I LOVE YOU MY GENTLE ONE BY RALF BITAMAZIRE Selected Poems by Tanzania Institute of Education
I LOVE YOU MY GENTLE ONE BY RALF BITAMAZIRE
I love you, my gentle one;
My love is the fresh milk in the rubindi Which you drank, on the wedding day;
My love is the butter we were smeared with To seal fidelity into our hearts.
You are the cattle-birds’s egg
For those who saw you are wealthy; You are the papyrus reed of the lake, Which they pull out with both hands. And I sing for you with tears Because you possess my heart:
I love you my gentle one.
GUIDING QUESTIONS:
Qn 1. What is the poem all about?
Answ: This poem is all about the deep feelings of affection of a man towards his wife whom he calls the gentle one.
Qn 2. Who is the person speaking in the poem?
Answ: The person speaking in this poem is a man (a husband) talking to his wife (the gentle one).
Qn 3. To whom does the persona talk to?
Answ: The persona talks to his wife, therefore it can be concluded that, the addressee (audience) of this poem is the persona’s wife.
Qn 4. What is the setting of the poem?
Answ: The Setting of the poem can be Uganda, particularly in Rutoro society. This is because the imagery is all connected to the Rutoro pastoral culture.
Qn 5. What kind of a poem is this?
Answ: This is a love poem (lyric) as it addresses the issue of love and its main theme is just affection.
Qn 6. Comment on the figures of speech and musical devices used in this poem. Answ: [a] Metaphor. – “My love is the fresh milk ”
– “My love is the butter ”
– “You are the cattle bird’s egg ”
– “You are the papyrus reed of the lake……”
[b] Imagery. – “You are the papyrus reed of the lake
which they pull out with both hands..”
[c] Hyperbole (Overstatement). – “And I sing for you with tears
Because you possess my heart…”
The above statement is overstatement as in actual sense, it can never happen for a human being to possess the heart of another person; the persona uses overstatement to show intense feelings of deep affection he has to his wife.
Qn 10. What are the possible themes of the poem?
Answ: The possible themes of this poem are true love, African tradition and honesty and sincerity.
{i} True love.
There is a true love portrayed in this poem between a husband and his wife. Due to true love he has to his wife, the persona compares his wife with valuable things found in their society such as cattle-birds’ egg and the papyrus reed of the lake.
{ii} African tradition.
This also is another theme depicted in this poem. It is shown in this poem that, during wedding day, the couple (a husband and a wife) has to drink fresh milk from the rubindi (traditional milk pot) and also they should be smeared with butter so as to seal fidelity into their hearts.
Apart from that, another African tradition shown in this poem is that, before marriage, the suitor for a girl has to pluck (pull) with both hands a reed from the middle of the lake to show how seriously he loves the girl.
{iii} The Position of woman in the society.
The woman in this poem is shown as the wife of the persona, the mother of the family who has responsibility of taking care of the family, to love her husband and the children. This is a good position of woman in the society in a sense that she has been positively portrayed by the poet of this poem. The woman shown in the poem is not a prostitute, cohabitant of the persona or his tool of entertainment.