Poem Analysis

W.H. Auden

Refugee Blues by W.H. Auden

W.H. Auden published ‘Refugee Blues’ for the first time in 1939. In it, the poet details the plight of Jews
fleeing from Nazi Germany without anywhere to take shelter. By speaking so powerfully on this topic,
the poet is able to make connections to historical and contemporary instances in which a similar pattern
of oppression, fear, and isolation was playing out.

Refugee Blues by W.H. Auden

Explore Refugee Blues

1 Summary 2 Themes3 Structure 4 Literary Devices 5 Analysis, Stanza by Stanza

Summary

‘Refugee Blues’ by W.H. Auden is a powerful poem that describes the plight of German Jews seeking a
refugee from the policies of Nazi Germany.

The speaker begins this poem by suggesting that there are 10 million people in “this city”. He tells the
listener, someone, he loves, that despite this there is nowhere for them to live. He reminisces on the
past, the life they used to have, and the safety of their old home. But, things have changed and new
demands and policies made by Nazi Germany are forcing the speaker and his family out of the country.

The speaker also traces the various times he sought out help or tried to understand what was going on
and was met with hatred and fear. There is no one who cares about the plight of this Jewish man and his
family. The poem ends on a haunting note with the speaker painting an image of a big field in which ten
thousand soldiers marched, looking for them.
You can read the full poem here.

Themes

There are several important themes that a reader should consider in ‘Refugee Blues’. These include anti-
semitism, isolation/loneliness, and exile. The first, anti-semitism, is one of the factors in this poem that
results in the other themes. It is due to the policies of Nazi Germany that the speaker in this poem and
his family were forced to flee the country. But, unfortunately, many of the countries that Jewish
refugees escaped to were unwilling to accept them in the numbers they were arriving in. Many were
sent back where they came from. The anti-semitism functions on both sides of this situation.

The speaker’s loneliness, despite the relationship he has with the intended listener, is clear. He has lost
the place that he calls home and no one that they encountered has shown him kindness or been truly
willing to help him. He has become an exile from his entire life as well as the rights that he should’ve had
access to.

Structure

‘Refugee Blues’ by W.H. Auden is a twelve stanza poem that is separated into sets of three lines, known
as tercets. These tercets follow a simple rhyme scheme of AAB. It is interesting to consider what this
particular pattern does to the way a reader understands the poem. The first two lines are paired
together, creating a perfect rhyme. But, the third line stands out. It is alone without a paired end-rhyme.
Unlike the consistent rhyme scheme, the meter does not conform to one pattern. They vary in length
from around nine syllables to fourteen.

The word “blues” in the title provides the reader with some information right away about the tone and
mood of the poem. It suggests loneliness, sadness, and even sorrow or mourning.
Literary Devices

Auden makes use of several literary devices in ‘Refugee Blues’. These include but are not limited to
repetition, allusion, and caesura. The latter, caesura, occurs when a line is split in half, sometimes with
punctuation, sometimes not. The use of punctuation in these moments creates a very intentional pause
in the text. A reader should consider how the pause influences the rhythm of one’s reading and how it
might precede an important turn or transition in the text. For example, the last line of each stanza is
interrupted with “my dear” in between the varying repeating phrases.

Repetition is itself a very important technique in ‘Refugee Blues’. The best examples come at the end of
each stanza where the first half and second half of the line are identical. From stanza to stanza this
repetition has a different impact. But, overall, it serves to remind the reader how hopeless and
inescapable their situation was.

An allusion is an expression that’s meant to call something specific to mind without directly stating it.
With this technique Auden is able to speak about Nazi Germany in the first few stanzas without ever
having to say the name of the country or the time period. The speaker makes allusions in the last stanzas
to the ways that Jews were being hunted down in Germany and beyond.

Analysis, Stanza by Stanza

Stanza One

Say this city has ten million souls,

(…)

In the first stanza of ‘Refugee Blues,’ the speaker begins by painting a picture of a city. This place,
somewhere in Germany, is large. It’s filled with people, some of whom live in mansions and some in
holes. This image depicts for the reader the enormous wealth disparity that existed in his home. But,
despite this range of homes, there is nowhere “for us,” he says. The speaker and his family are German
Jews, trying to figure out where they will be safe as Nazism and wider spread anti-semitism take over
Europe.

