What is a fishes Red Gill?
What is a fishes Red Gill?
The ‘fishes red gill’ seems to me to be another image of vitality, since the oxygen-rich gills quickly fade in colour once a fish has been taken out of the water. The ‘flame-tree’s spread’ implies a degree of shelter, although an exotic one, and the ‘crab’s-leg’ a favourite, well-loved family treat.
How does Nichols memorably express a sense of admiration for her mother in this poem?
Nichols expresses intense love for her mother, by using vivid imagery, in which she compares her to different constituents of nature, like water, the moon, the rise of the sun, and a fish’s gill. The poet says that, ‘You were water to me.
What is the theme of the song of the old mother?
Written in first person, the poem explains the difficult chores and struggles of an aged, unfortunate woman and her bitter resentment to the young children, whose worries of fondness and personal appearance pale to insignificance when compared to the toils of the old woman.
Where does Grace Nichols come from?
Georgetown, Guyana
What does pull and grained mantling mean?
The descriptives used in this stanza are “pull”, “grained”, and “mantling”. Pull refers to the gravitational pull that the moon has in regard to the oceans (another reference to the water in stanza one). This could be compared to the pull that the mother-daughter relationship has on Nichols.
What inspired Grace Nichols to write poems?
Nichols was born in Guyana in 1950, and moved to live in the UK in 1977. Her work is influenced by the history and culture of her homeland, in particular the oral story-telling tradition with its fantastic folk tales, the landscape and its rural tasks and the history of enslavement (particularly relating to women).
What culture is Grace Nichols?
Nichols was born in Georgetown, Guyana, in 1950. After working in Guyana as a teacher and journalist, she emigrated to the United Kingdom in 1977. Much of her poetry is characterised by Caribbean rhythms and culture, and influenced by Guyanese and Amerindian folklore.
How long has Grace Nichols been poetry?
She has lived in the UK since 1977. Her first poetry collection, I is a Long-Memoried Woman, was published in 1983. The book won the Commonwealth Poetry Prize and a subsequent film adaptation of the book was awarded a gold medal at the International Film and Television Festival of New York.
When did Grace Nichols move to England?
1977
When was Hurricane Hits England written?
1987
Who is Grace Nichols husband?
John Agard
What is the message of half-caste?
This is a poem about asserting your identity against others who would ‘bring you down’. John Agard was born in Guyana in 1949, with a Caribbean father and a Portuguese mother (he is of mixed race). In 1977, he moved to Britain, where he became angry with people who referred to him as ‘half-caste’.
What do you mean when you say half-caste?
Half-caste is a term for a category of people of mixed race or ethnicity. It is derived from the term caste, which comes from the Latin castus, meaning pure, and the derivative Portuguese and Spanish casta, meaning race.
What does John Agard do now?
John Agard (born 21 June 1949 in British Guiana) is an Afro-Guyanese playwright, poet and children’s writer, now living in Britain.
What style of writing does John Agard use?
About John Agard A unique and energetic force in contemporary British poetry, John Agard’s poems combine acute social observation, puckish wit and a riotous imagination to thrilling effect. Born in Guyana, South America in 1949, Agard moved to Britain in the late seventies.
Who is Maya Angelou why is her poetry so significant?
Poetry. Angelou is best known for her seven autobiographies, but she was also a prolific and successful poet. She was called “the black woman’s poet laureate”, and her poems have been called the anthems of African Americans.
How old is John Agard?
71 years (June 21, 1949)
What inspired John Agard to write checking out me history?
Agard’s formative years were lived under British rule, however, eventually he saw his country become independent and realised how much of his identity he was deprived of. The poem was inspired by reading a school textbook which claimed that West Indian history began with Columbus.
What message is the poet trying to convey in checking out me history?
Checking Out Me History is a poem of two sides. Agard wants us to be aware of both the things he was taught at school and the things he did not learn in the mainstream curriculum that he feels are important.
Why does Agard say his poem has a celebratory side?
The poem has a celebratory side. There are two voices one voice is the nursery rhymes contrasted with a celebration of historical characters. In the poem, the speaker suggests that because Black history and experience has been forgotten or ignored, what was taught to him was irrelevant.