Examine the theme of 'Nature' in 'Before the Sun' and 'Praise Song' OR 'Where I Come From'
Examine the theme of 'Nature' in 'Before the Sun' and 'Praise Song' OR 'Where I Come From' ‘Praise Song for My Mother’ was written by Grace Nichols, who was born in Georgetown, Guyana, a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America. ‘Before the Sun’ was written by Charles Mungoshi who, on the other hand, was born in Zimbabwe. Since both poets are from tropical countries, they have similar geographical backgrounds. Both the poets wrote their poems based on the relationship between them and a figure that they highly respect and look up to. In ‘Praise Song for My Mother’, the title clearly demonstrates that Grace Nichols admires and looks up to her mother, who was separated either geographically or by death (the use of past tense in the poem). In the poem, Grace Nichols describes her mother to be highly valued figures using allegory, such as water, the moon, the sun, and a flame tree. Water is scarce in Guyana, which means that it is challenging to find clean water, hence the description of Nichols’s mother being “deep, bold, and fathoming”. The moon is mainly looked as feminism, fertility, and a cycle. This explains how Grace Nichols describes her mother to be “pulling, grained, and mantling”, where grained means patterns, and mantling conveys covers, which could signify that her mother was a sort of shelter or comfort and safety. Describing her mother to be like the sunrise, Grace Nichols mentions how she was pulling, warm, and streaming. This conveys that her mother was a stream of warmth, and light, which also means purity and security. Grace Nichol’s mother was also depicted at a “flame tree”, which signifies security, shelter, and protection. In ‘Before the Sun’, the figure that Charles Mungoshi highly respects is the sun, which in African culture symbolizes the father. The sunrise in the poem symbolizes a new start, and in this case the boy is starting a new life becoming a grown man. Because of this, he looks up to the fatherly figure as an