‘The Tenant’ -Na Ngulube (unknown)
There is no room for you Ex-lover’s impact
in my heart. The only tenant
who ever lived there left Heart as a house
some luggage behind.
Speaker’s feelings
I didn’t evict her. She
simply left without a word. Punctuation
I keep hoping she will come Alliteration
back and collect the luggage
or at least arrange for disposal
clean out the place, throw out
old memories.
I could possibly live with
the marks on the wall. Some
are completely indelible
some I even like.
But you see I am afraid
if it all goes, what will I do
with all that empty space.
Title
Definite article ‘the’ shows that there was only one person he ever loved. Tenant =
someone who rents a space (does not own it)- she was never fully invested in the
relationship. Title introduces extended metaphor of poet’s heart as a house.
There is no room for you
Direct address to a person- wanting to connect. Simple sentence asserts that no love will
ever be possible for him again.
in my heart. The only tenant
Caesurae represents the disruption to his life from the breakup. He had only one true love.
who ever lived there left
Alliteration: repetition of hard ‘l’ sound represents the lingering pain of her leaving.
some luggage behind.
Extended metaphor: ongoing emotions of past relationship compared to luggage filling
his heart. Luggage is used for travel, implying that she never intended to stay forever. Full
stop = total finality: she is never coming back to fetch her stuff.
Stanza
Rejection due to heartbreak of the past.
There is no room for you Ex-lover’s impact
in my heart. The only tenant
who ever lived there left Heart as a house
some luggage behind.
Speaker’s feelings
I didn’t evict her. She
simply left without a word. Punctuation
I keep hoping she will come Alliteration
back and collect the luggage
or at least arrange for disposal
clean out the place, throw out
old memories.
I could possibly live with
the marks on the wall. Some
are completely indelible
some I even like.
But you see I am afraid
if it all goes, what will I do
with all that empty space.
Title
Definite article ‘the’ shows that there was only one person he ever loved. Tenant =
someone who rents a space (does not own it)- she was never fully invested in the
relationship. Title introduces extended metaphor of poet’s heart as a house.
There is no room for you
Direct address to a person- wanting to connect. Simple sentence asserts that no love will
ever be possible for him again.
in my heart. The only tenant
Caesurae represents the disruption to his life from the breakup. He had only one true love.
who ever lived there left
Alliteration: repetition of hard ‘l’ sound represents the lingering pain of her leaving.
some luggage behind.
Extended metaphor: ongoing emotions of past relationship compared to luggage filling
his heart. Luggage is used for travel, implying that she never intended to stay forever. Full
stop = total finality: she is never coming back to fetch her stuff.
Stanza
Rejection due to heartbreak of the past.
