‘Limbo’

1. ‘Limbo’ L.O: To be able annotate the poem confidently

2. ambiguity • What is ambiguity? • The dictionary defines this as: • • noun (pl. ambiguities) uncertain or inexact meaning.

3. ‘Limbo’by Edward Kamau Brathwaite What are your first impressions of the poem? Do you like it? Why/ Why not?

4. This poem tells the story of slavery in a rhyming, rhythmic dance. It is ambitious and complex. There are two narratives running in parallel: • the actions of the dance, and • the history of a people which is being enacted. • Going down and under the limbo stick is likened to the slaves' going down into the hold of the ship, which carries them into slavery. In Roman Catholic tradition, limbo is a place to which the souls of people go, if they are not good enough for Heaven or bad enough for Hell. More exactly, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, it is • "...the permanent place or state of those un-baptized children and others who, dying without grievous personal sin, are excluded from the beatific vision on account of original sin alone."

5. A poem by: Edward Kamau Braithwaite

6. Key Teaching Points To read the poem To understand the context and stylistic features. Key Terms Metaphor Refrain Repetition Learning Intentions

7. The Poet • Edward Kamau Braithwaite is a Carribean writer. • His poems often deal with the themes of colonisation and slavery. • In the 18thC several European countries invaded the West Indies and established colonies. • Slaves were captured in Africa and brought to the islands to work on sugar plantations. • Many of them died on the journey across the Atlantic.

8. The Limbo Dance • It is believed that the limbo dance was invented on board the slave ships by the slaves themselves as a way of keeping fit in confined conditions. • It involves dancing beneath a horizontal pole, leaning backwards more and more as trhe pole is gradually lowered. • If the dancer knocks the pole s/he is disqualified. • The limbo dance is now only performed for tourists.

9. Now read the poem • There are two different styles of print used in the poem. • The italics represent the refrain, echoing the response of the slaves to the call of the overseer. • The limbo dance used in the poem is a metaphor for slavery. While the poem tells the story of a dance it is, at the same time, the story of slavery. • Now look at the poem again. • Pick out examples from the poem of how the stories of the dance and of slavery are intertwined.

10. We are now going to take a closer look at how the central metaphor is developed

11. Limbo: slavery and dance

12. Did you find any optimistic images? For example: • ‘music’? • ‘saving me’? • ‘sun coming up’? What kind of saving might this be? • How does the poem use the limbo dance to parallel the story of being taken into slavery?

13. ambiguity • Where is the ambiguity? (think about the title of the poem)

14. Now, for homework: • Explain the way the poem is structured