Black Woman BY Leopold Sedar Senghor

  

    “Black Woman”

 -Leopold Sedar Senghor

 

Naked woman, black woman

Clothed with your color which is life

 

With your form which is beauty!

In your shadow I have grown up the

Gentleness of your hand was laid over my Eyes

And now, high up on the sub-baked

 

Pass, at the heart of summer, at the heart of moon.

I came upon you, my promised land,

And your beauty strikes me to the heart

Like the flash of an eagle

 

Naked woman, dark woman

 

Firm-flashed ripe fruit somber raptures

Of black wine, mouth making Iyrical my mouth

Savannah shuddering beneath the east winds

 

Eager caresses

Carved tom-tom, taut, tom-tom muttering

Under the conqueror’s fingers

 

Your solemn contralto voice is the

Spiritual song of the beloved.

 

Naked woman, dark woman

 

Oil that no breath ruffles calm oil on the

Athlete’s flanks, on the flanks of the princes of Mail

Gazelle limped in paradise, pearls are stars on the

Night of your skin.

 

Delight of the mind, the glinting of red

Gold against your watered skin.

 

Under the shadow of your hair, my care

Is lightened by the neighboring sun of your eyes.

 

 

Naked woman, black woman

Using your beauty that passes, the form

That I fix in the eternal.

Before jealous fate turn you to ashes to

Feed the roots of life.

 

About the poet

 

            Leopold Senghor was born in Joal, Senegal in 1906.  He is one of the greatest Francophone African poets that ever lived.  He was the first West African to graduate from the Sorbonne University of Paris founded in 1253.  He is the father of Negritude Movement (from Negro), a philosophical ideology that affirms the consciousness and pride in the cultural and physical aspects of the African heritage and derives joy in the state of being black while portraying the black man’s values as something to celebrate and he proud of, His poetry shows this in abundance.

          In 1960, he became the President of the Federal Republic of Mail and later became the president of an independent Republic of Senegal.  He championed the Negritude Movement in African literature.  This poem was written by him while on exile in France.  His other poems include: “From Midnight Elegy”, “In Memorial”, Luxemburg 1939”, Night of Sine”, etc.

 

Background Setting of the Poem

           Senghor’s Black woman” is a Negritude poem.  What is Negritude?  It is the quality or fact of being of Black African origin.  Negritude is a literary movement of the 1930's to 1950's that began among French speaking African and Caribbean writers living in Paris as a protest against French colonial rule and policy of assimilation.  Assimilation is a term used to describe the French colonial policy in Africa, which is aimed at turning Africans into “Frenchmen” through the process of education and also to make Africans culturally French.  This poem therefore is an attack on Assimilation policy in order to restore black pride under the bondage of slavery and their under colonial rule.

           Also, this poem was initially written in French as “Femine Noir” and their translated to English.  It is on record that Senghor and Aime Cesair started this movement in Paris and this motivated other African writers to convey through works.  In the poem, “Black woman”, Senghor reinforces the ideas of negritude, where he personifies Africa-the nation as an African woman.  He reveals his love for Africa, his home land, his mother country. He praises the African culture.  By finding beauty in the color of the African skin, reveals that this has been the main cause for brutality and discrimination during the British rule in Africa. Senghor went to great extent to uplift the standard of the African people and the African people’s own view of themselves and their culture.

 

Content Analysis/Subject Matter

     The poem explores admiration for the black race.  The black woman in this poem is an African woman which represents African race itself.  He praises the African woman and equates her to everything beautiful and graceful, and also showers praises on the ‘black woman’ thus implying the greatness of the African culture and the people.  He takes immense pride in being African and this is the main idea behind the negritude movement.  The black woman here is the progenitor of the persona’s race and symbolic of Africa itself and an embodiment of Senghor’s African heritage.  

     In line 1-6 the persona expresses his love and adoration for the black woman which is symbolic of African culture or people, not only for her ‘color which is life or her “form which is beauty” but also for her gentleness and ability to sustain and give life.  The speaker called her “naked woman” in line 1 to proclaim that she is attractive, inviting and irresistible.  Her color is superb and second to none.  “In your shadow I have grown up: the gentleness of your hand was laid over my eyes”.  Here, Africa is described as a maternal figure or mother in whose shadow (root) or tutelage the poet has grown.  Senghor has grown up under her care and his spirit has been nourished by her.  The speaker continues to appreciate the black woman for nursing him from infancy to adulthood and her capability to give him tender care and love while growing up.

