“….what would you do
if you had two tongues in your mouth,
and lost the first one, the mother tongue,”
Here, Bhatt suggests that the ‘two tongues’ or languages and the cultures from which they are derived are incompatible. She feels that the first will be lost or replaced by the second, which she refers to as “the foreign tongue” which you can not really know. This idea that the second tongue is one that ‘you could not really know’, implies further that language is about more than words, but that it encompasses a whole range of meanings connected with the culture from which it is derived and that even though she has mastered the language, she feels as though the meanings and underlying culture will always be alien to her.
Brathwaite also uses metaphors to highlight this idea of cultural conflict within, when he describes how his uncle works in his shop on Sundays creating from wood ‘an image of anger’. Brathwaite’s uncle works in his shop throughout the week creating useable furniture in attempt to survive financially, however on Sundays he creates for himself works of art which represent his own struggles. The poet clearly likens the wood with which his Uncle works to the man himself when he writes:
“how it swelled and shivered, breathing air,
its weathered green burning to rings of time,”
The terms, ‘swelled’, ‘shivered’ and ‘breathing air’, clearly imply a human quality. The image is of a man weathered through suffering, left out in the cold whilst the idea is presented that the tree from which the wood has come is “still tuned to roots.” Again we can find a likeness to the man in the poem, who though struggles throughout the week to make his way in an alien culture, turns every Sunday to his roots; his past identity forged from the culture into which he was born.
Although we can see how these two poems are similar, there are also some very important differences to be noted which lie in the general tone of the writing. For example, the use of enjambment in Brathwaitte’s poem causes the sense of each verse to rush forward from one to the next without pause and thus one has the feeling of an angry rant. For example:
“The knuckles of his hands were sil-
vered knobs of nails hit, hurt flat-
ened out with blast of heavy hammer.”
Despite being a fine craftsman, Brathwaitte’s uncle is poor and hungry as people are not buying his furniture. In describing the physical appearance of the furniture ‘the world preferred’, Brathwaitte also appears to be describing how he sees the people who prefer it.
“…spine-curving chairs made up of tubes, with hollow
steel-like bird bones that sat on rubber ploughs,”
These words, ‘spine-curving’ supply an image of discomfit, whilst the terms, ‘hollow’ and ‘steel-like’ give us the idea of people who are shallow, hard and cold. Brathwaitte is obviously angry at these people who do not value his uncle’s work and in doing so, it seems to appear to him that they also devalue his uncle’s worth.
Bhatt’s poem however, appears less angry and more conversational. For instance in her opening lines she says:
“You ask me what I mean
by saying I have lost my tongue.”
It would appear that Bhatt here is seeking to draw the reader in, she seems to wish that the reader identify with her and thus the tone of the poem comes across as an explanation of her feelings and a request for understanding.
In relation to this idea, further contrast can then be found in the concluding lines of both poems. In the case of Bhatt’s poem, there is a sense of victory in the conclusion whereas Brathwaitte ends with a sense of anger and loss:
“Enduring jaw; lost pain; lost iron;
Emerging woodwork image of his anger.”
Though this is a description of the carved image his uncle has created, the poet makes it clear with the words, ‘image of his anger’ that this work is a reflection of his uncle’s feelings. The picture this creates is one of negativity evidence of which can also be found in the preceding lines:
“eyes, slack anciently everted lips, flat
ruined face, eaten by pox, ravaged by rat
and woodworm, dry cistern mouth, cracked
gullet crying for the desert, the heavy black.”
Here we have the image of a person who has been ‘ruined’ and ‘ravaged’, angry but beaten down, ‘enduring’, ‘crying for the desert, the heavy black’. It is possible that the term, ‘heavy black’ may even be a representation of death as though Brathwaitte’s uncle is simply enduring life whilst ‘crying for’ death - an end to pain.
Bhatt however, ends her poem with images of blossoming and growth:
“Everytime I think I’ve forgotten,
I think I’ve lost the mother tongue,
it blossoms in my mouth.”
Though the content of Bhatt’s poem indicates conflict and the threat of loss, the fact that in her dream she speaks her ‘mother tongue’ demonstrates the possibility that her cultural identity has not been completely lost as she feared. When talking of the mother tongue which she was afraid, “would rot and die” she tells us that it in her dreams it does in fact re-grow. In relation to this tongue she writes, “it ties the other tongue in knots,” thus giving us the sense that this part of her is victorious rather than lost.
Thus in making a comparison of the two poems, ‘Search For My Tongue’ and ‘Ogun’ we can see that though the poems are similar in their views of the possible threat integration with ‘foreign’ cultures poses to our sense of self, and the use they make of metaphor to demonstrate the conflict this presents within us, contrast can be found in the general tone of the writing. In the case of Bhatt’s poem there is the implication of growth and blossoming, whereas in Brathwaitte’s poem there is much more anger at the loss of cultural identity and implies the loss of part of one’s self as the ultimate outcome.
