An Analysis of Karen Press's The Words That Rise to the Surface
The title of the poem, the words that rise to the surface, is indicative not only of the sentiment of anti-apartheid people living in South Africa but the manner in which the emotions and feelings of these people manifested themselves. Slowly, with the imagined metaphor of bubbles that start in a kettle slow and steady at first with furious energy as both the poem and water reach boiling point. The context of the poem sheds light on the intention of the author written in 1985 when the apartheid regime was at its most oppressive due to the growing resistance amongst the black population of South Africa. The poem in its course challenges the conventional forms of poetry with the grammar, metre and rhyme to construct a novel postcolonial piece of literature in which Karen Press is able to convey the emotions and feelings of a subjugated people.
In the first instance, one can clearly notice that Karen Press is breaking convention predominantly with the lack of casing and minimal punctuation. We as the reader are taken out of our comfort zone by being stripped of the norms or guardrails (grammar/pause-punctuation) that make verse easily accessible, with the poems intention being to reflect the social, political and economic climate of South Africa sliding and gliding into anarchy. Press uses enjambment (where one line is carried on to the next without pause) throughout the poem to increase the speed, excitement and suspense for the following line; at the same time one should use each line break as a natural pause regardless of the lack of punctuation. The title and opening line of the poem illustrates the effect that alliteration has on the poem; it is in the t sound that the author establishes a rhyme. The alliteration and the stressed consonants become replacements for punctuation; this is carried throughout the poem and is deliberate in its attempt to distance itself from colonial influences anger blood grief vengeance . The words placed in each line are done so
In the first instance, one can clearly notice that Karen Press is breaking convention predominantly with the lack of casing and minimal punctuation. We as the reader are taken out of our comfort zone by being stripped of the norms or guardrails (grammar/pause-punctuation) that make verse easily accessible, with the poems intention being to reflect the social, political and economic climate of South Africa sliding and gliding into anarchy. Press uses enjambment (where one line is carried on to the next without pause) throughout the poem to increase the speed, excitement and suspense for the following line; at the same time one should use each line break as a natural pause regardless of the lack of punctuation. The title and opening line of the poem illustrates the effect that alliteration has on the poem; it is in the t sound that the author establishes a rhyme. The alliteration and the stressed consonants become replacements for punctuation; this is carried throughout the poem and is deliberate in its attempt to distance itself from colonial influences anger blood grief vengeance . The words placed in each line are done so
Bibliography: Press, K. 1990. the words that rise to the surface. Cape Town. Buchu Books