Johannesburg Poem Analysis

In the following essay the poems “Johannesburg” by William Plomer and “City Johannesburg” by Mogane Wally Serote will be compared and their contrasts will be shown, because the city of Johannesburg symbolizes different experiences by each of the poets, such as the one poet being white and the other black. Both of the poems are representations of South Africa’s urban development and the mining industry. The titles of both poems convey that it is about a specific place and setting, namely Johannesburg.

In “Johannesburg” by William Plomer, the account of how Johannesburg came into being is seemingly “overnight” (line 2, stanza 1).As if it came into being out of nowhere, as mentioned in the African Literature Guide. The city developed under gender term and conditions, by “girls” (line 4, stanza 1) and “young men” (lines 5 and 8, stanza 2). The men seem superior, as if they have to be treated like kings. “In champagne baths men sluiced the skins” (line 5, stanza 2), “fortunes” (line 2, stanza 1), “mansions” (line 3, stanza 1) and “As lordly anarchs of the veld” (line 18, stanza 5) expresses this statement. “Grimy with auriferous dust” shows a big contrast, almost saying that they are dirty with minerals that contain gold. Stanza

Stanza 1-3 illustrate the consequences of the explosive mine industry. Therefore, as these men aged, they changed from “Swashbucklers” (line 24, stanza 6) and “scamp” (line 24, stanza 6) to “prim” (line 24, stanza 6) and “sedate” (line 24, stanza 6) elderly people. This is conveyed by their “Greybeards” (line 18, stanza 4). In this poem there is imagery explain the lives of the miners, how they lived the “high life”, as previously mentioned.

In “City Johannesburg” by Mongane Wally Serote, we also get a glimpse of urban decay, but from a black man’s perspective.