David Rubadiri: 'Stanley Meets Mutesa'

David Rubadiri: ‘Stanley Meets Mutesa’

Such a time of it they had;

The heat of the day.

The chill of the night

And the mosquitoes that followed.

                        5          Such was the time and

                                    They bound for a kingdom

                                    The thin weary line of carriers

                                    With tattered dirty rags to cover their backs;

                                    The battered bulky chests

                        10       That kept on falling off their shaven heads.

                                    Their tempers high and hot.

                                    The sun fierce and scorching –

                                    With it rose their spirits,

                                    With its fall their hopes

                        15       As each day sweated their bodies dry and

                                    Flies clung in clumps on their sweat-scented backs.

                                    Such was the march.

                                    And the hot season just breaking.

                                   

                                    Each day a weary pony dropped.

                        20       Left for the vultures on the plains;

                                    Each afternoon a human skeleton collapsed.

                                    Left for the Masai on the plains;

                                    But the march trudged on

                                    Its khaki leader in front,

                        25       He the spirit that inspired

                                    He the light of hope

                                    Then came the afternoon of a hungry march.

                                    A hot and hungry march it was;

                                    The Nile and the Nyanza

                        30       Lay like twins

                                    Azure across the green countryside.

                                    The march leapt on chanting

                                    Like young gazelles to a water hole.

                                    Hearts beat faster

                        35       Loads felt lighter

                                    As the cool water lapped their sore soft feet.

                                    No more the dread of hungry hyenas

                                    But only tales of valour when

                                    At Mutesa’s court fires are lit.

                        40       No more the burning heat of the day

                                    But song, laughter and dance                            

The village looks on behind banana groves.

Children peer behind reed fences.

Such was the welcome.

                        45       No singing women to chant a welcome

                                    Or drums to greet the white ambassador.

                                    Only a few silent rods from aged faces

                                    And one rumbling drum roll

                                    To summon Mutesa’s court parley.

                        50       For the country was not sure

                                    The gate of reeds is flung open.

                                    There is silence

                                    But only a moment’s silence

                                    A silence of assessment.

                        55       The tall black king steps forward,

                                    He towers over the thin bearded white man

                                    Then grabbling his lean white hand

                                    Manages to whisper

                                    ‘Mtu Mweupe kabiru’

                        60       White man you are welcome.

                                    The gate of polished reed closes behind them.

                                    And the west is let in.

POET’S BACKGROUND

David Rubadiri was born in Nyasaland (now Malawi) on 19 July, 1930. He had his education at Makerere University, Uganda, and King’s College, Cambridge. After his studies in Cambridge, he returned home to Nyasaland to be fully involved in the educational and political affairs of his country. As a true patriot, David Rubadiri was detained in 1959 when government of Nyasaland declared a state of emergency. He served for some time as his country’s ambassador to the United States of America. Because of the political atmosphere which was unsafe for him, Rubadiri left his home country to live in voluntary exile in Uganda where, at Makerere University, he took up a teaching appointment.

BACKGROUND TO THE POEM

This is a poetic narration of the tortuous journey embarked upon by Sir Henry Morton Stanley and his part which culminated in the meeting with King Mutesa of Buganda sometime in the nineteenth century. It is this historical event that David Rubadiri here artistically recreates with economy of language and poetic flavor. In form, the poem is patterned after T.S. Eliot’s ‘Journey of the Magi’.

THEME

There are two basic themes in this poem in relation to the meeting of Stanley with Mutesa. The first one is that with determination, endurance, and perseverance, nothing is unachievable. We can see that if not for determination and perseverance Stanley and his party went through is vividly painted from lines 1 to 34. In spite of series of horror, they were bound for Mutesa’s kingdom. We can also say without any fear of contradiction that this poem has a biblical undertone because it evokes the tortuous and difficult road to heaven. The second theme is not of the gradual incursion of the white man and the western ways of life. From lines 42 – 62, there is an apt description of the cold but courteous reception of Stanley and his party. The tone of the poem is solemn, reflective, and instructive.

FORM AND STRUCTURE

The poem has 62 lines altogether and is divided into six unequal stanzas. Stanza five has just two lines, while stanza six has 21 lines.  Though this poem has no rhyme scheme, it has measure rhythmic movement:

                                    The heat of the day (line 2)

                                    The chill of the night (line 3)

Their tempers high and hot (line 11)

The sun fierce and scorching (line 12)

With it rose their spirit (line 15)

With its fall their hopes (line 14)

He is the spirit that inspired (line 25)

He the light of hope (line 26)

Hearts beat faster (line 34)

Loads felt lighter (line 35)

The poem is a narrative in form, and the journey it describes is picturesquely presented using words that evoke the hardship experience: weary, fierce, scorching, sweated, hungry, etc. the journey was so arduous that it cost men and animals their lives:

                                    Each day a weary pony dropped (line 19)

                                    Each after noon a human skeleton collapse (line 21)

In the articulation of this poetic narrative, the poet employs some figure of speech, and he cleverly uses parallelistic structure in order to achieve both rhythm and emphasis. Parallelism manifests itself in the use of structural repetition as in the following line:

                                   

With tattered dirty rags (line 8)

                                    The battered bulky chests (line 9)

                                    Such was the time (line 5)

                                    Such was the march (line 7)

                                    Such was the welcome (line 44)

In the following sets of structural repetition, Rubadiri creates a kind of binary opposition:

                                    With it rose their spirits (line 13)

                                    With its fall their hopes (line 14)

                                    The heat of the day (line 2)

                                    The chill of the night (line 3)

Structural, the poem progresses from stanza by stanza, from hardship to more hardship until the moment of relief, when:

                                    Load felt lighter

                                    As the cool water lapped their sore soft feet

                                    No more the dread of hungry hyenas

                                    But only takes of valour when

                                    At Mutesa’s  court fires are lit

                                    No more the burning heat of the day

                                    But song, laughter and dance.

LANGUAGE AND TECHNIQUE

The poetic diction of this poem is simple, and its simplicity is enhanced by the use of figurative expressions as well as imagery. Some of the figures of speech used are:

                                    Simile:                       lines 30 and 33

                                    Metaphor:               lines 25 and 26

Euphemism:            lines 19 and 21

Alliteration:                        lines 8, 9, 10, 36, 37, 42, and 48

Metonymy:             lines 7, 23, 27, 42, 49, and 62

Synecdoche:           line 47 and 57

Personification:     35 and 36

Climax:                      From lines 19 to 23

The images in this poem are those of inclemency of the weather, poverty and extreme hardship which caused many men and animals their lives. This is clearly spelt out in every line of the poem.

The remarks must be made, however, that the beauty of this poem lies in the simplicity of its diction which is apt and reflective, and the logical progression of it.

REVISION QUESTIONS

1.     This poem is a poetic narrative. Discuss.

2.     Comment on the form and structure of the poem.

3.     What biblical undertone does this poem have?

4.     The poem has a far-reaching implication for Africa that the story it tells. Comment.

5.     What effects does the parallel structure employed in the poem create?

                                   

By Eguriase S. M Okaka.