J.P Clark: 'Night Rain'

 

J. P. CLARK: ‘NIGHT RAIN’

 

 

                                     What time of night it is

       I do not know

       Except that like some fish

       Doped out of the deep

                                    5          I have bobbed up belly-wise

                                                From stream of sleep

                                                And no cock crow.

                                                It is drumming hard here

                                                And I suppose everywhere

                                    10       Droning with insistent ardor upon

                                                Our roof thatch and shed

                                                And thro’ sheaves slit open

                                                To lightning and rafters

                                                I cannot quite make out over head

                                    15       Great water drops are dribbling

                                                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

                                    20       Them on string as they break

                                                In wooden bowls and earthenware

                                                Mother is busy now deploying

                                                About our room-let and floor.

                                                Although it is so dark

                                    25       I know her practiced step as

                                                She moves her bins, bags and vats

                                                Out of the run of water

                                                That like ants filing out of the wood

                                                Will scatter and gain possession

                                    30       Of the floor. Do not tremble then

                                                But turn, brothers, turn upon your side

                                                Of the loosing mats

                                                To where the others lie.

                                                We have drunk tonight of a spell

                                    35        Deeper than the owl’s or bats

                                                Bedraggled up on the iroko, they stand

                                                Emptied of hearts, and

                                                Therefore will not stir, no, not

                                    40       Even at dawn for then

      They must scurry in to hide.

                                                So let us roll over on our back

                                                And again roll to the beat

                                                Of drumming all over the land

                                                And under the ample soothing hand

                                                Joined to that of the sea

                                                We will settle to sleep of the innocent and free.

POET’S BACKGROUND

John Pepper Clark was born on April 6, 1935 at Kiagbodo, Delta State, Nigeria. Educated at Government College, Ughelli. University of Ibadan, Ibadan; and Princeton University, New Jersey, J.P. Clark has since 1964, been teaching English at the University of Lagos, Nigeria, where he is now a professor. A versatile writer, J.P. Clark has many published works to his credit in the area of poetry and drama. His novel, America, Their America, was published in 1964. His poems are varied in subject matter, and they are aesthetically enriched by his use of symbols and images that are characteristically Nigerian – the local color phenomenon.

BACKGROUND TO THE POEM

            The setting of the poem is a typical, unsophisticated village in the river side Nigerian community. In particular, the home depicted is an extremely humble one. It is a traditional society where the idea of time is gotten natural occurrences like the crowing of the cock, the position of the sun in the sky etc.  Here, Clark uses the description of a rainstorm in a river side village to reflect upon the rugged simplicity of rustic life, and the helplessness of man in relation to nature.

THEME

Using the subject ‘a rainstorm at night’ or simply put ‘night rain’ Clark seeks to sensitize his audience to the ruggedness of village life, and its attendant poverty. He also seeks to lay bare the fact that man is at the mercy of nature. Therefore, there are two themes in this poem: the rusticity of village and the helplessness of man in relation to natural occurrences. These two major themes dovetail in the sense that the poetic persona and his relations are dispossessed of their little shed by the rainstorm. In other words, the poem articulates the vicissitudes of life but in its last six lines the persona appeals to his relations to endure the hardship because very optimistically he asserts that things will change for the better.

 

This poem has universal application because it is not strictly limited to a mere description of a rainstorm at night. By extension, the persona and his entire household are symbolic of the underdog and his lots. Therefore, the last six lines of the poem urge the common man to be of good courage since his situation is bound to change for the better.

     

FORM AND STRUCTURE

J.P Clark’s ‘Night Rain’ is a 47-line poem, undivided into stanzas. This subtly suggests the long, unbroken period for which the rain lasted. In order to emphasize this fact, Clark cleverly uses the device of run-on lines – suggesting continuity. This device, together with the appropriate sound effects created in his use of alliteration and onomatopoeia, gives the poem its rhythm and flavor.

 

The poem can be divided into two parts: first, line 1-30(a) tells the story; and, second, line 30(b)-47 exhort the victims of the rainstorm to endure and be hopeful.

LANGUAGE AND TECHNIQUE

The language of this poem is simple, even though it uses figurative language and imagery to present its descriptive narrative; they are not the far-fetched or obscure types. Items and occurrences associated with the physical environment of its setting are employed in order to make the narrative easily understood and to make the description graphic. This, in a sense, suggests the simplicity of the poetic persona.

 

The ‘ing’ suffixation is prominently used in this poem as verbs, nouns, and adjectives. This is an attempt by the poet to depict the continuous incessant rain.  Alliteration and onomatopoeia are adroitly used in the poem to portray the intensity of the rain. Some of the figurative expressions used include:

 

                                    Smile                         line 3, 16, 19, and 28

                                    Metaphor                line 6 and 34

                                    Hyperbole               line 15-16, and 34-35

                                    Alliteration             lines 5, 6, 7, 8, 12, 15, 18, and 36

Assonance:              lines 8, 10, 26, 30, and 47

                                    Onomatopoeia:     lines 7, 8, 9, and 15

                                    Personification:     line 45

                                    Repetition:              lines 31 and 39

The images created in the poem are those of poverty, helplessness, and complacency. This is differently done by the use of local experience and materials that have symbolic meaning.

 

In summing up this appreciation, it is useful to remark that this simple but poetically rich poem goes beyond a mere description of a torrential rainfall to a more significant consequence of its effects on man. With the poet’s use of onomatopoeia words and apt images, we are led to experience in our own imagination.

REVISION QUESTIONS

 

1.     Besides being a description of a rainstorm, Clark’s ‘Night Rain’ has broader implications for man. Discuss.

2.     How has the poet been able to successfully fuse sound, meaning and form to portray the experience described in ‘Night Rain’?

3.     With specific reference to lines of the poem, how has poverty been vividly expressed by the poet?

4.     What are the thematic concerns of the poem?

5.     The tone of Clark’s ‘Night Rain’ is both emotions optimistic. Discuss.