African poems: ‘Night Rain’ by P. J Clark

What time of night it is

I don’t know

Except that like some fish

Doped out of the sheep

I have bobbed up belly wise      5

From stream of sleep

And no cocks crow

It is drumming hard here

And I suppose everywhere

Droning with insistent ardour upon      10

Our roof –thatch and shed

And through sheaves slit open

To lightning and rafters

I cant quite make out overhead

Great water drops are dribbling       15

Falling like orange or mango

Fruits showered forth in the wind

Or perhaps I should say so

Much like beads I could in prayer tell

Them on sing as they break                20

In wooded bowls and earthen ware

Mother is busy now deploying

About our roomlet and floor

Although it is so dark

I know her practiced steps as          25

She moves her bins, bags, and vats

Out of the run of water

That likes ants filing out of the wood

Will scatter and gain possession

Of the floor, don’t tremble then       30

But turn, brothers, turn upon your side

Of loosening mats

To where the others lie

We have drunk tonight of a spell

Deeper than the owl’s or bats        35

That wet of wings may not fly

Bedraggled upon the Iroko, they stand

Emptied of hearts, and

Therefore will not stir, no, not

Even at dawn for then                   40

They must scurry in to hide

So we’ll roll over on our back

And again roll to the beat

Of drumming all over the land

And under its ample soothing hand 45

Joined to that of the sea

We will settle to sleep of the Innocent and free 47

INTRODUCTION

This poem, by J.P. Clark, is a childhood experience of a young boy in the riverine area. He was born into a very poor family. He and his family were beaten by the rain in their thatched roof house. This is poverty stricken family who sleep on torn mats. Their possessions are ‘bags, vats and bins’, ‘wooden ‘bowls and earthen ware’. The post and his family find themselves in a pool of water, which penetrated through the sheaves slit open by time, the wind and the torrential down pour of rain and wind. The poet could not tell the time because ‘no cook crow’ but the rain was so much that it ‘dropped like orange or mango fruits or prayer beads’. The focus is on the size and speed of the rain drops. This family lives in a roomlet. The boy and his brothers decided to “sleep” of the innocent and free.

THEME

The poor living conditions of the Ijaws and their triumph over these conditions as they produce stars in different fields of endeavour. The innocence of youth and the soothing effect of the rain, regardless of poor living conditions.

ANALYSIS

The poem narrates the experience of a poor family in a night rain.

1. The post and his brothers are woken up by the rain ‘Doped out of the deep’ like fish
2. The rain falls on them like fruits that came off the branches of trees. The rain is so much that he can hear the ‘Droning with insistent ardour upon our roof thatch and shed’.
3. In spite of the darkness, the poet’s mother is busy packing their property out of the way to prevent their being destroyed by the water. The mother is so used to this experience that she moves freely about the house in the dark.
4. The poet describes the effect of the rain on himself and his family. He compares their condition with the wet owl and bats, which are equally drenched. They are ‘wet of wings’ and cannot fly because of the heaviness of their wings. They have to hide till the break of day.
5. The post finally encourages his brothers to go back to sleep innocently. They are ‘innocent and free’ because they are young. Their mother is the one tasked with moving their property while the thatched roof is leaking.

POETIC DEVICE

The poet uses largely African images. He indicates his closeness to the rural life Africa. The locally made mats, the poorly thatched roof of their house, the bins, bags, vats, are all indicative of the simplicity of the family. They live in a rural environment where the clock is not used, but cooks crow to indicate the time of the night. Bats are associated with witches and the night in African belief. The ‘iroko’ tree is believed to house evil spirits.  The rain and the sea, or water symbolizes purity. The water washes away dirt, making everything pure.

FIGURES OF SPEECH

Simile

‘Except that like fish’

‘Doped out of the deep’.

He compares himself with the fish as he is suddenly woken up from sleep.

‘Great water drops are dribbling’

‘Falling like orange or mango fruits’.

The rain falls heavily and fast.

‘Much like beads I could in prayer tells’.

The rain is continuous, like the prayer rosary counted by the Catholics.

‘Like ants filing out of the wood…..’

This describes the movement of the flood in a continuous flow, in the roomlet.

Metaphor

‘Doped out of the deep’

This compares the way the poet wakes suddenly like a poisoned fish that floats. “Stream of sleep’ implies that the sleep is deep.

‘Drunk of a spell deeper than the owls or bats’.

Their case is worse than the birds beaten by the rain. They are helpless like the birds in the bush during the rainy season. The only thing they can do is to yield to its power to make them keep sleeping.

The use of Present Continuous Verbs:

It is drumming hard here.

Droning with insistent ardour water drops dribbling.

Falling like mango, mother was busy deploying.

The –ing words represent the continuous rain fall.

Repetition

Repetition is for emphasis. Some words are repeated for this purpose, e.g. turn, brothers, turn, roll, sleep, drumming.

Personification

‘Under its ample soothing hand joined to that of the sea.

The rain is portrayed as a person whose hand gives comfort, support, peace. This is possibly why the poet and his brothers could sleep while it raining.

Mood

There is hope for a better tomorrow

Culled from Selected Poems for Professional Students