AN AFRICAN THUNDERSTORM
BY DAVID RUBADIRI
ABOUT THE POET
POET, NOVELIST, PLAYWRIGHT, UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR AND DIPLOMAT,
DAVID RUBADIRI WAS BORN IN LIULI, MALAWI, IN 1930.
HE ATTENDED KING’S COLLEGE, BUDO, IN UGANDA FROM 1941 TO 1950
AND THEREAFTER STUDIED AT MAKERERE UNIVERSITY, WHERE HE
GRADUATED WITH A BA DEGREE IN ENGLISH LITERATURE AND HISTORY.
HE WENT ON TO THE UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL IN ENGLAND (1956-1960),
WHERE HE OBTAINED AN MA DEGREE IN ENGLISH LITERATURE.
•
RUBADIRI BECAME MALAWI’S FIRST AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED STATES
AND THE UN AFTER INDEPENDENCE IN 1964, BUT FELL OUT WITH
PRESIDENT HASTINGS BANDA IN 1965.
AS AN EXILE HE TAUGHT AT MAKERERE UNIVERSITY (UGANDA) THEN
JOINED THE UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI AND ALSO HAD A BRIEF STINT, WITH
OKOT P’BITEK (A UGANDAN POET), AT THE UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN
(NIGERIA).
HE SPENT HIS REMAINING EXILE AS PROFESSOR OF EDUCATION AT THE
UNIVERSITY OF BOTSWANA.
AFTER BANDA’S DEATH, RUBADIRI WAS AGAIN APPOINTED MALAWI’S
PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE TO THE UN.
HE SUBSEQUENTLY BECAME VICE-CHANCELLOR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF
MALAWI, BEFORE HE RETIRED IN 2004.
RUBADIRI RANKS AS ONE OF AFRICA’S MOST CELEBRATED AND WIDELY
ANTHOLOGISED POETS TO EMERGE AFTER INDEPENDENCE.
AN AFRICAN THUNDERSTORM
FROM THE WEST
CLOUDS COME HURRYING WITH THE
WIND
TURNING SHARPLY
HERE AND THERE
LIKE A PLAGUE OF LOCUSTS
WHIRLING,
TOSSING UP THINGS ON ITS TAIL
LIKE A MADMAN CHASING NOTHING.
PREGNANT CLOUDS
RIDE STATELY ON ITS BACK,
GATHERING TO PERCH ON HILLS
LIKE SINISTER DARK WINGS;
THE WIND WHISTLES BY
AND TREES BEND TO LET IT PASS.
IN THE VILLAGE
SCREAMS OF DELIGHTED CHILDREN,
TOSS AND TURN
IN THE DIN OF THE WHIRLING WIND,
WOMEN,
BABIES CLINGING ON THEIR BACKS
DART ABOUT
IN AND OUT
MADLY;
THE WIND WHISTLES BY
WHILST TREES BEND TO LET IT PASS.
CLOTHES WAVE LIKE TATTERED FLAGS
FLYING OFF
TO EXPOSE DANGLING BREASTS
AS JAGGED BLINDING FLASHES
RUMBLE, TREMBLE AND CRACK
AMIDST THE SMELL OF FIRED SMOKE
AND THE PELTING MARCH OF THE
STORM.
SUMMARY:
• THE POEM DESCRIBES A TYPICAL AFRICAN THUNDERSTORM, WITH ALL ITS INTENSITY.
• IN AFRICAN SOCIETY, RAIN IS A BLESSING; EVERYTHING LOVES THE APPROACH OF RAIN,
NOT JUST CHILDREN.
• HOWEVER, IN READING THIS POEM, THE FEELING IS THAT THE AUTHOR IS NOT HAPPY; HE
CONCENTRATES ON TELLING US ABOUT THE DAMAGE THAT THE RAIN AND WIND DO.
• THE POET USES SIMILES WHILE REFERRING TO THE WIND THAT BRINGS RAIN, A GOOD
THING. GOOD HAS A NEGATIVE SIDE TO IT?
• IS THIS POEM AN ANALOGY BETWEEN POLITICS/ HISTORY/ NATURE?
ANALYSIS:
• THE PERSONA/ SPEAKER DESCRIBES THE APPROACH OF THE STORM.
• THE POEM REMINDS US OF THE OMINOUS PRESENCE AND UNBRIDLED POWER THAT ARE
ASSOCIATED WITH AN AFRICAN THUNDERSTORM.
• THIS STORM IS HOWEVER, CHARACTERISED WITH ANARCHY, CHAOS, AND DISORDER.
• THE IMAGE OF LOCUSTS, MADMAN PREGNANT, SINISTER WINGS SUGGESTS THE
PANDEMONIUM THAT COMES WITH THE RAIN.
ANALYSIS:
It may have started as a mild wind but then it soon increased in velocitywhirling, tossing and altering every aspect of the landscape it passed
through; making its presence profoundly felt.
It seemed to fascinate and delight the innocent and perhaps the naïve
who appeared mesmerized by the sheer natural beauty of its rhythmic
sounds and movements.
Its fury created unwelcomed cracks in the landscape and even after the
storm had marched on; it left a lingering ‘smell of fired smoke’ in the air.
ANALYSIS:
In stanza two, he speaks about reaction of the
children and women.
The former are happy and the latter are
apprehensive to the approaching storm.
The last stanza deals with the storm and the
anticipated chaos which is reflected in the choice
of words like “Rumble”, tremble and crack”.
ANALYSIS
The dominant image in stanza 3 is kinetic because even though
the poet seems to focus on the destructive power of an African
thunderstorm, this effect can only be actualized if there is some
motion, some movement.
It must also be emphasized that that poem is not all about the
destructive power of the elements.
There is something of the African community and how it
responds to natural disasters.
ANALYSIS:
It is possible to interpret the poem as the effect of colonial
domination on the native land.
It also alludes to domination by such words as “trees bend to let the
wind pass”, “clouds ride stately on the back of the wind”.
The tattered flags have a nationalistic connotation.
ANALYSIS:
It is important to know as much as possible about the historical context
in which the poet lived.
Rubadiri fell out with his president a year after his appointment as
ambassador.
Is he talking about the repressive rule of African leaders?
Is he referring to colonial rule and the destruction that resulted in
African society?
Is it merely a descriptive poem of a unique weather event?