Notes by Roxanne Willemse
The Tenant by Na Ngulube
Structure
Free verse – conversational, relatable, personal
Limited use of punctuation
Language
1st person speaker – creates an intimate, heart-felt mood. The poet is writing from their own
point of view, it sounds personal and confessional. The reader can relate to the speaker on a
more personal level. Unreliable narrator
Extended metaphor of a tenant who has suddenly left – relatable, we have a sense of
someone who was ‘residing’ in his heart and then left with no explanation. It seems as if the
‘property’ has been abandoned and the ‘owner’ of the room is left with no explanation. The
ex has left ‘marks on the walls’ of the speaker’s heart, indicating that the departure is a
painful one for the speaker.
Use of personal pronouns puts readers in speaker’s shoes and gives insight into their
perspective
Enjambment – emotions are overflowing, indecisive, struggle to form coherent and
complete sentences because speaker feels hurt
Gerunds – speaker feels as if it is still happening/constantly happening
Imagery
Diction: clinical, cold
o Disconnected from emotions due to doubt, uncertainty and hurt
Residential/home
Meaning
At first seems to be about a tenant/someone renting space in a building
The poem is alluding to someone who has broken the speaker’s heart – ex ‘rented’ space in
speaker’s life and then abandoned speaker, ex is the one who initiated the breakup, and
speaker is bereft (deprived) of love
The speaker could be addressing another potential lover – ‘my heart’ is mentioned, so there
is a suggestion that it could be someone the speaker might love and who might love the
speaker, but unfortunately the speaker admits that there is no room left in their heart as the
previous occupant has left behind baggage, making the speaker unsuitable as a partner.
The speaker feels lonely
Movement
No fixed rhyme scheme
Intention
Commenting on previous relationship by comparing ex to a careless tenant (stereotypically,
tenants can be destructive and careless, there is little incentive to look after the rented
space because they do not own the property)
o The ‘tenant’ appears to have ‘left without a word’ – the speaker was not expecting
ex to leave and keeps ‘hoping she will come back and collect the luggage’
o The ‘tenant’ didn’t ‘clean out the place’ and has left ‘marks on the walls’
The Tenant by Na Ngulube
Structure
Free verse – conversational, relatable, personal
Limited use of punctuation
Language
1st person speaker – creates an intimate, heart-felt mood. The poet is writing from their own
point of view, it sounds personal and confessional. The reader can relate to the speaker on a
more personal level. Unreliable narrator
Extended metaphor of a tenant who has suddenly left – relatable, we have a sense of
someone who was ‘residing’ in his heart and then left with no explanation. It seems as if the
‘property’ has been abandoned and the ‘owner’ of the room is left with no explanation. The
ex has left ‘marks on the walls’ of the speaker’s heart, indicating that the departure is a
painful one for the speaker.
Use of personal pronouns puts readers in speaker’s shoes and gives insight into their
perspective
Enjambment – emotions are overflowing, indecisive, struggle to form coherent and
complete sentences because speaker feels hurt
Gerunds – speaker feels as if it is still happening/constantly happening
Imagery
Diction: clinical, cold
o Disconnected from emotions due to doubt, uncertainty and hurt
Residential/home
Meaning
At first seems to be about a tenant/someone renting space in a building
The poem is alluding to someone who has broken the speaker’s heart – ex ‘rented’ space in
speaker’s life and then abandoned speaker, ex is the one who initiated the breakup, and
speaker is bereft (deprived) of love
The speaker could be addressing another potential lover – ‘my heart’ is mentioned, so there
is a suggestion that it could be someone the speaker might love and who might love the
speaker, but unfortunately the speaker admits that there is no room left in their heart as the
previous occupant has left behind baggage, making the speaker unsuitable as a partner.
The speaker feels lonely
Movement
No fixed rhyme scheme
Intention
Commenting on previous relationship by comparing ex to a careless tenant (stereotypically,
tenants can be destructive and careless, there is little incentive to look after the rented
space because they do not own the property)
o The ‘tenant’ appears to have ‘left without a word’ – the speaker was not expecting
ex to leave and keeps ‘hoping she will come back and collect the luggage’
o The ‘tenant’ didn’t ‘clean out the place’ and has left ‘marks on the walls’
