‘Portrait of a Loaf of Bread’ -Mbuyiseni Oswald Mtshali (1940-)
Look back to the rolling fields
waving golden-topped wheat stalks sound devices & puntuation
mowed by the reaper’s scythe,
bundled into sheaves contrast of rich & poor eating
carted to the mill
and ground into flour. labour & workers
Kneaded into mountains of dough
to be churned by rollers figures of speech & imagery
and spat into pans as red hot
as Satan’s cauldron. nature
Brought to the cafe,
warmly wrapped in cellophane,
by ‘East Fresh Bread’ bakery van;
for the waiting cook
to slice and to toast.
to butter and to marmalade
for the food-bedecked breakfast table.
Whilst the labourer
with fingers caked with
wet cement of a builder’s scaffold.
mauls a hunk and cold drink
and licks his lips and laughs
‘Man can live on bread alone’.
Title
Portrait has been twisted into of an object from a person. He wants to show a close-up
version of the bread making process. Bread becomes a symbol of inequality.
Look back to the rolling fields
Starts with command to reader- to reflect where the process starts. Fields = calming,
beauty of nature (misleading because we later deal with oppression of workers).
waving golden-topped wheat stalks
“Birth” of bread. Untouched by man and machinery- peaceful.
mowed by the reaper’s scythe,
Switch in tone. Becomes harsh, dark, violent. Pun- Literal reaper: person who cuts wheat.
Figurative reaper: Grim reaper (personification of death). Reaper harvests grain just like
the Grim Reaper harvests souls.
bundled into sheaves
Gathered into bundles.
carted to the mill
Transported to mill for grinding.
Look back to the rolling fields
waving golden-topped wheat stalks sound devices & puntuation
mowed by the reaper’s scythe,
bundled into sheaves contrast of rich & poor eating
carted to the mill
and ground into flour. labour & workers
Kneaded into mountains of dough
to be churned by rollers figures of speech & imagery
and spat into pans as red hot
as Satan’s cauldron. nature
Brought to the cafe,
warmly wrapped in cellophane,
by ‘East Fresh Bread’ bakery van;
for the waiting cook
to slice and to toast.
to butter and to marmalade
for the food-bedecked breakfast table.
Whilst the labourer
with fingers caked with
wet cement of a builder’s scaffold.
mauls a hunk and cold drink
and licks his lips and laughs
‘Man can live on bread alone’.
Title
Portrait has been twisted into of an object from a person. He wants to show a close-up
version of the bread making process. Bread becomes a symbol of inequality.
Look back to the rolling fields
Starts with command to reader- to reflect where the process starts. Fields = calming,
beauty of nature (misleading because we later deal with oppression of workers).
waving golden-topped wheat stalks
“Birth” of bread. Untouched by man and machinery- peaceful.
mowed by the reaper’s scythe,
Switch in tone. Becomes harsh, dark, violent. Pun- Literal reaper: person who cuts wheat.
Figurative reaper: Grim reaper (personification of death). Reaper harvests grain just like
the Grim Reaper harvests souls.
bundled into sheaves
Gathered into bundles.
carted to the mill
Transported to mill for grinding.
