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Namaqualand After Rain Poem analysis
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Celebration of the beauty + Regenerating power of nature SYMBOLISM OF RAIN… symbolic of rebirth and the end of aperiod of drought, especially as this region is celebrated
Semi-desert brought back to life after because the normally dry landscape is transformed into a
magnificent, vibrant carpet of wildflowers after the winter rains.
rain into a vibrant carpet of flowers.
Implies it’s in an African country. Namaqualand After Rain
Not the emphasises that this event is a repetition and that the land is being brought back to life.
Again the veld revives Rain is light/flowing/melodic and conjures images of clear, flowing water nurturing
first time. impregnated
Imbued with lyric rains, everything on which it gracefully falls.
Juxtaposition: How the land is vs. how it was
Metaphor:
And sap re-sweetening dry stalks, The imagery is exciting and suggestive of blood coursing in veins.
landscape awakening Implying the land is “pregnant” with the possibility of life.
feels alive Perfumes the quickening plains;
Intensity SIBILANCE: of soft whispering ‘s’ sound contributes to tranquillity. It perhaps conjures
Small roots explode in strings of stars, up the image of strings of twinkling fairy lights, which are festive decorations
PERSONIFICATION surrendering and emblematic of times of joy and happiness.
Each bulb gives up its dream, The “bulbs” become flowers -giving up its dream of remaining the same.
Associated with love, sexuality, and fertility. By referring to the petals of the flowers
Honey drips from orchid throats, as ‘throats’, the poem highlights this connection. Sensual fertility that relates to
verb Cluster of flowers around a stem “quickening”.
Jewels each raceme, alluding to the abundance and wealth of nature in spring.
Dash breaks the rhythm.
Personification of the desert creates a powerful image that reinforces the idea of
The desert sighs at dawn-
the landscape being awake and alive. The desert is sighing with relief that the
As in another hemisphere rains have arrived. “Dawn” is a symbol of rebirth.
Alliteration of harsh ‘b’ sound = lotus breaking its bud suggests the arrival of spring feels like waking up on the opposite side
The temple lotus breaks her buds of the world to the desert, which references the opposite seasons
observant Associated with spirituality. experienced in the other ‘hemisphere[s]’
On the attentive air- These lines present the graceful, delicate image of a lotus flower opening to greet the dawn.
By referring to the flower as ‘her’ (line 11), its soft, delicate, feminine nature is underlined.
Onomatopoeia Showy/ frilly ornamentation [rustling of women’s skirts]
A frou-frou of new flowers, Sibilance captures energy
Assonance + movement.
Puff of unruffling petals, Alliteration of soft ‘p’ sound extends
While rods of sunlight strike pure streams the sense of vigour (hardiness) and
Marked with veins. force with which nature bursts into life.
From rocks beveined with metals; This stanza uses vibrant imagery and
sound devices such as consonance,
Evokes the image of a haggard, exhausted
Lean/thin assonance, and alliteration, to create the
Far in the gaunt karroo person as well as emphasising how barren andimpression of unspoiled nature and
strips desolate the land is.
renewed, energetic life bursting forth
The winter earth denudes,
Round, sticky mass everywhere you look.
symbols of Ironstone caves give back the burr
fertility, birth, Large numbers
and new life. Of lambs in multitudes;
Associated with supernatural appreciation of the re-growth.
New life is growing despite the dessert conditions.
Back to revival
Ripples in wind look like waves on an ocean.
Grass waves again where draught ➔ Drought bleached all the colour. Forceful verb.
Bleached every upland kraal, Alliteration of the drawn out ‘w’ sound adds importance
Cherry
A peach-tree shoots along the wind to the process of nature which is drawn-out. It also
blossoms:
highlights the forcefulness of the grass shoots as they
symbol of
Pink volleys through a broken wall, find their way through hardened soil.
rebirth
Quick like bullets (hyperbole)- no way of stopping the regrowth.
Metaphor
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