Poetry From Other Cultures

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Compare and contrast the notions of culture and identify in ‘Half-caste’ by John Agard and ‘Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan’ by Moniza Alvi.

The poems I have chosen to analyse are ‘Half-Caste’ by John Agard and ‘Presents from my aunts in Pakistan’ by Moniza Alvi. I have decided to focus on these poems because I believe they project strong messages and discuss the issues of identities and mixed race. Furthermore, both poems are autobiographical and the poets are from different cultures to each other.

As readers, it is very interesting to understand their different views about mixed race backgrounds as we are from a different culture to them. John Agard is a respected Caribbean poet who has won the Paul Hamlyn Award in 1997. On the other hand, Moniza Alvi was born in Pakistan and has achieved the Poetry Business Prize in 1991.

Both poets confess the difficulties of living in different cultures and not knowing their fixed nationality. John Agard was born on 21 June 1949 in Guyana. His mother was white and Portuguese but his father was a black Englishman, therefore making him half-caste.

He began to write poems at the age of sixteen and many were published in the school magazine. In the 1970’s he moved to England where he not only progressed to become a literary poet but also moved on to develop into a performing poet.

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From there, he has travelled significantly performing his consequential poetry. In his poem ‘Half-Caste’, Agard has accepted the fact that he is half-caste but he is very concerned about the term. He uses various everyday objects and famous people to aid him in giving his views about the term.

Other Cultures Poetry

‘Half-Caste’ is an interesting title to use. It is a one word phrase, short and simple. What is more, it is direct and refers to what the poem is going to be related to. Agard begins the poem by capturing our attention and describing the image of a half-caste person. ‘Excuse me standing on one leg I’m half-caste’ Firstly, he says ‘Excuse me’, as it is a polite way to ask us to accept him as he is half-caste. He then continues to describe a bizarre image of a person who is ‘standing on one leg’ as he is like half a person.

He does this as he is ridiculing the term ‘half-caste’ in order for the readers to understand Agard’s interpretation of the phrase. The beginning of the second stanza is asking us to give our explanation of the term ‘half-caste’. ‘Explain yuself wha yu mean when yu say half-caste’ He asks the readers this question as a first attempt togain our justification of ‘half-caste’. This question is repeated three more times in the poem as he emphasises the fact that he wants an answer. Next, Agard tells us how Picasso mixes different colours to create his works of art. ‘… when Picasso

mix red an green is a half-caste canvas’ He has chosen to use Picasso as an example for his meaning of ‘half-caste’ because he is a well-respected and famous artist who is familiar to most people. He is saying that if Picasso combines dissimilar colours together, does that mean he has produced a half-caste canvas? Obviously, the answer is no and therefore in Agard’s opinion this shows how ludicrous the term ‘half-caste’ is. Following the previous example, Agard illustrates the weather in England as an image of the idiom of ‘half-caste’. ‘… when light an shadow mix in de sky

is a half-caste weather’ In this example ‘england weather’ is mostly ‘half-caste weather’ as ir is usually quite clear and bright but cloudy at the same time, which is almost like two different types of weather merged together. This is ironic example for the readers to establish his connotation of ‘half-caste’. Subsequently, Agard demonstrates how the weather in England is ‘half-caste’. ‘… some o dem cloud half-caste till dem overcast so spiteful dem don’t want de sun pass’ This quote uses personification as it is saying that the clouds are malicious and won’t let the sun pass.

Effectively, this suggests that people who use the phrase ‘half-caste’ don’t know how it feels and it can frequently cause offense. Moving on, Tchaikovsky is another famous person who is used to depict Agard’s conception of ‘half-caste’. In this example, he is describing how Tchaikovsky composes his symphonies. ‘… mix a black key wid a white key is a half-caste symphony’ Here, Agard is referring specifically and directly to different races. He us comparing different skin colours to different coloured objects. Tchaikovsky was presumably chosen for the same reasons as Picasso as this example is very similar to his.

He has selected famous people to explain his views of ‘half-caste’ as they are well-known and revered. In the third stanza, Agard is describing how he feels when communicating with people who call him ‘half-caste’. ‘Ah listening to yu wid de keen half of mih ear. Ah looking at yu wid de keen half of mih eye’ Clearly, no one can have half an ear or half an eye but this shows that Agard feels he has divided body parts because he is called half-caste. In addition to this, Agard still feels he is like half a person in his subconscious as well as when he is awake. ‘… at night I close half-a-eye consequently when I dream

I dream half a dream’ He says this to emphasise the fact that he feels he has half a body hence, only undertaking ‘half’ of everyday activities such as being able to ‘offer yu half-a-hand’ which is a nonsensical suggestion. Subsequently, Agard declares the fact that he is of mixed race and states his identity. ‘I half-caste human being’ I believe that in this line, Agard is admitting and accepting that he is half-caste and is acknowledging his identity. However, the next line shows us that he still feels he is like half a person as he ‘cast half-a-shadow’ Towards the end of the stanza, Agard compares ‘whole’ people to himself.

… de whole of yu eye an de whole of yu ear an de whole of yu mind’ This shows us that Agard wants people to be fully looking, hearing and understanding him as he demands previously:- ‘… yu must come back tomorrow’ Agard explains his demand in the last stanza which is like the first stanza, only three lines long. ‘an I will tell yu de other half of my story’ This has occurred as he feels he can’t express his point across at one time and so needs to break it into two smaller sections for those people to understand him. Unmistakably, this is indeed very poignant and sad.

To conclude, Agard has written a well-mannered, expressive poem of his views of the term ‘half-caste’ although it is very outspoken and quite satirical. The poem is written in four stanzas of varying length. The breaks between the stanzas force us to think and reflect on what we’ve just read. There is no regular rhyme scheme although quite a few lines rhyme in the poem. The first stanza is written in standard English but the others are written in a Caribbean dialect. This is because it makes the reader feel they are talking like the poet. There is no punctuation and most of the poem is written in lower case.

This is to show that he is breaking the rules of what people feel is important as he feels he is breaking the rules by existing. An example of this is the capital ‘t’ for Tchaikovsky, the famous Russian composer. This poem is very effective and after reading it, it has made me think about using the term ‘half-caste’ more carfully. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE John Agard: Half-Caste section. Download this essay Print Save Here’s what a teacher thought of this essay 3 star(s)