Sujata Bhatt - Seach for My Tongue
A comment by Rendell Harris at www.englishresources.co.uk © 2000 English Resources, University of Wales
This poem deals with the conflict which the poet feels exists between her "mother" (original) language and the language she has adopted in a new country. She feels that her original language will "rot" and that she will have to "spit it out". However, as she sleeps her mother tongue comes back to her: she uses the metaphor of the language being like a plant, which at the end of the poem "blossoms out of my mouth".
KEY POINTS
 |
Notice the language used by the poet: his use of phonetic spelling and West Indian slang shows his pride in his language and his refusal to apologise for or tone down his culture. |
|
Notice the structure of the poem: the writer's original language seems to blossom in the middle, just as she says it blossoms from her mouth. Notice also the flowery nature of the way her language is written, which fits perfectly with her metaphor. |
|
Think about the pride she is expressing in her language and her culture - there is a conflict between her language and that of a new culture, but even though the new language tries to choke her old one her original language is strong and beautiful enough to keep its place, even though she may have thought she had rid herself of it. Again, the flower metaphor expresses the beauty of her language. |
|
Consider the way in which the writer views her new culture: it is oppressive, "foreign", trying to make her beautiful mother tongue "rot". Ultimately however her mother tongue triumphs. The writer is telling us that our original culture cannot be killed, it remains within us even if it only comes out in |
http://www.newi.ac.uk/englishresources/workunits/ks4/poetry/rhpfocat.html