     In line 7-12, the persona suddenly realizes that it is about time to search endlessly to affirm and accept our culture because they have passes through tough time of discrimination and dehumanization in time past, which the  poet calls “high up on the sun baked at the heart of summer, at the midst of summer and her beauty strikes him directly to the heart, “ like the flash of an eagle “, because her true beauty lives in her natural self and it is unadulterated.

     In line 13-21, the persona continues to shower more praise on the black African woman.  She is described as a lover whose flesh is like that of a ripe fruit.  Landscape images, natural fruits and wonderful objects are compassed to the beauty of the black woman.  She is also called “Somber ruptures of black wine, mouth making lyrical my mouth” – meaning the beauty of the black woman in question is like a wine that intoxicates, and transforms one’s exciting movement for good. Her flesh is personified and compared metaphorically too a sweet song with a good Lyric.  She is compared to a vast Savannah that harbors, protects and takes care of it inhabitants against the east wind.  Here, African is seen as a continent  that promises communal life, accommodates all humanity with “eager caresses”.  She is like a tight well-scripted drum that “sounds” under the fingers of the conqueror”.  This means that the beauty of this woman is only equivalent to that of African talking drum that ignites the fingers of the player and the dancer.  Thus sending messages of liberation across the  continent.  “Her solemn contralto voice” is the spiritual songs that can only be understood by those who share or appreciate the African culture and such voice is capable of wooing the love of the beloved over and over without doubt.  The voice is infused with some cultural beliefs that are very rich.  It therefore means the black woman or African culture is attractive and inviting.

     In line 22-28, the black woman is compared to everything beautiful, graceful and elegant, she is almost a goddess as her skin is smooth, beautiful and well-oiled like that of an athlete who has bee prepared to dominate and rule the world with her talents.  She is like a cynosure of all eyes even the princes of Mali are on the flanks waiting for this perfect beauty of the black African woman.  The persona goes further to say she is elegant and graceful like a gazelle adorned with heavenly ornaments.

Gazelles are the most beautiful graceful and sociable animals on earth, and here the speaker is compelled to view African woman in such light. Her skin is further described as pearls and glinting red gold while her hair and eyes have the potency and power to set Senghor free from all forms of cares and worries, hence “My care is lightened by the neighboring sums of your eyes”

     In line 29-33, the poet concludes on a philosophical not to continue to adorn and worship the perfect beauty of the African woman and to keep alive the African woman’s transient beauty sternly and permanently in his poetry.  “I sing your beauty that passes the form that I fix in the eternal”  This implies that the persons has acknowledged the fact that a thing of beauty does not last as it passes away over time. But he would continue to adorn the beauty of the African woman until jealousy fate (death) comes calling. The vocation of the speaker is revealed in the end as he informs the black woman that he is celebrating her beauty and her form in poetry before she returns to ashes in order to nourish the root of life.  This poem is likened to William Shakespeare’s “Shall I compare Thee to a Summer Day?”

When he adores the beauty of his beloved.

 

Theme

Celebration of the Beauty of the African Women

     The poem is written to adulate the beauty of the black woman whom she is believed to be everything to the persona.  Her beauty is second to none.

Senghor refers to his homeland as a woman, who is both wife and mother.  She is “the promised land”. The color of the natural black woman itself is life and her form is beauty. The speaker has grown under her tender care and his spirit has been nourished by her.  Now that he has grown up and matured, he returns to her as if he was coming upon the Promised Land.

     The beauty of the black woman is further extolled when she is seen as a lover, a woman whose flesh is like that of a ripened fruit. The poet compares her to be definite Savannah that shudders beneath the caresses of the east wind.  Her color is life or her form is beauty.  The persona calls her “naked woman” repeatedly four times to proclaim and acknowledge the fact that her beauty is attractive, inviting and irresistible.  Her color is superb. 

