POEM:- Rejoice by Gladys Casely-Hayford
Throw all your burdens down,
If God has been so gracious
As to make you black or brown.
For you a great nation,
A people of great birth
For where would spring the flowers
If God took away the earth?
Rejoice and shout with Laughter,
Throw all your burdens down
Yours is a glorious heritage
If you are black, or brown.
ANTHOLOGY: Rejoice - Gladys May Casely-Hayford
Rejoice
Rejoice is a direct poem addressed to us in Africa to make us realize that we should be happy with our black colour. In the past, we have tended to be ashamed of being black, for since we came into contact with white men.
We have felt that all the good things in life have been manufactured by them. Moreover, they have ruled us and some of us are taken as slaves to America, the British and the French countries and, were made to feel ashamed of being black.
But, Gladys Casely-Hayford writes in line 7-9 that: "we are soil on which the luxuries of the world have there foundation.
The poem, Rejoice, conveys not only that we shouldn't be ashamed of being black, but makes blackness a thing of rejoicing. This more positive contents of the poem is achieved both by the choice of words and by the rhythm.
Read the poem aloud and you will find that the rhythm of the poem is a brisk, lively, joyful one - like that of a drum in a bass-band or that of a battle chant or church hymn.
This fairly regular, band-beat rhythm combines with the word to make the poem simple, happy and easy to memorize and quote. This poem, rejoice, doesn't not argue, it rather state the main fact!
What we have done in the above notes is to describe the poem. As you can see, this involves a statement about the topic of the poem.
In addition to the topic, you will have also to find the meaning; that is, what does the poet really mean about this topic? How did the poet feel when writing this poem? Is he happy, sad, angry or appealing?
Working out the meaning of the poem or the feeling of the poet involves a careful look at the poet's choice of words.
If you think very well about this Poem and the poet's mood, you will realise that when you are angry, you tend to speak through clenched teeth, when you're sad, you speaks in low voice and when you are happy, you open your mouth wide and shout in joy. This also happens in poetry and a careful poet will make the sound of his words, also, his rhythm reflects his mood.
When you are asked to describe a poem, you should bring out the contribution of all these aspects to its meaning.
We hope you enjoy and understand this poem, Rejoice by Gladys May Casely-Hayford? Please, let us know your view about this poem by using the comment box below.
Thanks and visit us again.