Introduction:
“In Memoriam: Roy Campbell” by R.N.Currrey is both a patriotic poem and a personal elegy on Roy Campbell. The poem celebrates the memory of the great poet patriot and commemorates his courage. The poem is both a biography and a clarion call to the Africans to fight the imperialist forces tooth and nail.
The Unequal battle between Boys and the Huge Waves:
The poem starts with a the description of colonial rule as imposing and mighty. It underlies the unequal nature of the battle with boys up against huge waves. The waves are like Zulu impis. They are a terrible spectacle coupled with deafening noise. Thus the first stanza presents the spectacle of elemental forces of awesome magnitude. Young boys are no match for these forces and hence they are wonder-struck.
The African As a Matador:
The waves are not a static spectacle. They are dynamic and doubly destructive. They strike terror in the hearts of the natives and also gore into the sands of the beach. This rapacious image of sexual aggression with the waves, “horned like bulls” goring “into the whinnying groins of sand” makes the battles an epic one. Such a challenging situation calls for a calculated attack. Each African is a matador who must hold the bull by its horns and meet the lion in its den.
Roy Campbell’s Art of Tackling the Powerful Energy:
Roy Campbell was a past master in the art of tackling the powerful enemy. He was never in a hurry. He was cool and calculating like...
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