A reader should also take note of the very effective repetition of the phrase “there’s no place for us”. It
takes on a mournful quality as the speaker expresses, through just this line, his exhaustion, and
disappointment.

Stanza Two

Once we had a country and we thought it fair,

(…)

We cannot go there now, my dear, we cannot go there now.

In the second stanza of ‘Refugee Blues,’ the speaker adds that “Once” he and his family, as well as his
people, had a home. It was a place they could call their own. One could look in an atlas and find it there.
It was a physical location, not just a metaphorical one. But as has already become clear by this point
they can’t go back there. The phrase “We cannot go there now” is repeated in the last line of this stanza.
This same technique is used in the following stanzas as well, adding to the already quite musical quality
of the poem.

Stanzas Three and Four

In the village churchyard there grows an old yew,

(…)
The consul banged the table and said,

(…)

But we are still alive, my dear, but we are still alive.

The speaker recalls, through a powerful memory, the sight of a yew tree that grows in a churchyard. It’s
something that he’s very familiar with but that now he’s entirely separate from. It “blossoms anew”
each year without fail. But, he adds, “Old passports” don’t have that same ability. This alludes again to
the inability to go home and the way that they’ve been effectively exiled from their own lives.
Everything they thought belonged to them, including their citizenship, is lost.

The next stanza brings in the idea of the passport once more. Since the speaker has lost his right to live
in his own home, the “consul” tells him to his face that he’s “officially dead”. This is a shocking and
disturbing conversation, one that relays the true difficulty of the situation that the speaker and his
family are in.

Stanzas Five and Six

(…)

But where shall we go to-day, my dear, but where shall we go to-day?

Came to a public meeting; the speaker got up and said;

“If we let them in, they will steal our daily bread”:

(…)

The bureaucratic difficulties of figuring out where to go and how to live are increased in the next
stanzas. The speaker relays his attempts to speaker t someone, find out what to do, or receive
someplace of information that should direct him towards any new destination. Everywhere he goes and
everyone he talks to stymies him. The unnamed “committee” tell shim to come back “next year”. This
fact inspires him to the repetition of the phrase “Where shall we go to-day”. By repeating this important
and sorrowful line the speaker is expressing his exasperation and fear. He doesn’t know how to take
care of those he loves.

The next stanzas reveal exactly what it is, at leas tin part, that the other countries fear in regards to
letting in meow refugees. Someone at ta meeting tells the group that they’ll take something from the
citizens already living in the country. This is a familiar reprise, something that is still quite prevalent
today.

Stanzas Seven and Eight

Thought I heard the thunder rumbling in the sky;

(…)

O we were in his mind, my dear, O we were in his mind.

(…)

But they weren’t German Jews, my dear, but they weren’t German Jews.

It’s not until stanzas seven and eight that it becomes clear to the reader if one does not have
background knowledge, that this person a German Jew and that he’s fleeing Hitler. Hitler’s voice and his
declaration “They must die” are compared to “thunder rumbling in the sky”. This metaphor depicts how
powerful the man was and how his decrees had a god-like power at the time. His reach expanded all
over the speaker’s world.

A home, safety, a roof over one’s head, all of these things are extended to other people but not to
“German Jews”. It is this designation that keeps the speaker and his family from being able to enter into
other countries. The anti-semitism is not reserved for Germany alone.

Stanzas Nine and Ten

Went down the harbour and stood upon the quay,

Saw the fish swimming as if they were free:

(…)

They had no politicians and sang at their ease:

They weren’t the human race, my dear, they weren’t the human race.

The next two stanzas depict the freedom the speaker sees in the world. Various animals, fish and birds,
have the ability to live their lives as they see fit. But, they aren’t “German Jews”. They aren’t “the human
race” and are not subject to its laws, just or unjust.

Stanzas Eleven and Twelve

Dreamed I saw a building with a thousand floors,

A thousand windows and a thousand doors:

(…)

Looking for you and me, my dear, looking for you and me.

The eleventh stanza contains a dream the speaker imagined. Ne in which a building stretched over his
dead with thousands of floors, doors, and homes. Not a single one of them was “ours,” he says. This
building is a metaphor for the isolated life the family is leading and the way that they feel exiled from
the human race entirely.

