LINE 1

Black, green and gold at sunset: pageantry  

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The poem is operating on a political level.  The resistance movement in South Africa has its own flag, as opposed to the State flag; the resistance movement's flag is black, green and gold. The choice of those colours at the beginning of the poem is not an accident. Also, many of the colleagues of this doctor attended her funeral wearing their university robes; these were black caps and gowns, but often with a gold hood indicating an arts degree, green indicating a science degree; so again, you have a combination of black, green and gold. 

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at sunset – the end of the day which is symbolic of death.  Creates sombre mood. Connotations of darkness and sadness.

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Pageantry – the flag is part of a ceremonial display, a formal ceremony with symbolic clothing and rituals. This creates the impression that it is just for show, because all of that does not matter now as all hopes and dreams are lost with her death.

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LINE 2

And stubbled graves: expectant, of eternity,

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stubbled graves – stubble is the stalks of crops left sticking out after a harvest, or the remains of a person’s beard left on their face after shaving. This implies that the graves were in a state of neglect and they looked untidy/unkempt as they are covered in dead grass stalks.

 expectant, – the graveyard is portrayed as being hungry (Personification) for more bodies as death is inevitable.  This emphasises that we all have to die.  /The grave is personified as an expectant mother waiting for her child.

of eternity – ambiguous: either the dead will remain in their graves for an eternity, or the belief that the afterlife will not end. 

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LINES 3-4

In bride’s-white, nun’s-white veils the nurses gush their bounty

Of red-wine cloaks, frothing the bugled dirging slopes  

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Nurses from the hospital attended the funeral. In South Africa the nurses wore cloaks which were lined with bright red - the "red-wine." Other nurses at the funeral wore white, which echo the nuns in their habits "In bride'-white, nun 's-white veils."  The nurses in the hospital are willing to give everything to save the lives of those who fight for liberation. The connotations of “brides” and “nuns” implies innocence, purity, holiness and a new life.

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Gush – flow out fast.

Bounty – refers to something in abundance.  Many people are showing their grief.

Frothing highlights the number of nurses.

"the bugled dirging."  This suggests that it was a military funeral.

Slopes – means going up / down. This could be the sound of the bugle.  The slopes around the graveyard are also personified, as though the land itself is mourning the young doctor.

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LINE 5

Salute! Then ponder all this hollow panoply  

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Salute! – means to honour, or literally salute the dead, as one would a soldier. Gesture of respect. The ‘!’ emphasises that this is a command.

Panoply – a splendid display. This is a meaningless ceremony with flags and speeches. Meaningless because it changes nothing.

The speaker asks the reader to contemplate the implications of this funeral, and death in general. He encourages the reader to look further than the display (funeral flowers, all the people, the sad music etc), which lacks sincerity.

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LINE 6

For one whose gifts the mud devours, with our hopes.

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‘one’ refers to Valencia Majombozi. (deceased).

‘Gifts’ refers to her ability as a doctor to heal and bring comfort to others. 

 Devour - eat greedily, hungrily or quickly. The mud of a graveyard is compared to a hungry mouth.  The personification emphasises that all her hopes and those of her people are now buried in the earth.  Tone of despair/sadness.

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LINE 7

Oh all you frustrate ones, powers tombed in dirt,

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 The poet uses Apostrophe (Figure of Speech) as he addresses the dead directly.

 Frustrate – to prevent the success of something or to cause irritation and anger by preventing dreams from being realised. They are powerful enough to cause frustration (to the government) rather than being passively frustrated. 

 The dead are described as powers tombed in dirt -their potential is buried because of their deaths.

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LINE 8

Aborted, not by Death but carrion books of birth

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“ aborted” – Ending of life before it has begun

"carrion books of birth, " - the life of a Black person begins as a kind of death. From the moment of birth you're given this Pass Book, so that you cease to be a human being from the point of birth. You are devoured. You become carrion- dead flesh. This ties in with the notion of abortion. The poet regards the Black people as being dead, not because they died, but because their freedom is taken away due to oppression and the pass books.  The apartheid government is even more cruel and deadly than death itself - it is not Death that kills people, but the passbook (“books of birth”) which symbolises the cruel apartheid laws.  

Aborted – abortion is the deliberate ending of pregnancy by killing an unborn foetus. The dead are described as being “aborted” (i.e., killed before they could live), not by Death but by “books of birth” (a reference/allusion to the dompas or passbooks).  

“Death” with a capital letter - Death is personified.

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LINE 9

Arise!  The brassy shout of Freedom stirs our earth;  

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The dead are addressed directly and told to rebel or “Arise!” against the government.

- literally - Stand up but also a reference to “rise up!” which means “Start a revolution!” – another command, defiant tone. Freedom is capitalised to show that it is important, as it is personified as shouting to wake the dead. Describing Freedom’s shout as “brassy” refers to the bugle in line 4, which was used to play the “dirge”/Last Post.  Here, music does not send the dead to their rest, but awakens them.

 

LINE 10

Not death but death’s-head tyranny scythes our ground  

 

It's helpful to know the symbol of "death's-head tyranny." The insignia used by Nazis was skull and crossbones. 

Death – is personified as the Grim Reaper with his scythe (a harvesting tool, used to “harvest” or collect the dead). The poet compares the South African apartheid government to the death-head wearing Nazis in World War 2.

Tyrant – a ruthless and cruel dictator. According to the poet, Death is not destroying South Africa, but “death-head tyranny”.

Scythes – to cut something violently

Our ground – is a reference to the land, where the Group Areas act excluded people of colour.  

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LINE 11

And plots our narrow cells of pain defeat and dearth – 

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Plots – pun: a small piece of land (e.g., a plot where a grave is dug) or to “plot” - to plan something, often something evil. 

Narrow cells of pain – could be the graves in a graveyard, the prison cells where prisoners of the apartheid government had been jailed, or the small houses in disadvantaged areas that people of colour had been forced to live in, as a result of the Group Areas Act. 

Dearth – things that are in short supply (e.g., food or basic necessities). 

The poet implies that pain, suffering and death was deliberately caused by the apartheid government.

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LINE 12

Better that we should die, than that we should lie down – 

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lie down – if a person “lies down” when attacked or arrested, they show that they are surrendering or submitting. The poet implies that it is better for people to resist apartheid and die, rather than give up or surrender. There is no full stop after “we should lie down”. This implies that there is no end to resistance and no surrender.

This line also implies that the poet has come to terms with the tragedy of the young doctor’s death - she died, rather than choosing to “lie down” or surrender to apartheid, and the poet sees this as “better”. 

 The poet uses “we” and therefore identifies with the struggle against apartheid.