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In this poem, Campbell describes a Black farm labourer ploughing a field where his ancestors once fought
tribal wars. He compares the field to the man's heart, cut and torn by the insults of White people.
Campbell concludes the poem with a warning: the Black man is patiently waiting for the time when he can
destroy the institutions and way of life of the Whites.
ABOUT THE POET
Roy Campbell was born in Durban in 1901 and was at one stage considered to be one of South Africa's
best poets. His popularity, however, has waned in recent years so that today his poetry is hardly ever
read.
Educated at Durban High School, he spent much of his youth in the great outdoors -- something that is
reflected in many of his poems like "The Zebras" and "Autumn". As soon as the Great War
was over, however, he moved to England where he attended Oxford University.
He married Mary Garman, a marriage which did not carry his parents' consent and therefore meant that,
for a time at least, Campbell was struck off from his inheritance. He had two daughters by this marriage.
In 1925, he returned to South Africa and founded a literary magazine called Voorslag which was
meant to promote cultural development amongst the Afrikaners whom the poet regarded as backward and
uncouth.
Very soon disillusionment set in, however, and he returned to England. His disillusionment continued even
there as he fell foul of his own fellow poets because of the many rude things he said about them in his
poems -- and even of his wife whom he found was not averse to lesbian affairs.
During the early 1930s he settled in the Provence region of France -- the scene for one of his greatest
poems, "Horses on the Camargue". During this time he was slowly drawn to Catholicism and
drunkenness.
In the mid-1930s, due to a loss in a civil lawsuit, the Campbell family fled to Spain where the poet became
an avid supporter of the fascist dictator, General Franco.
He also supported Adolph Hitler and Benito Mussolini. This support saw the poet's reputation slump even
further amongst his literary colleagues.
When World War II broke out, the poet moved back to England and enlisted for military duty. It was
during those years that he became close friends with the Welsh poet and fellow drunkard, Dylan Thomas.
After the war, the poet returned to the Iberian Peninsula but this time settled in Portugal. He died in a car
accident over the Easter weekend of 1957.
Have you looked at the questions in the right column?
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TEST YOURSELF!
Read the left column and then answer the following questions:
Comment on the significance of the title, "The Serf". (5)
[Need help?]
Serfs were labourers who were only slightly better off than slaves. They were part of the European feudal
system which permitted them to hold land in exchange for work, service and allegiance to the land owner.
They were not allowed to leave the land on which they worked.
The word also has connotations of oppression and drudgery. By choosing this title, Campbell emphasises
the downtrodden, oppressed state of this Black labourer. It prepares us for the resentment the labourer
feels towards the White people who have taken over his ancestral lands.
The serf in the poem symbolises all the suppressed people of the world, but especially in Africa, which
was colonised and exploited by the European powers. National pride eventually led to the overthrow of
the foreign powers.
The word is also reminiscent of the French Revolution when the people revolted and overthrew the
monarchy.
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"His naked skin clothed in the torrid mist."
- What is Campbell's intention when he describes the labourer as "naked"? (3)
[Need help?]
The labourer's upper torso is naked to emphasise that he is in his natural state. It conveys the labourer's
closeness to the earth. He is in touch with nature.
The description is linked to line 13, where Campbell refers to the "naked earth", thus establishing
a connection between the labourer and the land which has been taken away from his people.
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"His naked skin clothed in the torrid mist
That puffs in smoke around the patient hooves."
- Discuss the effectiveness of the metaphors in these two lines. (4)
[Need help?]
There are two metaphors in these lines:
- The dust which is raised by the plough oxen covers the serf's body like clothing;
- The dust is also compared with mist and smoke.
Dust, smoke and mist are similar in that they are cloudlike, move gently in a breeze and do not form a
solid barrier. They resemble a fine, light sprinkling. They obscure, but do not hide anything completely.
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"The ploughman drives, a slow somnambulist."
- Explain why the serf is described as a "somnambulist". (4)
[Need help?]
A "somnambulist" is one who walks in his sleep.
This metaphor compares the serf with a sleepwalker since he is so used to doing this dull, repetitive labour
that he appears to be ploughing in his sleep. He is able simply to go through the motions without
concentrating.
There is also the implication that things can change when he comes out of this sleep-like state: he will
be focussed on destroying the White man, his symbols and his power.
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"more deeply than he wounds the plain."
- Identify and comment on the use of the figure of speech in this line. (4)
[Need help?]
There is PERSONIFICATION in the use of the verb "wounds".
Campbell uses the word to convey the tearing and ripping of the soil and grass as it is cut by the plough.
The earth is "crimson", not only because of the colour of the soil but also because it implies that
the earth is bleeding from its wound.
The word is linked to the hurt the serf has experienced. He has been wounded emotionally by White
people's insults.
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"His heart, more deeply than he wounds the plain,
Long by the rasping share of insult torn,
Red clod, to which the war-cry once was rain
And tribal spears the fatal sheaves of corn,
Lies fallow now."
- Paraphrase these lines (rewrite them in your own words). (5)
[Need help?]
The lines need to be condensed to read: "His heart lies fallow now."
Campbell makes a comparison between the cutting into the soil of the plough and the way in which the
serf's heart has been wounded even more by the insults of White people.
Just as the red clods of the field are left to rest, the serf is patiently waiting for the right time. The "war
cry" and the "tribal spears" symbolise the era when his ancestors once ruled the land and fought
tribal wars. These have now been replaced by the sheaves of grain of the Whites.
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- Point out what "insult" the serf has had to endure. (2)
[Need help?]
These insults are verbal attacks, involving discriminatory comments and barbs about intelligence and
social status.
The word also refers to the serf's pride which has been insulted by White oppression and the systematic
detribalisation and eradication of African culture.
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- Explain why the use of the words "rasping share" is so appropriate. (3)
[Need help?]
"Rasping" means scraping away roughly. A "share" is a plough.
By using these words, Campbell continues the metaphor of the plough tearing through the grass and soil.
These words, which echo the word "torn", further emphasise the hurt the serf has experienced.
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"And ploughs down palaces, and thrones, and towers."
- Discuss Campbell's use of repetition in this line. (3)
[Need help?]
The repetition of "and" suggests that the serf will be relentless. Once he revolts against White rule,
there will be no stopping him. He will persist until he has eradicated every single scrap of evidence of
White rule.
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- Why has Campbell specified the buildings to be destroyed as being "palaces", "thrones"
and "towers"? (2)
[Need help?]
These are all symbols of White rule and oppression. They symbolise the old order -- the European royal
families and governments that colonised Africa, subjecting the African's to foreign rule.
Campbell emphasises the serf's resentment towards White rule and domination.
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