The building might also be considered a symbol of the modern world and its past achievements. A
symbol that shows the reader that despite these achievements there is no place of the family.
The last stanza ends with a haunting image of soldiers pursuing the family across a “great plain in the
falling snow”. The plain is very likely a symbol for all the countries all over Europe that were unwilling to
accept German Jews in any considerable number.

They were “looking for you and me”. There is no conclusion to the plight of this family and for the
thousands like them in the next of the poem. But, unlike when Auden was writing ‘Refugee Blues’ the
entire history of the Holocaust is now known. It is too easy to imagine what happened to this speaker
and his family.

EPILOGUE the

EPILOGUE

Grace Nichols (Guyana)

I have crossed an ocean

I have lost my tongue

From the root of the old

One

A new one has sprung

INTRODUCTION

This poem was written by a black woman from Guyana (Grace Nichols) who later moved to England. It
expresses important ideas about separation and a new beginning.

GUIDING QUESTIONS

a. The poet says she has “lost her tongue” what does that mean?

It means she has adopted a new language. She no longer speaks her native language (tongue).
b. Which ocean has she crossed?

While she has crossed the real geographical ocean (Pacific) from Guyana - Caribbean all the way to
England, “crossing the ocean” could also imply or symbolise other changes that happen to people. As
she crossed the ocean she never remained the same because even her language changed.

c. What does she mean when she says “a new one has sprung from the root of the old one’?

Here the poet talks something about the development of languages. We all know that languages are
dynamic (always changing) and that they borrow words and even grammatical structure from each
other. Languages like creoles come out of the blend of two or more languages. So the language she
speaks originates/emanates from the old one.

d. Comment on the structure of the poem.

The poem is made up of only one short stanza with 5 verses.

e. What is the theme of the poem?

The central theme is separation and loss of identity.

The poetess shows that when most people move away from their motherland they tend to lose their
identity and adopt the culture of the foreign land including but not limited to language.

Ø The poem could be about Grace herself who moved from Guyana to England.

Ø It could also be addressing all the Caribbean who left their homes and went to England.

Ø But also all those people who left their own countries to go to the Caribbean in the last few hundred
years, especially all those who were taken from Africa in slavery;

Ø All black people all over the world whose roots can be traced back to Africa over the centuries;

Ø All people all over the world, as scientists think that human life originated in Africa thousands of years
ago.

Stanely meets Muteesa

THEME

There are two basic themes in this poem in relation to the meeting of Stanley with Mutesa. The first one
is that with determination, endurance, and perseverance, nothing is unachievable. We can see that if
not for determination and perseverance Stanley and his party went through is vividly painted from lines
1 to 34. In spite of series of horror, they were bound for Mutesa’s kingdom. We can also say without any
fear of contradiction that this poem has a biblical undertone because it evokes the tortuous and difficult
road to heaven. The second theme is not of the gradual incursion of the white man and the western
ways of life. From lines 42 – 62, there is an apt description of the cold but courteous reception of Stanley
and his party. The tone of the poem is solemn, reflective, and instructive.

FORM AND STRUCTURE

The poem has 62 lines altogether and is divided into six unequal stanzas. Stanza five has just two lines,
while stanza six has 21 lines. Though this poem has no rhyme scheme, it has measure rhythmic
movement:

The heat of the day (line 2)

The chill of the night (line 3)

Their tempers high and hot (line 11)

The sun fierce and scorching (line 12)

With it rose their spirit (line 15)

With its fall their hopes (line 14)

He is the spirit that inspired (line 25)

He the light of hope (line 26)

Hearts beat faster (line 34)

Loads felt lighter (line 35)

The poem is a narrative in form, and the journey it describes is picturesquely presented using words that
evoke the hardship experience: weary, fierce, scorching, sweated, hungry, etc. the journey was so
arduous that it cost men and animals their lives:Each day a weary pony dropped (line 19)

Each after noon a human skeleton collapse (line 21)

In the articulation of this poetic narrative, the poet employs some figure of speech, and he cleverly uses
parallelistic structure in order to achieve both rhythm and emphasis. Parallelism manifests itself in the
use of structural repetition as in the following line:

With tattered dirty rags (line 8)

The battered bulky chests (line 9)

Such was the time (line 5)

Such was the march (line 7)

Such was the welcome (line 44)

In the following sets of structural repetition, Rubadiri creates a kind of binary opposition:

With it rose their spirits (line 13)

With its fall their hopes (line 14)

The heat of the day (line 2)

The chill of the night (line 3)

Structural, the poem progresses from stanza by stanza, from hardship to more hardship until the
moment of relief, when:

Load felt lighter

As the cool water lapped their sore soft feet

No more the dread of hungry hyenas

 But only takes of valour when

At Mutesa’s court fires are lit

No more the burning heat of the day

But song, laughter and dance.

