“Shaking the foundations of the very trees within me” (referring to line 33) she feels that, like the trees, she has been uprooted from her foundations, her real self has been dragged out of herself by the storm.
For most of the poem, the speaker is the woman expressing the hurricane. But, someone else reads the first stanza, telling us that “it took a hurricane, to bring her closer to the half landscape.” This person also tells us that “the howling ship of the wind” kept her up half the night, setting the mood.
The poem can be broken into three sections: lines 1-6; lines 7-26; and the final two stanzas. In lines 1-6 the hurricane is described in detail “dark ancestral spectre.” lines 7-26 shows the effect of the hurricane on the woman’s thoughts and feelings. “My sweeping, back-home cousin.” It brought back thoughts of the Caribbean . Line 26 was separated from the rest of the poem to enthuse the release of feelings “O why is my heart unchained.” In the last two stanzas the storm reminded her of her roots and she is grateful.
The writer describes the hurricane in great detail. She describes the howling of the wind as a “gathering rage.” In the first stanza the writer builds up the effect of the hurricane being angry “the howling ship of the wind, its gathering rage, like some dark ancestral spectre.” I think that the poet used these words to enthuse the anger of the storm. The writer also describes the strength of the storm; trees uprooted by the wind “falling heavy as whales.”(Referring to line 23)
The poet shows the importance of the hurricane through her use of language and the structure of the poem that reflects the development of the woman’s thoughts.
Presents From my Aunts in Pakistan:
Moniza Alvi was born in Pakistan in 1954 and moved to Britain when she was a child. She worked as an English teacher in London and edited the Poetry London Newsletter. Her poetry can be found in The Country at my Shoulder (Oxford University press, 1993) and A Bowl of Warm Air (Oxford University press, 1996).
Two cultures are contrasted are in this poem. Several objects from the culture of Pakistan cross over into the girl’s world in England. The girl received cloths, salwar kameez “peacock-blue”, slippers “gold and black” and “candy-stripped glass” bangles. The girl felt different in these exotic cloths, “alien in the sitting room.” In return for these authentic cloths her aunt asked for “cardigans from Marks and Spencers.” There is a big difference between the cloths her aunt sent her and the clothes she is asking for. The cloths her aunt sent are very gorgeous and exotic to the girl, they are very bright and complex compered to the British style that her aunt wants.
In this poem the girl recalls memories of her journey to England. She sailed to England in “prickly heat” then she remembers ending up in a cot in her “English grandmothers dining room.”
The girl pictures her birthplace from pictures. Life for her aunts seems different from life in England. She pictures her aunts “in shaded rooms, screened from male visitors”
The girl regrets ever leaving Pakistan, she feels that now she has “no fixed nationality” she also feels “alone.” The poem is a search for a true identity, the girl feels alien in those clothes but at the same time she miss’s her homeland.
The poem is written in free verse. It is organised into seven stanzas.
Stanza 1- describes the beautifully coloured clothes sent to the girl. She shows that what is fashionable in Pakistan changes just as it does in England.
Stanza 2- the girl feels like an “alien” in the clothes. She describes the cloths as costumes and that the costume clung to her as if it was aflame “I couldn’t rise up out of its fire.” She describes herself as half-English.
Stanza 3- the girl tells us what she actually wanted “I wanted my parents camel-skin lamp” she “considers the cruelty and the transformation from camel to shade” I think she is considering her own transformation from Pakistani to “no fixed nationality”
Stanza 4- the girl tells us about her mother and how she cherished her jewellery but it was stolen from their car. In this stanza she tells us that her aunt requested cloths from Marks and Spencers.
Stanza 5- the girl’s school friend isn’t impressed with the cloths that she received. She also recalls the journey of how she sailed to England.
Stanza 6- the girl pictures what it was like in Pakistan when she was born and what it is like for her aunts in Pakistan now.
Stanza 7- in this stanza the girl describes herself as having “no fixed nationality.”
The differences between the two cultures described by this poem.
- Cloths; salwar kameez are described as being exotic unlike Marks and Spencers and denim.
- Women in Pakistan are shaded from male visitor, unlike in England.
- Shoes; in Pakistan they were slippers instead of normal shoes and trainers.
This poem says that people living in one culture but have roots in another are of no fixed nationality.
Blessing,
Imtiaz Dhaker was born in Pakistan in 1954 and now lives in Bombay, where she works as an artist and a filmmaker. Her two books of poetry, purda (1989) and postcards from god (1994) have recently been published in one volume by bloodaxe books.
In first reading the poem, the burst of the water pipe seems to be the cause of celebration. In the first six lines the poet describes a drip of water as “a voice of a kindly god.” Water has a very high status in lines 7-8 it is described as a “sudden rush fortune.”
The last two stanzas are showing the response of the adult and the children. The third stanza shows us the response of the adults “every man women child for street around butt in, with pats, brass, copper, aluminium, plastic buckets, frantic hands,” this shows that the adults are coming out of their huts, franticly to collect water.
“Naked children, screaming in the liquid sun” I think this tells us that the children are “screaming” with joy, “as the blessing sings over their small bones” here the poet describes water as a “blessing.” The first line of the poem starts with a simile “the skin cracks like a pod” the simile sets the scene, it paints a clear picture. The opening six lines are very simple straightforward compared with the “bustle” of the lines that follow. Here the poet creates an atmosphere of noise and activity “the sudden rush of fortune,” “a roar of tongues” and “naked children screaming.”
The poet conveys some ideas in very short sentences and some ideas in very long ones so she can get her point across and to add excitement.
Reading the first and the last line together “the skin cracks like a pod” “over their small bones” has a very saddening effect. It make you fell upset, it tells you that they haven’t got water and what effect it is having on them.
There are several references suggestive of religion in the poem “a kindly god” “a congregation” and “the blessing sings” but there is nothing to suggest any particular religion because Bombay were the poet lives has many different religions, and this poem is meant for everyone
The poets are unhappy that they left their homeland. Their use of stanzas, similes and metaphors get this point across. There are a number of feelings in these poems. In the first poem “hurricane hits England” there is confusion in the beginning but then there is a feeling of thanks because the hurricane reminds the woman of her roots. The next poem “presents from our aunts in Pakistan” is a search for true identity. The girl feels as though she has lost her Pakistani identity. The last poem is about people who live in poor countries and it tells us what life is like in the countries that the people left behind. Which raises up the question, Why would they want to go back? If they are doing better than they were before, Why would they miss their country?
