ya mum
The Serf – Roy Cambell
His naked skin clothed in the torrid mist
That puffs in smoke around the patient hooves,
The ploughman drives, a slow somnambulist,
And through the green his crimson furrow grooves
His heart, more deeply than he wounds the plain,
Long by the rasping share of insult torn,
Red clod, to which the war-cry once was rain
And tribal spears the fatal sheaves of corn,
Lies fallow now. But as the turf divides
I see in the slow progress of his strides
Over the toppled clods and falling flowers,
The timeless, surly patience of the serf
That moves the nearest to the naked earth
And ploughs down palaces, and thrones and towers.
Read the left column and then answer the following questions:
Comment on the significance of the title, "The Serf". (5)
[Need help?]
Serfs were labourers who were only slightly better off than slaves. They were part of the European feudal system which permitted them to hold land in exchange for work, service and allegiance to the land owner. They were not allowed to leave the land on which they worked.
The word also has connotations of oppression and drudgery. By choosing this title, Campbell emphasises the downtrodden, oppressed state of this Black labourer. It prepares us for the resentment the labourer feels towards the White people who have taken over his ancestral lands.
The serf in the poem symbolises all the suppressed people of the world, but especially in Africa, which was colonised and exploited by the European powers. National pride eventually led to the overthrow of the foreign powers.
The word is also reminiscent of the French Revolution when the people revolted and overthrew the monarchy.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"His naked skin clothed in the torrid mist."
What is Campbell's intention when he describes the labourer as "naked"? (3)
[Need help?]
The labourer's upper torso is naked to emphasise
His naked skin clothed in the torrid mist
That puffs in smoke around the patient hooves,
The ploughman drives, a slow somnambulist,
And through the green his crimson furrow grooves
His heart, more deeply than he wounds the plain,
Long by the rasping share of insult torn,
Red clod, to which the war-cry once was rain
And tribal spears the fatal sheaves of corn,
Lies fallow now. But as the turf divides
I see in the slow progress of his strides
Over the toppled clods and falling flowers,
The timeless, surly patience of the serf
That moves the nearest to the naked earth
And ploughs down palaces, and thrones and towers.
Read the left column and then answer the following questions:
Comment on the significance of the title, "The Serf". (5)
[Need help?]
Serfs were labourers who were only slightly better off than slaves. They were part of the European feudal system which permitted them to hold land in exchange for work, service and allegiance to the land owner. They were not allowed to leave the land on which they worked.
The word also has connotations of oppression and drudgery. By choosing this title, Campbell emphasises the downtrodden, oppressed state of this Black labourer. It prepares us for the resentment the labourer feels towards the White people who have taken over his ancestral lands.
The serf in the poem symbolises all the suppressed people of the world, but especially in Africa, which was colonised and exploited by the European powers. National pride eventually led to the overthrow of the foreign powers.
The word is also reminiscent of the French Revolution when the people revolted and overthrew the monarchy.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"His naked skin clothed in the torrid mist."
What is Campbell's intention when he describes the labourer as "naked"? (3)
[Need help?]
The labourer's upper torso is naked to emphasise