I Watch The Darkness Falling Poem Analysis

With the use of imagery the poet has successfully managed to appeal to my senses and created pictures in my mind which took me back to the time of colonialism even though I have not lived through that era. The sad feeling and emotion of exploitation of black labourers in colonial times is expressed in each verse of the poem by means of images. The poet describes the end of a work day in the poem to make readers understand the exploitation of black labourers. This routine is the same every day and nothing changes for the labourers. In the first stanza the poet makes use of personification and simile to enhance his images. Feelings of calmness, fear and dreaded monotony are expressed by the poet. Both positive and negative connotations are felt

“I watch the darkness falling”. The attribute of falling is a human quality. However darkness falling creates the image of the sun setting and the skies becoming dark, which allows the reader to get the sense of nightfall. To further substantiate the image of nightfall the poet describes how the mountains withdraws their shadows, meaning that as the sun goes down the shadows of the mountains slowly retreat or disappear. The simile “The sun, like ochre, reddens” shows that the sun is setting. The sun is being compared to ochre which is a red earthly substance. The sun literally becomes red when it sets, it loses it brightness towards the end of the

In colonial times black labourers were taken away from their families and homelands and forced to live on the mines that they worked on. Since it was a mine there was no grass there. Grass is a positive connotation which gives beauty to its surroundings. Black labourers were denied of their homelands where beautiful grass exists. They were subject to this unhealthy environment. The smoke from the mine filled the sky. Black labourers lived in this area and constantly breathed in the smoke or dust from the mines which could cause serious health