Summary 'The Cry of South Africa' by Olive Schreiner in depth IEB analysis

‘The Cry of South Africa!’ Olive Schreiner (1855-1920)


Give me back my dead!
They who by kop and fountain
First saw the light upon my rocky breast!
Give back my dead,
The sons who played upon me
When childhood’s dews still rested on their heads.
Give back my dead
Whom thou hast riven from me
By arms of men loud called from earth’s farthest bound
To wet my bosom with my children’s blood!
Give back my dead,
The dead who grew up on me!


Wagenaar’s Kraal, Three Sisters.
May 9, 1900.


Imagery of a mother

Punctuation

Repetition

Horrors of war

, Biographical Information

• Daughter of missionary parents during the Anglo-Boer war.
• Confined to living in a concentration camp.
Meaning/ Message

• To highlight the atrocities and senselessness of war.
• Shows the massive amount of innocent lives lost in war.
Structure

• Enjambment
→ Ongoing flow of emotional demands.
→ War has no end.
→ No break in pain.
→ Single plea.
• Irregular structure: Strong and pounding rhythm.
• Exclamation marks: Emphasise extremity of horror and despair.
Imagery/Figures of Speech/Diction
Extended personification of South Africa as being a mother mourning the loss of her
children.
Tone/Mood
Melancholy, indignation, sorrow, pathos (a quality that evokes pity or sadness).