In this
piece, it is helpful to understand the speaker's . "blkfern-jungal" by Aileen Corpus,
is an example of Black Australian Aboriginal verse. As with any kind of poetry, there are
literary devices to be found.
First, note that dialect
is defined as...
...the language of a particular district,
class, or group of persons. It encompasses the sounds, grammar, andemployed by a specific people
as distinguished from other persons...
The use of dialect
makes the poem more realistic, and its main character more believable, simply by using the
language of the poor, uneducated, living on "Regent Street."
One
device that is used is inference, which takes place when the reader
(through clues left by the writer) can...
...draw a
reasonable conclusion from the information presented.
Look to the following excerpt:
wlkn down regent
street i see ۬blks hoo display blknez ۬
(i min they
sens of blknez)...
The speaker is walking down the
street. He sees black men that look black, or rather, convey
a sense of blackness. We can infer this to mean that they are black in
terms of their skin color, but they are not "black" culturally: they have nothing in
common with the speaker. They offer a meaningless observation to the speakerthat in time he will
one day rise above his place in the "gutta" (gutter). And when that time comes,
magically (or so it would seemfor they offer nothing substantial, like a job, etc.), his life
will change dramatically. They say that time is...
...gonna lif yoo outta ۬
yor blk hole n sho yoo ۬
how twlk n dress n tlk.
They tell the man that
he will be raised out of his poverty ("blk hole") and he will know how to walk, dress
and talk. This infers
that he knows none of these things now. Obviously this is nonsense, for
time will not make these things happenchange must come from opportunity and assistance:
education, fair housing, food, employment, etc.
The speaker looks more
closely at these men with a "sense of blackness," and he notices
a halo around their heads:
n i look up n see ۬
arown th haylo of they hair, ۬
a cosmetic afro ring
€“€¨shiny haze €¨
like it blines me man!!
"Haylo of they hair" is a
href="http://highered.mheducation.com/sites/0072405228/student_view0/drama_glossary.html">metaphor,
comparing an angel's halo to the glow around their Afros. Perhaps the sunshine on their
title="coiffed">coiffed hair is reflecting a lightfrom a gel or spray
they are wearing.
The man studies how they are dressed:
so mu eyes go down tthair
smart soot ol prest n
cleenn thair hi heel kork shooz...
They have beautiful clothes and shoes. The speaker looks at himself, and studies his
own "soiled blknez." But it doesn't seem a bad thing.
A funny thing takes place. Ironically, these well-dressed men believe
they understand the speaker's life, but they are really only smug and
condescendingas if they are saying, "You can be like usin time."
After the near-blinding light is gone, the speaker sees beyond their appearance to a truthhe has
an epiphany (insight that changes his way of thinking). This, now, is
irony">situational irony: the difference between what
you expect to happen and what really happens. Instead
of having men with only a "sense of blackness" enlighten
him about life, he turns the tables. He advises them...
€˜ime gonna lif yoo outta €¨
yore blk hole n sho
yoo ۬how twlk n dress n tlk
The men
don't have any answers at all! So he gives them the same advice
they gave him. He's comfortable with the
truth
of his "blknez." Maybe they will feel the
samein time.
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