First, African poetry.
African is a South African language, which developed from Dutch in the17th century and became one of the official languages of South Africa. When Africa first appeared in written form, it was mostly used in translation publications of European literature, such as the translation of works by British writers Scott and Burns. The earliest African poetry originated from Dutch poetry, which was rooted in South Africa. In fact, the best poems describing the scenery of South Africa are written in Africa. Later, African poetry gradually surpassed the limitations of local poetry and gained the universal characteristics of poetry literature.
The most creative poet in Africa is C·L· Laipold (1882- 1947). He has a deep understanding of nature and is full of sympathy for human beings. Started writing after the war in South Africa (1899- 1902). His poems express the sufferings of the South African people, but they are not limited to the expression of suffering, and reflect the broad human nature. Some young poets at that time criticized his poems for their lack of artistry in technique. Although his poems are not artistic enough, their connotations are richer and nobler than those of young poets. He said in his poem that he would like to listen to the songs of the grassland and the songs of the shepherds.
Song of white clouds, song of sea, song of mountains,
But I don't want to, never want to listen to golden songs.
Early African poets often described the dark side of gold mines in South Africa. A poet similar to Laipold is Thun van den Heifer (1894- 1956), and his poems also praise nature:
Grassland, wilderness, the vast sky above,
The grass on the ground, like a running sheep, fluctuates with the wind.
The gold mine that absorbs the employment of poor farmers and herdsmen is regarded by poets as a denial of the value of pastoral natural life.
Politics has an obvious influence on African poetry. However, important African poets are generally detached from party political struggles. C·M· van den heifer (1902-1957)' s one hundred sonnets (1955) is profound in content and beautiful in form. Heifer is a traditional poet of the older generation. He is a disciple of J.D. Du Toit (1877-1953). Toit, Jan Salles, Di F Mahler and Laipold are the four pillars of early African poetry.
In 1930s, a new school of poetry appeared in South Africa. Influenced by Eliot and other European and American poets, this school of poets explored new forms and themes. They got rid of the influence of romanticism and the shackles of rhetoric norms, applied the "streamlined" technology of the modern world to the structure of poetry, and paid attention to the semantic function of poetic language. The main figure of this new school of poetry is N·P· Van Vic Finn. His poems are famous for their beautiful modern forms of expression and new values. His younger brother Feng Wenxiang's poems are also exploring new values and tend to return to ancient universal values. Another poet, e van Helden, paid special attention to the beauty of language. P Bloom's poems are full of European color and unique charm.
W.A. De Klerk, G.A. Walter Mayer, E. Albers, Jewish poet O. Kirsch, black poet S.V. Patterson, P.J. Philander and A. Small, etc., created a large number of poems that keenly reflected society and life. Krieger and Small created a new form of poetry by adopting the mixed English-African language used by black South Africans. Later, I·W· Van der Mervi also wrote some wonderful and moving poems in this mixed language, especially some excellent works that deeply touched the hearts of local blacks. This new poem, which reflects the thoughts, feelings and customs of the people at the bottom of South African society, is of great significance.
Du Lishi belongs to the older generation of poets, and his poems vividly describe the life in male-populated areas in the form of beautiful traditional meter. He is a South African poet who most clearly agrees with the tradition of colored people. Albers is an outstanding African poetess. Her poems are beautiful in melody and form. The most prominent feature of her poems lies in her profound and sincere feelings and keen and incisive opinions. The brightest star in South African poetry is U. Krieger. Krieger once lived on the Mediterranean coast and liked Spanish literature very much. However, he is indeed an African poet deeply rooted in South Africa. Just like Laipold's works, some of Krieger's good sentences cannot be translated into other languages.
Throughout history, African poetry in South Africa has gradually developed from early local poetry to poetry comparable to other languages in the modern world.
Second, English poetry
1820 The British came to South Africa. The early British were too busy colonizing and reclaiming land to care about cultural life. When they began to write poetry, the content of their works mostly belonged to nostalgia for their homeland, and the form followed the pattern of English poetry. Thomas pringle (1789— 1834), an early South African English poet, has beautiful lyrical works and exudes the flavor of South African land. His poem Desert was praised by Coleridge, a famous English poet, as "one of the most perfect lyric poems written in our language."
Critics once thought that early English poets in South Africa were opposed to describing poems, but this was not entirely correct. Francis kely slcre (1870-1958) expressed his understanding of Africans in his travels. His other poem "Black Man" expresses his sympathy for the Bantu people. Arthur Healy Cripps (1869— 1952) was a Rhodesian missionary in South Africa. His poems show the sadness and beauty in the life of South African aborigines, and express his gratitude for this land in South Africa, which "restored his life ambition".
English poets in South Africa have realized more and more deeply that real poetry must be based on personal direct life experience. They also realize more and more clearly that it is impossible for poems written in South Africa, a land different from Britain, to adopt the same symbols and colors as English poems. Similarly, the life experience in South Africa, a multi-ethnic society, inevitably leads to a different social outlook from that of the British.
Mary Morrison Webster's poems represent the transformation of South African poetry from descriptive works to social works. Her poems are very beautiful and can be compared with those of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, a famous English poetess.
Another famous poetess is Adele Nord. Her works deeply explore the meaning of nature and the spiritual source of inspiration. Formally, like most South African English poets, she pays great attention to striking a balance between traditional poetry and free poetry.
There are also some young poets in this category, such as Roy McNaboo and Anthony Delius. Darius is a poet with keen thinking. He is good at using modern poetic techniques and profoundly reflects the racial problems in contemporary South Africa. These young poets have developed a far-reaching symbolic style, which transcends the single creative form of traditional poetry. The most outstanding of these new poets is Guy Grahamston. He is the head of the English Department in university of lodz and was responsible for editing the Oxford South African Poetry Collection. His poems expound the racial problems in South Africa. He also writes poems and plays, but his achievements are not as good as his lyric poems. Race has become an unavoidable theme for a new generation of South African English poets.
However, the most important South African English poet is Roy Campbell (1902- 1957). His poetry follows the traditional form from beginning to end, and his style is bold and unconstrained. He has lived abroad for many years, but his feelings for his motherland South Africa are stronger and more positive than many South Africans who have never left their motherland. His poem about a Zulu girl is full of South African flavor. Some of his poems reflect his life experience in Spain.
In a word, South African English poetry does not simply imitate English poetry, but has a special spirit that originated in South Africa. Because of this, English poetry in South Africa has a native beauty of South Africa.