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WHEN I
SAY I LOVE YOU
Jwani
Mwaikusa
Don’t
take my word, little bird,
For I’m
just like a child
That
speaks to imitate,
Repeating
after its mate
“I love
you, I love you”
These
words are not mine.
I utter them crooked
Like the very world
That taught me to talk
“I love you, I love you”
Concealing with fake flowers
The jagged rocks beneath,
Standing hard and ready
To stab your unsuspecting bottom,
As it falls on the seemingly soft soil
Slightly scratched by hasty ploughs.
Don’t
listen to me, honey bee,
As I sing
climbing your tree,
Honey
hunters taught me the trick,
To sing
the song and make you sick,
With song
and smoke in search of sweetness;
They calm
your sting and make you helpless.
You lie
deep in slumber
While
your hive they plunder
And away
they go, avoiding your anger,
Till too
late you know they brought you hunger.
Don’t
long for my word, therefore,
And for
my crooked mouth to utter
The
useless to your ears:
“I love
you, I love you.”
Don’t
look at me when I say
I love
you,
But seek
for truth instead.
INTRODUCTION
The poem “When
I say I love you” is a critique to the behaviour of most men who cheat
women and girls that they love them while in reality the words don’t come from
the heart. They use this as a trick to get girls cheaply just to satisfy their
ego (sexual desires). The persona awakens the women to be aware of such lies.
He uses the symbols of honey bee and
little bird to symbolise women/girl
and honey hunters for men. The whole poem seems like an allegory. That is to
say it has two levels of meaning. At one level it shows the relationship
between men and women and at another level it shows the relationship between
rich nations and poor nations.
THEMATIC
ANALYSIS
HONESTY
The persona
is honest in the question of love. He admits that in most cases when men tell
girls that they love them they don’t speak honestly from the heart. It is just
a trick to get girls falling into their traps. He shows this in the very
beginning of the poem where he says;
Don’t take my word little bird
For I’m just like a child
That speaks to imitate
Repeating after its mate
“I love you, I love you”
These words are not mine
He shows that all he does is to speak like
everybody else does when he wants to get a girl for sex. He says;
These words are not mine
I utter them crooked
Like the very world
That taught me to talk
“I love you, I love you
CHEATING
IN LOVE/HYPOCRISY
The poet shows that most love affairs are based on
lies and hypocrisy. The words ‘I love you’ do not necessarily mean what they
happen to suggest. So the persona urges the girls to seek for truths when any
man tells them ‘I love you’ in the final stanza he advices;
Don’t look at me when I say
‘I love you’
But seek for truth instead
EXPLOITATION
Poems have many interpretations. This poem seems at
one level to be an allegory so it calls for digging the deeper meaning of it.
In a broader perspective the poem may be analysed in a sense of being
politically charged. The honey bee may also represent
developing countries that are fooled by rich nations by using aids. He shows
that at times, honey hunters (rich nations/capitalists) come with sweet songs
(policies) in search for sweetness (our resources like gold,
diamond, ivory, gas). They make us calm and plunder (exploit) our
resources and go away. When we come to discover it they are gone. Look at the
following lines and visualise what they mean.
Don’t listen to me honey bee,
As I sing climbing your tree
Honey hunters taught me the trick
To sing the song and make you sick,
With song and smoke in search of sweetness
They calm your sting and make you helpless
You lie deep in slumber
While your hive they plunder
And away they go, avoiding your anger,
Till too late you know they brought you hunger
GUIDING QUESTIONS
a. What
is the tone and mood of the poem?
The
tone is lovely and romantic. The mood is also romantic.
b. What
type of the poem is this?
This
is a lyric poem as it expresses the feelings of the poet.
c. Comment
on the Figures of speech
i. Personification.
Ø
The very world that taught me to talk
Ø
Don’t listen to me honey bee
Ø
Don’t take my word little bird
ii. Simile
I’m just like a child
iii.
Euphemism- the poet explains the act of making love euphemistically in this way.
‘The jagged rock beneath’ (male sexual organ)
‘Standing hard and ready to stab’ (erection)
‘As it falls on the seemingly soft soil’ (penetrates into the female sexual organ)
‘Slightly scratched by hasty ploughs’ (copulation)
iv. Symbolism
Little bird and honey bee = represent women/girls or developing nations
Honey hunters = men or developed countries
A hive and sweetness = resources
Jagged rocks (penis), soft
soil (vagina) hasty ploughs
(copulation)
v. Imagery
Ø
Gustatory image. This is an Image of taste
In search of sweetness
Ø
Image of touch
Soft soil
Standing hard
Ø
Kinetic image this is an Image of motion
Hasty ploughs
Climbing your tree
Ø
Auditory image this is an image of sound
As I sing
vi. Repetition
‘I love I love you’
vii. Alliteration
As it falls on the seemingly soft soil.
Concealing with fake flowers
viii. Allegory
An allegory is a story, poem or painting in which the characters and
events are symbols of something else.
All the characters in the poem are symbolic. Little bird, honey bee,
honey hunters are all symbols for humanity.
ix. Poetic
licence
v
‘And
away they go’ instead of ‘and they go away’
v
‘While your
hive they plunder’ instead of ‘while they plunder your hive’. This is done to achieve poetic effect.
d. Comment
on the rhyming scheme.
Largely, the poem has irregular rhyming pattern with
exception of stanza three that has a regular rhyming pattern of AA BB CC DD EE
i.e. bee/tree, trick/sick, sweetness/helpless, slumber/plunder, anger/hunger
e. Who
is the persona? How do you know?
The persona is a man who makes girls aware of the
tricks men use to get them. This is revealed from the ways he addresses the
bird/honeybee (girl) not to trust him when he says “I love you”
f. What
is the message of the poem?
Ø
Don’t
trust everybody who says he loves you.
Ø
It
is good to be honest in love affairs.
Ø
Exploitation
by rich nations makes poor nations poorer. So developing nations should be
careful with western aids.
g. Is
the poem relevant to your society?
The poem is relevant because cheating in love is now a
way of life.
Up to now rich nations still plunder our resources in
the name of aids.
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