A
DIFFERENT POEM
ONESIMO
SILVERA
Author’s background
As a young poet, Silvera was one of
the most prominent critiques of the literally elites in Cape Verde. He argued
in favor of an African cultural identity for the island. His poetry showed
itself to be filled with the radiant certainty of hope for the humiliated a
kind of hope that always involved freedom. His poetry is accusatory and has a
strong social impact and her language in
stylistic terms plays with such sound structures and sequence of harsh sounded
words constructing the “proud” call for hope.
Point of view
Silvera’s poetry is often about the
Cape Verde society which he lived in and the people’s desire for independence.
The Cape Verde islands were impoverished, often suffered droughts, lacked
natural resources and were colonized by fascists who were unwilling to give
people freedom.
“A
different poem is about this….”
In it, a “poem” becomes symbolic of life and
the future and the word “poem” becomes almost a metonym for life or the future.
The phrase “the
people of the island want a different poem/ for the people of the islands…” are
repeated and becomes a refrain which emphasized how long the people have entered
their lives to change. The word, “a poem” are repeated throughout showing how Silvera
felt that poetry and writing was a key element of freedom.
Stylistic devices
The poets use of
metaphors, for example, “children nourished/ on the black milk of time…” this
simultaneously tells of the peoples hunger, poor health, and wasted time. “a
poem without words chocked by the harrows of silence…” shows that the people
did not entirely have the freedom expression since they were not free and also
subtly alludes to the difficulties they faced with droughts which lead to
difficulty in farming.
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