William Plomer (1932 – 1996)

The poet, William Plomer, was born in the Northern Transvaal in 1903. He was a novelist, broadcaster and editor – in fact, he edited many of Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels. Throughout his life, Plomer observed and commented on the issues of race and culture in South Africa. He was called the father of modern poetry in our country. Plomer died in 1973.

The main theme in ‘The wild doves at Louis Trichardt’ is that Africa would be ‘good’ if it were not for the human beings that invaded the continent. Nature and man used to be in harmony but the disruption of man has led to disturbance and disharmony. Man and nature are no longer compatible and do not live together harmoniously any more.

In the first stanza of the poem, the poet creates a sense of busyness and activity: ‘long files/ Of ants and men, all bearing loads.’ Notice that the men and ants are working together and are involved in the same activity. The poet has created a sense of harmony and cohesion (unity and togetherness) between human beings and nature. People have not yet invaded or exploited Africa.  The poet uses a metaphor in ‘The sun’s gong beats’. In the same way that a gong calls people, the sun calls people to work and ‘sweat runs down’ as a result of hard physical labour. Again the poet reinforces the idea that man and nature are in harmony. The poet also suggests the intense heat of the day in using the image of the ‘sun’s gong’ beating.

In line 4 a mason-hornet (a large stinging wasp) ‘shapes his hanging house.’ The word ‘shapes’ suggests the attention to detail and the care with which the creature builds his home. The poet uses alliteration in the image ‘In a wide flood of flowers’ to convey a sense of the abundance and beauty of nature. There is a dignity in the ‘crested cranes’ as they ‘bow(ing) to their food.’ The final line of stanza one introduces a foreboding (threatening) note that contrasts sharply with the previous harmony and celebration of nature: ‘From the north today there is ominous news’. There is no indication at this stage of the poem what his ‘ominous news’ is but it certainly invades the orderliness that the poet has developed in the preceding (previous) lines.

In the second stanza the poet focuses on the intense heat of the midday and the high pitched sound of the cicadas (shrill sounding insects). The word ‘mad’ suggests the extreme ‘din’ (very loud noise) of the cicadas – in fact their sound is so ‘intensive and continuing’ that the poet refers to them as ‘stridulators’ or insects that produce an earsplitting and droning noise. The words ‘sizzling’, ‘overheated’ and ‘white-hot zenith’ emphasise the overpowering heat. The ‘zenith’ is the highest point of the sun at its midday hottest. The word ‘sizzling’ could be interpreted as onomatopoeia as the heat is so overwhelming that the air almost sizzles (hisses) in the midday sun. The insects revel in this heat, however, there is a suggestion that man cannot endure the intensities of the heat and the sound which becomes ‘too high to bear’.

In the third stanza the poet describes man’s reaction to the extreme heat. Man cannot tolerate this fierce heat that is conveyed in the metaphor: ‘Oven of afternoon’. The insects cope but man attempts to escape into ‘shadow’ or ‘shaded rooms’ or by hiding faces in ‘folded arms’. The final line of the third stanza refers back to line 7 in stanza one. The ‘ominous news’ from the north could be a reference to a war in the north of Africa as now the people ‘sleep’ or lie in ‘attitudes of the sick, the shot, the dead’. The poet is suggesting that man is now out of harmony with nature as he needs to hide from its intensities. Furthermore the poet alludes to man’s violence and possibly even his corruption and moral deterioration in his suggestion of war.

In the final stanza the poet celebrates the supremacy of nature. While man is overcome by the extremities (excessive temperatures and sounds), the wild doves begin ‘bubbling their coolest colloquies (conversations)’. Notice the contrast that the poet establishes between stanza three and stanza four. In stanza four there is a sense of calm, coolness and serenity. The pace is slow and smooth. The doves have ‘neat silk heads’ and bubble with eagerness and delight. The poet uses a metaphor to compare the doves’ heads to silk implying that their heads are smooth and cool to the touch. This coolness is enhanced by the use of the refreshing word ‘liquidly’ in line 25. The alliteration ‘coolest colloquies’ emphasises the enthusiasm and pure joy of the birds as they coo and converse with one another. From their ‘tent of leaves’ in the trees the birds appear to announce their ‘formulae’ or solution: ‘Men being absent, Africa is good’. This formula is ‘pronounced’ with conviction and ‘Clearer than man-made music could’. Again the poet stresses the dominion (superiority and power) of nature. There is a suggestion, though, that this could be temporary as the war in the north could move down and man could exploit and spoil nature. In the first stanza it was suggested that man was in sync (in harmony) with nature but by the final stanza it is apparent that this has changed. For the time being though, nature is supreme.