Modikwe Dikobe (b1913)
Dikobe was born in Seabe in what was then the northern Transvaal. At the age of then
he moved to Johannesburg, left school after Standard 6 (Grade 8), and worked at
various times as a newspaper-seller, a hawker, a clerk, a bookkeeper, a trade unionist
and a night-watchman. In the early 1960s he was detained, and then banned. In 1977
he retired to a small plot in the country side.
Grave of unknown whiteman
1.
2.
3.
4.
Rest in peace, old man
A heap of rocks on your grave
Is a token of respect
Bestowed on you.
5. You chose this part of the country
6. For a home
7. On a slope of those rocks
8. Was your community
9. And across that road
10. You sowed corn
11. And watered your cattle in that pan
12. In years of deart
13. We shared together
14. Helped each other in time of need
15. Rest in peace, old man
16. Your kindred are here
17. Paying due respect
18. Rest in peace!
The poem is about a man discovering a grave. There is no name on the grave. The
poet however knows it is the grave of a white man for it says so in the title. The white
man is unknown for two reasons: he literally did not know who it was or the white
man is unknown because a white person is a stranger to these parts of the world.
The rocks on the grave shows that someone at some time respected the white man.
Putting rocks on a grave is a sign of respect. Someone cared enough for you to cover
the grave with more than just sand.
Line 5: You chose this part of the country
Focus on the word chose. If you were born in a place, you did not choose the place,
the place chose you. The poet implies that the white man moved to this place from
somewhere else, and chose it to make a living. The community of the white man is
not there anymore, it is only a pile of rocks. The road still exists that the white man
used. The poet points out the places where the white man sowed corn and watered his
cattle. It is obvious from these activities that the white man was a farmer.
Line12: In years of dearth
Dearth: lack, a scarcity of something. When the white man needed some things the
poet helped him. They helped each other in times of need.
Line 15: Rest in peace, old man
The poet now talks to the white man in the grave. He calls him old man. He says the
man can rest in peace because his kindred (family) is there. They are paying him the
respect that he deserves. (Due – proper and appropriate). He repeats the phrase Rest in
peace.