The Symbolism Of Land

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Africa is a place of many different languages, cultures , climates. This assortment of circumstances leads to varied types of literature being written. However, some motifs can remain constant. The motif that remains constant between "To learn how to speak" by Jeremy Cronin and "You Will Forget" by Chenjerai Hove is that of land. Land plays an important role in both poems. The image of land differs between the two poems, as well as the literary devices the authors use. The image of land in "To learn how to Speak" is intimately tied to the language spoken there. Land, it seems, is an extended metaphor throughout the poem for language. In line three, the poem says " to parse the speech in its rivers" as if to say the speech is in the land itself (Pike 501). The poem then uses native words in line nine for water, further reinforcing that opinion. Line six states that all words are cut from the stone of the land, thus making the land and language inseparable. They cannot be considered apart from each other. In line eight, the poem mentions "tongue wagon-trails (Pike 501)." This phrase points to the effect language has on a land, changing how it looks. In line twenty, the moon provides rhythm to the languageIn line 27, the poem speaks of "syllables born in tin shacks (Pike 501)." This phrase is another tie to the fact that language is born from the land, and thus tied to it. The style of "To learn how to speak" is that of a spoken poem. Cronin obviously focused on how words would sound out loud. Cronin's use of languages native to the area he is describing also reinforces his idea that language is connected to the land. Cronin also uses repetition of types of phrases and sounds. The author starts almost every sentence of the poem with a infinitive verb, such as "to learn", "to visit", or "to bury (Pike 501)." Cronin's tone is also very positive, as if he is
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