How effective is the use of contrast in The Song of the Women of my Land ?
Explanation
Sesay's "Song of the Women of my Land'' examines the human condition, the suffering of women, oppression, pain, the ravages of time and death. Social criticism is at the heart of this poem. The poem further underscores the point that people die but artists or poets have the ability to preserve them in their art, for all eternity. Contrast is dominant in the poem and encompasses more in the use of metaphors and similes.
"They ploughed the terrain of their mindscape/ for a song" – This metaphor describes their minds as a garden or farmland that is ploughed in preparation for the sowing of seeds. This figure of speech suggests how they thought very seriously about the most appropriate song that can capture or describe their pathetic situation.
"They sponged off their anguish." -This is a very powerful metaphor that compares the way people mop floors or swab wounds to the way the women use their song to ease their anguish. This is almost therapeutic. This metaphor conveys not only what the women have in their lives (they do have a song) but more importantly, what they do not have in their lives – men. That is, they lack men who can champion their cause, or heal their pain and they now use their song as a balm for their agony.
The above excerpts are examples of how the poet uses vivid differences to show similarities and emphasize the central idea of the poem.