VULTURES-Chinua Achebe
In the greyness
and drizzle of one despondent
dawn unstirred by harbingers
of sunbreak a vulture
perching high on broken
bone of a dead tree
nestled close to his
mate his smooth
bashed-in head, a pebble
on a stem rooted in
a dump of gross
feathers, inclined affectionately
to hers. Yesterday they picked
the eyes of a swollen
corpse in a water-logged
trench and ate the
things in its bowel. Full
gorged they chose their roost
keeping the hollowed remnant
in easy range of cold
telescopic eyes …
Strange
indeed how love in other
ways so particular
will pick a corner
in that charnel-house
tidy it and coil up there, perhaps
even fall asleep – her face
turned to the wall!
… Thus the Commandant at Belsen
Camp going home for
, the day with fumes of
human roast clinging
rebelliously to his hairy
nostrils will stop
at the wayside sweet-shop
and pick up some chocolate
for his tender offspring
waiting at home for Daddy’s
return …
Praise bounteous
providence if you will
that grants even an ogre
a tiny glow-worm
tenderness encapsulated
in icy caverns of a cruel
heart or else despair
for in the very germ
of that kindred love is
lodged the perpetuity
of evil.
, VULTURES
Questions and answers
1. Write a brief 1-4-word title for each stanza
What do you notice about how Achebe’s thoughts unfold over the course
of the poem?
“Affectionate scavengers”; “love in strange places”; “chocolate and
concentration camps”; “choices”.
Achebe makes a leap of imagination from his observation of vultures
being affectionate to the seeming impossibility of concentration camp
guards being warm and loving family men.
2. Why does Achebe describe the vultures head as “bashed-in”?
Achebe’s overall description of the vultures is extraordinary vivid and
disturbing. This particular image, as well as being an accurate depiction of
how the heads look, emphasizes the violent emanating from the birds.
There are no “soft edges” on these creatures.
3. Using the broken slash bone of a dead tree that the speaker observes in
the first stanza, what words could you use to describe this tree?
What is the effect of the line break between “broken” and “bone”?
‘Skeletal’, ‘dark’, ‘bare’.
The line break causes you to focus on the brokenness of the bones of this
tree -and prepares the reader for the grim reality of the vultures’ eating
habits and describes the next lines.
4. What seeming contradictions does the poet notice in the vultures’
behaviors?
He observes the affection the birds seemed to show for each other as the
vultures inclined their heads towards each other- and then he recalls the
horror of what they have been doing [picking] ‘the eyes of a swollen/
corpse’; [eating] the ‘things in its bowel’.
In the greyness
and drizzle of one despondent
dawn unstirred by harbingers
of sunbreak a vulture
perching high on broken
bone of a dead tree
nestled close to his
mate his smooth
bashed-in head, a pebble
on a stem rooted in
a dump of gross
feathers, inclined affectionately
to hers. Yesterday they picked
the eyes of a swollen
corpse in a water-logged
trench and ate the
things in its bowel. Full
gorged they chose their roost
keeping the hollowed remnant
in easy range of cold
telescopic eyes …
Strange
indeed how love in other
ways so particular
will pick a corner
in that charnel-house
tidy it and coil up there, perhaps
even fall asleep – her face
turned to the wall!
… Thus the Commandant at Belsen
Camp going home for
, the day with fumes of
human roast clinging
rebelliously to his hairy
nostrils will stop
at the wayside sweet-shop
and pick up some chocolate
for his tender offspring
waiting at home for Daddy’s
return …
Praise bounteous
providence if you will
that grants even an ogre
a tiny glow-worm
tenderness encapsulated
in icy caverns of a cruel
heart or else despair
for in the very germ
of that kindred love is
lodged the perpetuity
of evil.
, VULTURES
Questions and answers
1. Write a brief 1-4-word title for each stanza
What do you notice about how Achebe’s thoughts unfold over the course
of the poem?
“Affectionate scavengers”; “love in strange places”; “chocolate and
concentration camps”; “choices”.
Achebe makes a leap of imagination from his observation of vultures
being affectionate to the seeming impossibility of concentration camp
guards being warm and loving family men.
2. Why does Achebe describe the vultures head as “bashed-in”?
Achebe’s overall description of the vultures is extraordinary vivid and
disturbing. This particular image, as well as being an accurate depiction of
how the heads look, emphasizes the violent emanating from the birds.
There are no “soft edges” on these creatures.
3. Using the broken slash bone of a dead tree that the speaker observes in
the first stanza, what words could you use to describe this tree?
What is the effect of the line break between “broken” and “bone”?
‘Skeletal’, ‘dark’, ‘bare’.
The line break causes you to focus on the brokenness of the bones of this
tree -and prepares the reader for the grim reality of the vultures’ eating
habits and describes the next lines.
4. What seeming contradictions does the poet notice in the vultures’
behaviors?
He observes the affection the birds seemed to show for each other as the
vultures inclined their heads towards each other- and then he recalls the
horror of what they have been doing [picking] ‘the eyes of a swollen/
corpse’; [eating] the ‘things in its bowel’.
