English Commentary on Antjie Krog

             Four summer poems for Cape Town is a poem written by Antjie Krog. Cape Town is a city in the very south of South Africa. Antjie Krog was born in the Free state in 1952 and, ironically, this is situated in the very north of South Africa and was a very racist province with Afrikaans views while Cape Town was more metropolitan and liberal. It is ironical that Antjie Krog would write such a complimenting poem for Cape Town because she comes from such a different background in views and opinions.
             The poem Four summer poems for Cape Town is broken down into four stanzas with each stanza being a different poem with a different topic for each of the stanzas with the overall theme being the same. This is significant because it gives the effect that the speaker is paying a lot of attention towards the city and it suggests to the audience that Cape Town has had an effect and is important to the speaker. The structure for each stanza or 'poem' is different to the other and it creates an awkward effect. This is caused because it is not an easy transition between stanzas because each rhythm pattern for each stanza is different. The awkward tone puts almost a confusing mood because the audience does not know what to expect in the coming lines. The form and the message are related. The poem's form is totally unique, which is exactly what the speaker is saying about the subject of the poem, Cape Town. Even though the speaker may not have meant this, it is effective in helping the speaker explain the message. The length of the stanzas could represent the transition that the speaker goes through and could represent how the speaker builds their conclusive feeling about the city. The first stanza is only three lines long. This could represent the speaker's first impression of the city since first impressions are always made in a split second. The second stanza is the longest stanza in the poem. The speaker seems to be analysing ...

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English Commentary on Antjie Krog. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 02:19, March 29, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/2551.html