Africa is also described as a maternal figure or mother in whose shadow (roof) or tutelage the persona has grown as he suddenly realizes that it is about time to search endlessly to celebrate her true beauty by accepting our culture because Africa has passed through tough time of colonialism, discrimination and dehumanization in the hands of the whites over the centuries.  African has relatively been adjudged to be backward, uncivilized and barbaric by the colonial master through the policy of assimilation which has compelled Africans to completely accept French culture and their ways of life.  But Senghor’s poem “Black woman” seeks to liberate Africans from the shackles of such downgrading policy.  This is because the persona sees African beauty and culture as something fascinating and enduring. Her contralto voice which sings of a song which can be understood by Africans (beloved) alone.  And the fact is like a goddess buttresses the celebration of African culture and beauty.

 

Affirmation of the African Heritage and Culture

     The “Black woman” in the poem represents African heritage and culture, which all Africans should strive to accept willingly and identify with.  The persona compels the well-meaning Africans to embrace Africa culture in order to discourage the century-old colonialism. Recall that policy of assimilation introduced by the French people was aimed at turning Africans into “Frenchmen”. through the process of education and also made Africans continually French. 

So, Senghor’s negritude poem is an attack on Assimilation policy and he therefore uses this poem “Black Woman” to affirm and restore black pride and liberate the African under the bondage of slavery and then under colonial rule.  Senghor has this to say in the poem “I came upon you, Promised Land/And your beauty strikes me to the heart, like the flash of an eagle?.  To the speaker, African heritage is seen as the last hope and he equates it to biblical illustrations. “Promised land” because of what Africans have been through during colonialism.  Therefore, the beauty of our culture is radiating and attractive like the swiftness of an eagle.

     “In your shadow I have grown up the:

     Gentleness of your hand was laid over my eyes”

     “In the above lines, Africa is seen as a mother, just the way a mother nurtures and cares for her children so does our heritage sustains and gives life to Africans.  The speaker has grown up under her care and he continues to appreciate the black woman for nourishing him from infancy to adulthood and her ability to render such tender love and care.

 

Theme of Liberation and Hope

     This poem “Black woman” celebrates freedom from the legacy of colonialism in African countries who have been subdued by the colonial masters.  Their coming to Africa Continent does not in anyway mean well to African people.  As a negritude poet, the persona reaffirms the beauty of African heritage and culture in this poem.  This poem is also a protest poem against the colonial rule in Africa.  Assimilation is an instrument used by the Frenchmen which is aimed at turning Africans into Frenchmen” to make Africans culturally French Senghor’s Black woman is an attack on this policy of assimilation in order to restore black pride under the bondage of slavery and to resuscitate the lost glory of our heritage and subdued culture which has been written off over century ago.  The poet does this when he unveils his love for Africa-his homeland, his mother country.  He praises the African culture by finding beauty in the color of the African skin.

     The poet also points out the effects of coloration to Africans – an ideological movement which has reduced the confidence and self-esteem of Africans.  It is also meant to compel Africans to forget their ancestral heritage and culture by turning them to perpetual Frenchmen.

 

Purity of the African Woman

     The poem “Black Woman” is written in celebration of the purity of African women which is symbolic of African culture, where the persona admires the beauty of a black woman whose well-endowed nature is a motivation not only to Africans but also to the entire world at large.  She is clothed with “color which is life” and her forms (figures and being).  She is so pure and gentle such that the speaker begins to see her as his “promised land” – land of hope, opportunity.  “I came upon you, my promised land and you beauty strikes me to the heart like the flash of an angle”

     Her beauty and purity is further re-echoed when the persona describes and equates her to be “firm flashed-ripe fruit, somber rapture of black wine “as if she is an edible commodity.  She is also, called an “oil that no breath ruffles, Calm oil on the athlete’s frank” Even the Princes of Mail are craving for her attention as prospective suitor.  The pure black woman in the poem is also called a gazelle; for it delights the persona’s mind to always see her beauty and her skin is far better than that of the white’s watered skin.  The speaker swears in the end to write the beauty and purity of the black woman in poetry, that way he could keep and sustain her pure nature alive.

 

Poetic Devices

1.   Metaphor:  The dominant literary device used in the poem is metaphor.

These metaphors include:

(i)   “Black woman “in the title is a metaphor for African heritage and culture.