LANGUAGE AND TECHNIQUE

The poetic diction of this poem is simple, and its simplicity is enhanced by the use of figurative
expressions as well as imagery. Some of the figures of speech used are:

Simile: lines 30 and 33

Metaphor: lines 25 and 26

Euphemism: lines 19 and 21

Alliteration: lines 8, 9, 10, 36, 37, 42, and 48

Metonymy: lines 7, 23, 27, 42, 49, and 62

Synecdoche: line 47 and 57

Personification: 35 and 36

Climax: From lines 19 to 23

The images in this poem are those of inclemency of the weather, poverty and extreme hardship which
caused many men and animals their lives. This is clearly spelt out in every line of the poem.

The remarks must be made, however, that the beauty of this poem lies in the simplicity of its diction
which is apt and reflective, and the logical progression of it.

PEDESTRIAN TO PASSING BENZ-MAN

Albert

Tuesday, 15 May 2018

ANALYSIS OF THE POEM "PEDESTRIAN TO PASSING BENZ-MAN" (Albert Ojuka) by Samson Mwita

PEDESTRIAN TO PASSING BENZ-MAN

Albert Ojuka (Kenya)

You man lifted gently

out of poverty and suffering

We so recently shared: I say

why splash the muddy puddle on to

my bare legs as if still unsatisfied

with your seated opulence

you must sully the unwashed

with your diesel-smoke and mud-water.

and force him buy, beyond his means

a bar of soap from your shop?

a few years back we shared a master

today you have none, while I have

exchanged a parasite for something worse.

but maybe a few years is too long a time.

INTRODUCTION

Pedestrian to passing Benz-man is an ironical poem by a Kenyan poet Albert Ojuka which compares and
contrasts the rich and the poor in African societies. The poet suggests that the rising middle class in
Africa is getting richer and powerful because of exploiting the poor people. The Benz-man in the poem
arrogantly splashes the muddy puddle onto the legs of the pedestrians so that the pedestrian may go
and buy a bar of soap from his shop. This is to say most of the problems facing poor people are caused
by the rich who later turn them into opportunities for exploiting the poor people.

THEMES

CLASSES

The poem depicts two classes in this society. The middle class as represents by the Benz man; this is a
class comprising of arrogant people who own the major means of production and live luxuriously. The
Benz-man for instance owns a shop and drives an expensive Benz. On the other hand there is a class of
poor people being represented by the pedestrian. This is a class comprising of people who not only walk
on foot as their means of transport but also they can’t even afford to buy the shoes. Because of
arrogance the Benz-man purposely splashes muddy puddle onto the bare legs of a pedestrian, so as to
create a mechanism which will force the poor man to go and buy a bar of soap from his shop. Showing
his dissatisfaction on the Benz-man’s arrogance, the pedestrian says:

Why splash the muddy puddle on to

My bare legs as if still unsatisfied

With your seated opulence

EXPLOITATION

In this society the poet shows that the rich are rich because of exploiting the poor. As seen in the poem
the Benz-man exploits the pedestrian. The poet shows that the Benz-man creates a mechanism that will
force the poor pedestrian to go and buy a bar of soap from his shop. The good thing however is that the
pedestrian is aware of it. He says

Why splash the muddy puddle on to

My bare legs...

***

And force him buy, beyond his means

A bar of soap from your shop?

So the Benz-man has become a parasite that feeds on the sweat of poor people.

BETRAYAL
The poem shows the kind of betrayal portrayed by the Benz-man. The Benz-man and the pedestrian
used to be poor and were suffering together but ever since the Benz-man became wealthy he has
forgotten the troubles they shared. He now despises the pedestrian by splashing the muddy puddle on
to his bare feet instead of helping him raise from poverty the Benz-man. The pedestrian says:

You man lifted gently

Out of poverty and suffering

We so recently shared:

ARROGANCE

The rich man seems to be arrogant because the success he has achieved. He despises the poor people
who walk on foot simply because he after all owns an opulent (luxury) Benz. He splashes the muddy
puddle on to the pedestrian without considering that he makes him dirty (sully). The poet says;

You must sully the unwashed

With your diesel-smoke and mud-water.

