Summary
Summary Amagoduka at Glencoe Station - Mbuyiseni Oswald Mtshali
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Amagoduka at Glencoe Station - Mbuyiseni Oswald Mtshali Analysing the poem and background information.
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Amagoduka at Glencoe StationMbuyiseni Oswald Mtshali
Stanza 1: ‘wattle’ aka Acacia Tree
1. We travelled a long journey
2. through the wattle forests of Vryheid, ‘Vryheid’& “Blood river’ mining area in KZN. The land
3. crossed the low-levelled Blood River and river has given up hope.
4. whose water flowed languidly
5. as if dispirited for the
6. shattered glory of my ancestors Stanza 2:‘Dunee’ & Glencoe mining area in KZN
7. We passed the coalfields of Dundee Metaphor: Land an bleak heads on someone’s face.
8. blackheads in the wrinkled face Northern Zululand is suppose to flourish in greenery/ trees
9. of Northern Zululand & plants
10. until our train ultimately came
11. to a hissing stop at Glencoe, Onomatopoeia: “hissing’ sound
12. Many people got off
13. leaving the enraged train Stanza 3 - Focus: that the people in stanza 1 & 2 are traveling
14. to snort and charge at the night on a LONG journey. Personification: the train – ‘snort’
15. on its way to Durban. &‘charge’
16. The time was 8 p.m.
17. I picked up my suitcase,
Stanza 5 - Apartheid era: everything was
18. sagging under the weight of a heavy overcoat
divided
19. I shambled to the “non-European Males” waiting room.
20. The room was crowded
21. the air hung, a pall of choking odour, Stanza 6
22. rotten meat, tobacco and sour beer. Densely packed – smoking. Poverty – rotten
meat & sour beer
23. Windows were shut tight
24. against the sharp bite of winter.
25. Amagoduka sat on bare floor Stanza 8: ‘sucking’ - The warmth does not even
26. their faces sucking the warmth get a chance to reach the rest of the room.
27. of the coal fire crackling in the corner.
28. They chewed dried bread
29. scooped corned beef with rusty knives Stanza 9: Sharing – emphasizing poverty
30. and drank mgombothi from the plastic can
31. which they passed from mouth to mouth.
32. They spoke animated by Stanza 10: like
33. and laughed in thunderous peals. thunder, loud, sharp,
loud ringing. Despite
their circumstances
they are energetic,
and joking & talking.
, 34. A girl peeped through the door The girl is letting the cold in, and the cover and help
35. they shuddered at the sudden cold blast, her out of the cold.
36. jumped up to fondle and leer at her
37. Hal ngena Sisil - Oh! come in sister!
The girl is shy. ‘filly – young female horse. Movement
38. She shied like a frightened filly is compares to a filly – jumping and energetic/ got
39. banged the door and bolted. frightened. Simile.
She runs away.’ Bolted’ They think the frghtend girl
40. They-broke into a tumultuous laughter.
was funny
41. One of them picked up a guitar
42. plucked it with broken finger nails Hardworking-‘plucked’ broken finger nails’ - poverty
43. caressed its strings with a castor oil bottle
He plays music.
44. it sighed like a jilted girl.
45. 'You play down! Phansi! Play Dhe whispered.
Alteration:
46. Another joined in with a concertina, Mimicking the softness and lightness of
47. its sound fluttered in flowery notes the music being played.
48. like a butterfly picking pollen from flower to flower.
Contrast: with circumstances in Lines 20 -
49. They wo began to sing, 31
50. their voices crying for the mountains
51. and the hills of Msinga, stripped naked of
52. their green garment.
Referring to coal mines – no more green
Lyrics of the song that they are singing.
53. They crossed rivers and streams, land. ‘gouged’ – dug out violently.
54. gouged dry by the sun rays,
Cattle: ‘lowing’ sound they make.
55. where lowing cattle genuflected
‘genuflected’ – deep curtsy (bowing down
56. for a blade of grass and a drop of water
low for grass and water.) possible drought.
57. on riverbeds littered with carcasses and bones.
58. They spoke of hollow-cheeked maidens
59. heaving drums of brackish water
Alliteration: ‘b’ and ‘f’
60. from a far away fountain.
‘b’ – sound function: the bigness of their
tummies.
61. They told of big-bellied babies
Kwashiorkor – malnutrition
62. sucking festering fingers
Breasts of mothers have no milk
63. instead of their mothers shrivelled breasts.
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