(ii)  “Naked woman” (line 1) beautiful, irresistible creature.

(iii)   “Shadow” in line 4 refers to communal life that nurtures the persona.

(iv)   “My promised land” is a metaphor for hope and new re-surging life of Africans and their culture”

(vi) “Your beauty strikes me to the heart” refers to the persona’s ultimate acceptance  of African’ culture.

(vii)  “Firm-fleshed ripe fruit” is a metaphor for everything that is useful in African heritage and the speaker’s willingness to bury himself in it.

(viii) “Savannah” is a metaphor for African’s survival despite colonial rule.

(ix)   “Gazelle limped in paradise” is a metaphor for a blissful lifestyle, a new living Pattern.

(x)    “Eternal” refers to the persona’s intention to keep the black woman’s memory alive by writing it in poetry.

(xi)   “Jealousy fate” is a metaphor for death which is the only thing that could stop the persona for accepting and admiring the black woman’s inestimable beauty.

2.      Smile:  The striking beauty of the black woman is compared to the sharpness of an eagle in line 11: “Like the flash of an eagle”.

3.    Imagery:  The imagery which is prominent in the poem is that which craves emotional, beauty, perfection and optimism.  The poet uses animal and fruit imagery to demonstrate his zest and admiration for the black woman and his desire to worship and accept her. The title which is “Black Woman” is symbolic as it represents African culture and heritage.  The black woman in the poem is called “firm-fleshed ripe fruit”, where the persona refers to her as sumptuous meal that nourishes the body, “Gazelle limped in paradise” is an image of appreciation and admiration as even animal (Gazelle) dances to her beauty.

4.   Alliteration:  In lines 2, 14, 18 there is repetition of two or more initial consonant sounds and they include:

(i)   “Clothed with your color”

(ii) Firm flashed ripe fruit”

(iii) “Carved tom tom taut”.

(iv) “Spiritual song.

5.  Hyperbole:  “And your beauty strikes me to the heart” is an exaggeration.

6.   Repetition:  The first line of the poem “Naked woman, black woman” is repeated throughout the poem for emphasis and to buttress the tone of the poem.

7.  Personification:  Beauty is give human ability to strike I line 11 “And your beauty strikes me to the heart”. “Jealous fate” is another.

8.  Euphemism:  A method by which the poem presents his subject matter. 

     Euphemism is the use of soften word or expression for a harsh condition.The expression “Naked woman”.  Takes our minds to a woman who is completely naked or nude whereas the poem is not about a woman who does not wear any clothes.  Also, “Jealous fate” in the last line is a euphemism for “death”.

9.  Apostrophe:  The poet addresses his object of praise or admiration“black woman’ as though she is physically present.

10. Allusion: There is a historic allusion to the princes of Mali in the poem to highlight the theme of affirmation of the African heritage.

11.  Language and style: The language of the poem is simple and straightforward which is a form of hymn of praise to the black woman-not only as an individual, but also as a symbol of African woman and as a representative of her race.  There is also the poet’s response to this beauty, as the black woman is perceived in both sensory and emotional ways. He seems to summarize her qualities, beginning with a description for the natural woman, who is seen in the terms of ripe fruit, black wine, a Savannah that shudders beneath the caresses of the east and an object – a sculpted drum that responds to touch.  The poem is therefore written in free verse.

 

 

LIKELY WAEC AND NECO 2021-2025 EXAMINATION QUESTION

1.       Examine Senghor’s “Black Woman” as a Negritude poem.

2.       Discuss any four (4) poetic devices deployed by the poet.

3.       With copious illustrations, discuss any two (2) themes in the poem

  “Black Woman”

4.       Explain the meaning of the allusion, “I come upon you my promised land”

  in relation to the poem “Black Woman”.

5.       Assess the theme of celebration of African heritage in the poem,

  “Black Woman”

6.       Attempt a metaphorical interpretation of the poem “Black Woman”

7.       Examine the use of language and structure of the poem “Black Woman”

8.       The poem “Black Woman” is rich in imagery and symbolism Expatiate.

9.       Give a vivid account and appraisal of the poem “Black Woman:

10.                          Discuss the subject matter of the poem.