This is not good for a society that needs to prosper in all spheres. The rich must respect the poor
especially knowing that they are rich because of the poor.

POVERTY

The pedestrian represents poor people whose major means of transport is their own feet. These ones
are looked down upon by those who have gently become rich and don’t want to share their wealth with
the poor. The pedestrian is still living a poor life as he confesses in lines 1-3.

You man lifted gently

Out of poverty and suffering

We so recently shared:

This is to say he is still poor while the Benz-man has lifted himself out of poverty and he now has a
decent life. The poet shows that the pedestrian cannot even afford to buy shoes but walks on bare feet.

Ø What is the poem about?

The poem is about comparison and contrasts between the rich and the poor classes in African societies.
The poet suggests that the rising middle class in Africa is getting richer and powerful because of
exploiting the poor people. This is to say most of the problems facing poor people are caused by the rich
who later turn them into opportunities for exploiting the poor people.
Ø What kind of the poem is this?

It is a sonnet poem as it is made up of 14 lines.

Ø Who is the persona? How do you know?

The persona is a pedestrian from lower or poor class. This is evident as he complains because the Benz-
man splashes the muddy puddle on to his bare feet.

Ø What is the tone and mood?

The tone is lamenting and sad. The persona is sad because of thethe way he is mistreated by the Benz-
man. This creates a sad and unhappy mood to the readers/listeners.

Ø Comment on the structure of the poem.

The poem is made up of only one stanza comprising 14 lines with irregular rhyming scheme.

Ø Comment on the language use in the poem.

The language used is simple and easy to understand. There is a good choice of vocabulary that drives
home the message and the central theme easily. The use of words like poverty, suffering, bare legs all
carry the picture of a low class or poor people.

Ø Figures of speech.

Assonance.

Muddy puddle

Must sully

Rhetorical questions

And force him to buy beyond his means a bar of soap from your shop?

Onomatopoeia

Why splash –sound of water

Symbolism

A parasite stands for exploiter

MESSAGES
the welfare of the lower class (majority)

Ø Exploitation of the poor by the rich should be discarded

Ø Betrayal is not good. It is better to help someone raise from poverty than despising them because of
their poverty

Ø Poverty makes people to be undermined and despised. We should fight against poverty.

Ø It is not good to be arrogant when you are wealth remember the poor might be rich one day and you
might be poor.

RELEVANCE

The poem is relevant in a number of ways.

Ø In our societies there are people who are humble when they have nothing and are in need of help,
but when they get rich they despise the poor.

Ø Poverty is still a common problem in most African countries.

Ø Exploitation of the poor by the rich class has not yet ended.

1. Paradox: A paradox is a self-contradictory statement which may seem absurd, but expresses a felt
truth. For example:

a. eloquent silence

b. A good wedding without food

c. Sweet o dour (smell)

d. Ugly beauty

2. Spoonerism:

Spoonerism is a faulty speech usually accidental whereby there is changing of initial sounds of words.
For example, instead of saying oiled bicycles

instead of saying; district one says biscuits.

3. Ambiguity:

Ambiguity is when words, statements or phrases have two or more possible meanings compressed into
this one word, statement or phrase or even a whole poem. All the meanings may be important. For
example; Spacious house (can mean, the house has a good or disorganized arrangement) it can also
mean, the home is very large.

4. A postrophe/Apostrophise.

This is an exclamatory address to a particular person or thing that may even be death as though they are
present. It’s also a direct address to a thing as if it were a person (human being) For example the poem,
“Death be not proud” Refer also to the, “In the loving memory.” In the newspapers. Oxymoron

This is a statement that seems to be self contradictory. it consists of words that are opposite in meaning
to each other. They however are used more as compound words. Example: virtues robber, Cruel
kindness, friendly fire,

rebel angels, etc

6. Metonym

This is when an object/thing is referred to by another thing.object closely associated to it. That
object/thing is however not part of the described or referred object. example, a crowd is associated to
authority or power and a pen to peace or education and a sword to brute force.Synechdoche

A synechdoche is when a part of the whole is used to refer to the whole. For example, referring to a
male as a beard and a female as a skirt.