Question

How does the poem grieved lands of Africa by Agostinho Neto portray the circumstances of Africans before and now

Answer 1

The Grieved Lands is poem of 42 lines with seven uneven stanzas. It is a free verse. The Grieved Lands presents the uniqueness of Black race and their resistance to slavery and colonial rule. It belongs to the group of poems which advance the unique beauty of the Black race and the dominant strength of being Black. The poet draws from the realistic nature of Negritude (a movement which celebrates and promotes the uniqueness and dominance of Black race to other races popularly propagated by Leopald Sedar Senghor).

In the poem, The Grieved Lands the poet presents African race as an imperishable race and African land as a land that can withstand anything; Lines 40 -41.

The first three stanzas talk about the degradation of Africa by slavery, imperialism, colonialism and Westernization. The poet uses these stanzas to decry the effects of Western influence on Africa. Line 2 “In the tearful woes of ancient and modern slave” In this line, the “ancient” refers to the physical slavery when men and women were forcefully moved out of the Land of Africa to different parts of the world. The “modern slave” refers to the present psychological and mental slavery in Africa and among Blacks, where Africans or Blacks depend on the West for aids and solutions. This is seen as the psychological acceptance of Western values, culture – dressing, lifestyle etc as the standard of measuring success and achievement.

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