Distinctively Visual - The Drover's Wife & The African Beggar
AFRICAN BEGGAR
Sprawled in the dust outside the Syrian store,
A target for small children, dogs, and flies,
A heap of verminous rags and matted hair,
He watched us with cunning, reptile eyes,
His nose less, smallpoxed face creased in a sneer
Sometimes he shows his yellow stumps of teeth
And whines for alms, perceiving we bear
The curse of pity; a grotesque mask of death,
With hands like claws about his begging bowl
But often he is lying all alone
Within the shadow of a crumbling wall,
Lost in the trackless jungle of his pain,
Clutching the pitiless red earth in vain
And whimpering like a stricken animal
Raymond Tong
TEXT ANALYSIS
‘The African Beggar’
Author: Raymond Tong
The poem ‘The African Beggar’ by Raymond Tong explores the despondency of humanity’s existence and our complete helplessness when faced with the adversity of ourselves and others through the distinctively visual description of an African beggar and his experience as an outcast to society.
In the first stanza of the poem, the heterodiegetic narrator (considered to be Tong), introduces the beggar as a repulsive outcast. The description of the persona in the first line of the poem “sprawled in the dust…” immediately provokes an image of the beggar as something rather than someone, which has been alienated by society. This is further supported when the narrator describes the beggar as a “target for small children, flies, and dogs” as it says that the character is an object of attack, something that occupies an existence that is considered lower than that of humans and other creatures. The metaphoric language used, “a heap of verminous rags and matted hair”, persuades the audience to conjure an image of filth and poor physical hygiene, although this is followed by a juxtaposed metaphor, “he watches with cunning reptile eyes”, which challenges the previous image and suggests that the persona is subtle and scheming, like a snake. Both of these images are also contrasted by the use of
Sprawled in the dust outside the Syrian store,
A target for small children, dogs, and flies,
A heap of verminous rags and matted hair,
He watched us with cunning, reptile eyes,
His nose less, smallpoxed face creased in a sneer
Sometimes he shows his yellow stumps of teeth
And whines for alms, perceiving we bear
The curse of pity; a grotesque mask of death,
With hands like claws about his begging bowl
But often he is lying all alone
Within the shadow of a crumbling wall,
Lost in the trackless jungle of his pain,
Clutching the pitiless red earth in vain
And whimpering like a stricken animal
Raymond Tong
TEXT ANALYSIS
‘The African Beggar’
Author: Raymond Tong
The poem ‘The African Beggar’ by Raymond Tong explores the despondency of humanity’s existence and our complete helplessness when faced with the adversity of ourselves and others through the distinctively visual description of an African beggar and his experience as an outcast to society.
In the first stanza of the poem, the heterodiegetic narrator (considered to be Tong), introduces the beggar as a repulsive outcast. The description of the persona in the first line of the poem “sprawled in the dust…” immediately provokes an image of the beggar as something rather than someone, which has been alienated by society. This is further supported when the narrator describes the beggar as a “target for small children, flies, and dogs” as it says that the character is an object of attack, something that occupies an existence that is considered lower than that of humans and other creatures. The metaphoric language used, “a heap of verminous rags and matted hair”, persuades the audience to conjure an image of filth and poor physical hygiene, although this is followed by a juxtaposed metaphor, “he watches with cunning reptile eyes”, which challenges the previous image and suggests that the persona is subtle and scheming, like a snake. Both of these images are also contrasted by the use of