Ol Higue

OL’ HIGUE

Abigail Palma
Delano Brooks

THE POET – MARK MCWATT

•

Mark McWatt was born in Georgetown, Guyana on the
29th September, 1947. In 1966 he attended the University of Toronto where he took special courses in English and
Literature. He also enrolled at the University of Leeds to do a Ph.D. in English. He is currently Professor of West
Indian Literature and Head of the department of
Language, Linguistics and Literature at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill.

McWatt’s academic research has been mostly in the field of
West Indian and especially Guyanese Literature, and he has published extensively in this field. One of his publications is the poem “Ol’ Higue” which presents a combination of both his extensive knowledge of English
Literature and Guyanese culture and folklore, from where the Ol’ Higue is considered to be derived.

OL’ HIGUE
You think I like all this stupidnessgallivanting all night without skin
Burning myself out like cane –fire
To frighten the foolish?
And for what? A few drops of baby blood?
You think I wouldn’t rather take my blood seasoned in fat black-pudding, like everyone else?
And don’t even talk ‘bout the pain of salt
And having to bend these old bones down
To count a thousand grains of rice

If only babies didn’t smell so nice!
And if I could only stop
Hearing the soft, soft call
Of that pure blood running in new veins,
Singing the sweet song of life
Tempting an old, dry-up woman who been
Holding her final note for years,
Afraid of the dying hum…

Then again, if I didn’t fly and come to that fresh pulse in the middle of the night, how would you, mother, name your ancient dread,
And who to blame for the murder inside your head…?
Believe me –
As long as it have women giving birth
A poor ol’ higue like me can never dead.

LINE BY LINE ANALYSIS OF THE POEM
“You think I like all this stupidnessgallivanting all night without skin
Burning myself out like cane –fire
To frighten the foolish?”
The Ol’ Higue makes clear that she does not enjoy hunting and considers it senseless as she has to put out so much effort.

“And for what? A few drops of baby blood?
You think I wouldn’t rather take my blood seasoned in fat black-pudding, like everyone else?”
She is very unsatisfied with the fruit of her labour
– baby blood. She yearns to eat delicious food like normal people.
“And don’t even talk ‘bout the pain of salt
And having to bend these old bones down
To count a thousand grains of rice”
She laments the physical pain she is forced to endure to do a tedious task.

“If only babies didn’t smell so nice!
And if I could only stop
Hearing the soft, soft call
Of that pure blood running in new veins, “
There is a volta, as the Ol’ Higue’s attitude changes. She admits that she is addicted to baby blood and she cannot help but drink it.
“Singing the sweet song of life
Tempting an old, dry-up woman who been
Holding her final note for years,
Afraid of the dying hum…”
Also, she reveals that she has been living this way for a long time because she is fearful of death.

“Then again, if I didn’t fly and come to that fresh pulse in the middle of the night, how would you, mother, name your ancient dread,
And who to blame for the murder inside your head…?”
Here, the Ol’ Higue addresses the suspicions held by some that she might not exist. She makes it clear that she is the only one that could be responsible for such acts, dismissing any doubts.
“Believe me –
As long as it have women giving birth
A poor ol’ higue like me can never dead.”
The final comment of the Ol’ Higue: she will live forever as long as there are babies to hunt, is spoken in a very sure manner. SUMMARY
•

The poem is about the Ol’ Higue – a type of vampire in
West Indian superstition. She is an old woman who goes
“gallivanting all night without skin”, turns into a ball of fire and goes about sucking the blood of babies. The Ol’
Higue apparently does not enjoy her occupation: she views it as hard, painful work which yields little reward and pleasure. She persists however because of her fear of death, which would result if she were to stop. In fact, she is compelled to suck blood, once it is available, as she is not in full control of her actions. There are doubts held by people regarding the authenticity of the Ol’
Higue, however, she dismisses these by presenting evidence of her acts. Also, she declares that she will be immortal for as long as baby blood is about, she will never die.

ANALYSIS OF THE POEM

In the first four lines of the poem, the
Ol’ Higue already makes apparent her displeasure for hunting baby blood.
Her mood is one of rage and her tone is vey frank. She uses rhetorical questions extensively in the first stanza to make the reader fully understand her frustration with her laborious job and her longing for a more normal, pleasurable life.

ANALYSIS OF THE POEM
In the second stanza, however, there is a volta, as the
Ol’ Higue admits that she is actually addicted to baby blood. Her tone changes as she now speaks of baby blood in a positive light. She also reveals that she is compelled to drink it because of her fear of death, and also displays some self contempt because of her need for blood: “Tempting an old, dry-up woman who been/
Holding her final note for years /Afraid of the dying hum…” In the final stanza, the Ol’ Higue reassures anyone who is suspicious of her deeds. She again uses rhetorical questions to let the reader realize that she is responsible for all the reported infant deaths. At the end of the poem, she confidently declares that she will live forever thanks to the abundant supply of baby blood.

POETIC DEVICES
•

The following poetic devices are used in the poem “Ol’
Higue”:

•

Rhetorical question: this device is used extensively in the poem and is used by the persona to directly capture the reader’s focus. The questions allow the reader to interact with the events in the poem and think more deeply about them. Examples of rhetorical question from the poem are: “You think I like all this stupidness
-/gallivanting all night without skin, burning myself out like cane-fire/ to frighten the foolish? And “Then again, if I didn’t fly and come to that fresh pulse in the middle of the night, how would you, mother, name your ancient dread?” •

Simile: this use of comparison allows the reader to have a more vivid image of what the persona is saying. A simile from the poem is: “…burning myself out like cane fire” POETIC DEVICES
• Personification: this device is used to emphasize the addiction that Ol’ Higue has for baby blood and to enhance her speaking by adding imagery. “And if I could only stop/ hearing the soft, soft call/ of that pure blood running in new veins, singing the sweet song of life/ tempting an old, dry-up woman…”
• Metaphor: used to create an image of death “… tempting an old, dry-up woman who been holding her final note for years and years, afraid of the dying hum…”

THEMES
• The themes associated with this poem are:
• Attitude toward Death: The Ol’ Higue is very fearful of death, describing herself as “an old, dry-up woman who been Holding her final note for years, Afraid of the dying hum…” In fact, her fear is what compels her to drink baby blood – which she finds very unsatisfactory.
• Supernatural: The Ol’ Higue is a supernatural creature from Guyanese folk tales. She is a type of vampire, who transforms into a ball of fire and sucks babies’ blood. Her existence is not certain, althogh she tries to prove that she is real in the poem, saying, “Then again, if I didn’t fly and come to that fresh pulse in the middle of the night, how would you, mother, name your ancient dread, And who to blame for the murder inside your head?”

THEMES
•

“Ol’ Higue” can be related to the poem ‘Le Loupgarou’ with the theme of the Supernatural.

•

“Ol’ Higue” can be related to the poems “A Contemplation Upon
Flowers’, “To an Athelete Dying Young” and “Epitaph” with the theme of Attitude towards death

BIBLIOGRAPHY
• McWatt, Mark and Simmons-McDonald, Hazel: A
World of Poetry for CXC.
Pearson Education Limited, 2005
Rhetorical question – retrieved from: http://www.englishbiz.co.uk/popups/rhetquestio n.htm
Picture of Mark McWatt: retrieved from: http://tv.mona.uwi.edu/mark-mcwatt Information about Mark McWatt: retrieved from:http://www.caribarts.org/UserFiles/File/Mar c%20McWatt%20-%20bio%20material.pdf

Bibliography: Pearson Education Limited, 2005 Rhetorical question – retrieved from: