Poem analysis
Poet: Amiri Baraka Poem: Ka`Ba
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/ka-ba/
In the poem Ka`Ba, the poets talks about the ongoing issues of black people."A closed window looks down on a dirty courtyard, and black people call across or scream or walk across defying physics in the stream of their will.." In this stanza he talks about how black people are often forced to do things against their will, taken advantage of , and live in poverty. A "closed window" and "dirty courtyard" implies that sense of imprisonment , like there is no way of getting out.The "scream or walk across defying physics in the stream of their will" infers that people need to face what is holding them back and defy what everyone else says because it is what we want. Which is to break free from bondage, poverty,and sadness and live our lives in happiness."Our world is full of sound/Our world is more lovely than anyone`s/ tho we suffer, and kill each other/and sometimes fail to walk the air." This means that our lives are full of music, joy, love and happiness yet, we still suffer from all the pain and hardships we endured."Our world" meaning Africa is one of the most beautiful places on earth, yet we hate ourselves, hate our people, hate each other eventually resulting in destruction."We are beautiful people with african imaginations/full of masks and dances and swelling chants/with african eyes, and noses, and arms,/though we sprawl in grey chains in a place/full of winters, when what we want is sun." In this stanza the poet is saying that black people as a whole are beautiful, but we fail to realize that. We come from a beautiful African culture that involves music, costumes, masks, and dancing."We have been captured,/brothers. And we labor/to make our getaway, into/the ancient image, into a new/correspondence with ourselves/and our black family. We read magic/now we need the spells, to rise up/return, destroy, and create. What will be/the sacred words?"We were were captured like animals and taken to a cold winter place ,but we really wanted to be home in the warm sunny land of Africa. We worked and did hard labor to escape ,but that image of home never became reality. The poet goes on to say that we need to come together, we need God, we need miracles, and us as a whole needs to rise up to return back home.
Literary Devices
In the poem "ka`ba" a literary device is imagery which is used in stanza 1 it states""A closed window looks down on a dirty courtyard, and black people call across or scream or walk across defying physics in the stream of their will..".This is an example of imagery because it describes a setting using the sense of sight and the sense of hearing.