y In the Midst of Hardship is a poem that reminds us y y y y y y

that life has its ups and downs. People are faced with great difficulties during natural disasters such as floods and earthquakes. They encounter hardship, pain and even death. However, the natural disaster will eventually subside. Life will go on. Instead of lamenting over the painful experience, the villagers in this poem choose to be grateful to be alive. They still have their home and each other. Life will go on, they will get over the hardship together and resume their lives.

At dawn they returned home their soaky clothes torn and approached the stove their limbs marked by scratches their legs full of wounds but on their brows there was not a sign of despair

The whole day and night just passed they had to brave the horrendous flood in the water all the time between bloated carcasses and tiny chips of tree barks desperately looking for their son s albino buffalo that was never found

They were born amidst hardship and grew up without a sigh or complaint now they are in the kitchen, making jokes while rolling their cigarette leaves

Literal meaning is the obvious meaning of words as they appear in the poem.

Literal Meaning

At dawn they returned home their soaky clothes torn and approached the stove

At daybreak, the villagers finally came home. Their clothes were soaking wet and torn. They immediately walked to the stove (probably for warmth and because they were hungry). Their hands were covered with cuts and scratches. Their legs had suffered a lot of wounds and injuries. However, on their faces There was no look of hopelessness.

their limbs marked by scratches their legs full of wounds but on their brows there was not a sign of despair

The whole day and night just passed they had to brave the horrendous flood in the water all the time between bloated carcasses

They had endured the hard ship of a whole day and night. They had to face the terrible flood after the storm. They were in the flood water all day and night. They had to wade between the bloated and rotting carcasses (bodies) of dead animals which died in the flood and tiny chips that peeled and broke away from the barks of trees. The villagers were frantically looking for their son s albino buffalo. They could not find the albino buffalo.

and tiny chips of tree barks desperately looking for their son s albino buffalo that was never found

They were born amidst hardship and grew up without a sigh or a complaint

These hardy people were born to a life of hardship and drudgery. Strengthened by their hardship, they grew up without complaining about their difficult life. Now, at home, they are in the kitchen.

now they are in the kitchen

making jokes while rolling their cigarette leaves

They are joking with each other as they roll their cigarettes (since they are too poor to buy western-brand cigarettes).

Implied meaning is the underlying meaning of the poem.

Implied Meaning

y As man journeys though life, he may experience

circumstances that are painful and challenging, and carry a heavy burden of responsibilities. y Still, man does despair. He remains stoic.

y The mother and father of the boy are out looking for a buffalo

y

y y

y

which has been most probably swept away by the flood but they do not give up hope in spite of seeing the dead animals in the water. The animal is an albino buffalo which is strange-looking, different from others. But the boy does not see its strangeness, he loves it all the same. Love does not recognise differences or consider something is difficult. That is the power of love. The close relationship between the parents and the child is shown. Even though they do not find the buffalo, the attempt they make to please the child is good enough. Wanting to please a loved one is after all, the most precious thing in life, not money. This is what the poet seems to imply.

y Hardship brings out the best in man. y Man learns to cope with adversity without y y y y

complaining or losing hope. There are always other simple pleasures in life. There is relaxation and laughter. Most importantly, it is the love and companionship of one another that is important. Once you have that, money and fame do not matter.

The setting is the place, time or background of the poem. The setting can be specific or general, depending on what the poem is about.

y The poem is set in the present

the world around us

now. y It highlights the hardships we sometimes have to go through in life. y It puts forward the idea that life is not always comfortable and safe. y There are good times and there are difficult or precarious times.

y In this poem, the one such difficult time is during a

bad flood. y When flood happen, property is destroyed, trees are uprooted and animals die. y Some people also lose their lives, they tragically drown in the raging floodwaters. y It is a time of great suffering, loss and pain.

Theme is the general idea of what the poet is trying to convey. Includes the message of the poem.

y The poem portrays a clear picture of the effects of a

flood. y The family sustained scratches and wounds during the flood. y They had to brave the water amongst drowned bloated carcasses.

y The poem highlights the hardship the family goes y y y

y

through during a flood. Despite their suffering, the remain positive and cheerful. When the flood is over, they return home and carry on their activities as normal. Like other times, they enjoy talking to each other as they smoke. None of them showed any sign of despair.

y The parents love the son so much that they risk their

own well-being to look for their son s buffalo in the floods. y The son too worries about his pet, a strange creature because it is an albino. y The strangeness means nothing to the son; he loves it all the same. y It is the simple folk who know the value of love.

y Man must not take Nature for granted. y Nature is powerful and when she unleashes her power,

she can sweep away everything. y Man has to learn to be humble before Nature, just like the couple in the poem.

The point of view in a poem refers to the particular way of thinking about a subject. Third person is the speaker is not in the poem but is all-knowing and able to tell what all the characters are thinking.

Third Person

y The narrator s voice is that of the poet himself but he y y y y

does not use the word I. So it is the third person point of view. He observes what is happening as he writes. The tone he uses is gloomy in the first stanza which is suitable for the harsh conditions. The tone changes however, as the poem progresses.

Language refers to how the poet use words in the poem. It may be simple with a few difficult words, it can be written using old English or it can have a mixture of foreign words. Style is the way the poet writes to convey the ideas, for example, the usage of poetic devices or the number of lines per stanza.

y The language used by the poet is simple and most of

the words are familiar and commonly used in daily speech. y The style is fixed with 7 lines in the first and second stanza and 4 lines in the third stanza. y However, there is no rhyming scheme in the poem. y There are no full-stops used in the poem, probably to show that the hard struggle of the family has been long and will continue to do so.

Tone is the voice you hear in the poem which tells you the attitude of the persona or poet.

y The tone in the first stanza is gloomy and grim and

this continues to be so in the second stanza as the couple is desperately looking. y In the last stanza, however, the tone changes. y Words and phrases like without a sigh or a complaint and jokes lighten the mood. y The laughter drowns the hardship portrayed in the first two stanzas.

Poetic devices refer to the way words are used creatively by the poet to convey his ideas to the readers. Sound devices are the arrangement of words to produce the effect of sounds. Literary devices are the use of special words or expressions to give emphasis to particular aspect.

Sound Devices & Literary Devices

y Alliteration

Repetition of an initial or beginning sound of consonant in two or more words next to each other in a line of a poem. Example: they have to brave the horrendous floody Assonance

Repetition of a vowel sound in two or more words in a line of a poem. Example: albino buffalo that was never found

y Anaphor

Stating something more than once in the beginning of lines of a poem. Example: their limbs marked by scratches their legs full of wounds