This is the Dark Time, My Love - Martin Carter

I hope the information that I have provided below on the poem will prove useful in helping you to understand it. 

Poet: Martin Carter(1927-1997)

Historical Context:  This poem is based on events that took place in British Guiana during the 1950s when British troops were sent to restore order during the unrest that resulted after the calls from the people for self-governance. Their presence upon the land resulted in great resentment, resistance and devastation. Martin Carter was arrested for three months because he defied orders that had been enforced by the British government. The poem was written in response to these events.

Setting:  British Guiana( a colony of England), 1950s

Themes: War, Oppression, Human Suffering, Patriotism, Power and Authority, Lack of Freedom

Tone:  warning, melancholic, lamenting

Key Vocabulary:  vulnerable, landscape, subjugation, militia, dominate, suppression, resistance, deprive, restrict

STANZA ONE

In this stanza the poet establishes that a dark time is on the land and that "brown beetles" are crawling about. "Brown beetles" can refer to soldiers/armoured vehicles. Their presence signals that a war is happening and this has resulted in the sun being hidden and red flowers bending their heads in sorrow. The suggestion is that even nature is affected by the terrible events that are happening and inevitably expresses its sadness.

STANZA TWO
This stanza continues to highlight the nature of the dark time that is on the land. This dark time involves oppression, guns and crying. The use of the word "season" shows how prolonged the period of  oppression is. It is truly a devastating time marked by misery and anxiety. All the oppression and the use of guns to restrict and intimidate have caused people in British Guiana to be fearful and worried.

STANZA THREE
This stanza communicates that those who have come to invade and oppress even do so during the night when individuals are asleep and at their most vulnerable. The "strange invader" does not have any good intentions because his purpose is to bring death - a physical death or a death of hope/a future. He has come to deprive the defenceless people of their dreams.


Literary Devices

* Personification - Red flowers bend their heads in awful sorrow, it is the man of death/watching you                                sleep and aiming at your dream
* Symbolism -      This is the dark time
* Repetition -       This is the dark time
* Oxymoron -      This is the festival of guns, the carnival of misery
* Metaphor -       This is the season of oppression, dark metal and tears, brown beetles
* Rhetorical Question - Who comes walking in the dark night time?/Whose boot of steel tramps                                                  down the slender grass?

(This list is not final. If you are able to identify more, good going! Thumbs up!

Commenting on Literary Devices

When you comment on literary devices, you are expected to establish a connection between the device and the poet's purpose. Your comment should clearly show how effective a specific device is in communicating meaning, achieving a particular effect or creating a specific impression.

Consider the poet's use of the repetition: This is the dark time.  Why is this line repeated? How is its repetition effective in the poem's context? A possible response can be:  The poet repeats this line to highlight that a period of  misery  and intense hardship is being experienced by Guyanese people. It clearly conveys to the reader that the people of British Guiana are going through a devastating time as seen in the references to "dark metal and tears and the "strained and anxious" "faces of men". The repetition also serves as a way of alerting the people of the invasion of the British and its dangers. All this causes the reader to feel sympathy for the plight of the Guyanese.

CXC English B questions always require you to comment on literary devices. Pay more attention to them and how/why they are used in the different poems you study.

Below, I have given you some questions to consider as you study this poem.

QUESTIONS

1. What is this poem about?
2.  Describe the tone in the poem.
3. Who are the oppressors in the poem and what are they doing?
4.  Describe the different ways in which the oppressors are affecting the land/people.
5.  Discuss the effect the poem has on you.
6. The speaker uses the expression "my love". Who is this referring to? Justify your answer.
7. How are literary devices used to convey meaning?
8. What are the themes in the poem?

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