciousness? What does it suggest about the importance of religion? Does Adonis believe in free will or are we destined to a predetermined fate?

What is the significance or meaning behind “the parting dove” in the second and tenth lines of stanza three? Where else can you locate this image within the Songs of Mihyar?

Additionally, “the ancient fall” brought up in line seven clearly ties to the poem “The Fall” on page 36. These recurring allusions to the past reiterate the significance of knowing and understanding history–as the past is a continual presence that creates the present and informs the future. What exactly IS “the fall”? Can you trace this term through the history of Damascus?