A FREEDOM SONG By Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye
Atieno washes dishes, Atieno plucks the chicken, Atieno gets up early
Beds her sacks down in the kitchen, Atieno eight years old
Atieno yo.
Since she is my sister's child Atieno needs no pay,
While she works my wife can sit Sewing every sunny day:
With her earnings I support Atieno yo.
Atieno's sly and jealous Bad example to the kids
Since she minds them, like a schoolgirl Wants their dresses, shoes and beads. Atieno ten years old
Atieno yo.
Now my wife has gone to study Atieno is less free.
Don't I keep her, school my own ones? Pay the party, union fee
All for progress: aren't you grateful Atieno yo?
Visitors need much attention All the more when I work night.
That girl spends too long at the market, Who will teach her what is right?
Atieno rising fourteen Atieno yo.
Atieno's had a baby
So we know that she is bad Fifty fifty it may live
And repeat the life she had Ending in a postpartum bleeding Atieno yo.
Atieno's soon replaced.
Meat and sugar more than all She ate in such a narrow life Were lavished on her funeral. Atieno's gone to glory,
Atieno yo.
ABOUT THE POETESS
Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye was born in England in 1928.She went to Kenya in 1954 and worked with the C.M.S bookshop in Nairobi, where she got married. She is publisher's representative in Nairobi.
PERSONA
The persona/speaker in the poem is Atieno's uncle. This is revealed in the second stanza where he comments
Since she is my sister's child Atieno needs no pay,
AUDIENCE
General public.
SETTING
A house in which a young girl is mistreated by her uncle.
DICTION
Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye has chosen certain words which inculcate negative feelings and anger to Atieno's uncle as the way he mistreats Atieno.
Example:
"Beds her sacks down in the kitchen"
"since she is my sister's child, Atieno needs no pay"
Also mentioning the tender age of "eight years" and still a child of this age is overworked and mistreated. Again, a poetess has employed words ironically for the effect of satire. Atieno's uncle talks in a simple and light manner about a very serious issue. This creates hatred of readers to Atieno's uncle.
IMAGERY
The mental pictures readers get from this poem are as follows.
Visual Imagery
• Someone who washes dishes, plucks chicken, and sews.
• School dresses and shoes.
• Beads
• Blood
Taste Imagery
• Taste of meat, sugar
Olfactory imagery
• Smell of a chicken being plucked.
Touch imagery
• Someone sleeping down.
POETIC DEVICES
Irony
Atieno's uncle takes the matter lightly as if it is an ordinary thing to treat a child the way he treats Atieno.
Satire
The whole poem is satiric. It satirises Atieno's uncle that he is foolish. Example when he says; "while she works, my wife can sit ''. This satirises Atieno's uncle that he supports stupidity or foolishness. Therefore, he is stupid or foolish. It is his folly which causes his niece's death.
Ellipsis
There is omission of some words as in "Atieno eight years old" instead of "Atieno is eight years old"
Rhetorical question
• Aren’t you grateful Atieno yo? "(i.e 4th stanza, 3rd verse to 6th verse)
• Who will teach her what is right?
Rhetorical questions have been employed to show how foolish Atieno's uncle is, not knowing even his responsibilities.
Hyperbole
There is an exaggeration in the statement; "Meat and sugar more than all, she ate in such a narrow life". Hyperbole has been used to show that Atieno's uncle is a hypocrite.
Simile
"Since she minds them like a schoolgirl" the word "Like" has been used to compare Atieno's desire of being like a schoolgirl. It has been used to show denial of education for Atieno.
Alliteration
There is repetition of some initial sounds. This has been used to give the poem a music quality as in;
• Pay the party. (Sound /p/ is repeated at a close interval.)
• Fifty fifty (Sound /f/ is repeated at a close interval.)
Consonance
Repetition of the final consonant sounds has also been used, as in;
• Washes dishes (Sound /z/.)
• Dresses, shoes and beads (Sound /z/.)
• Fifty fifty (Sound /t/.)
Refrain
The refrain of this poem is; "Atieno yo"
Rhyme
Every 2nd and 4th verse of each stanza rhyme.
• 1st stanza: chicken/kitchen
• 2nd stanza: pay/day
• 3rd stanza: kids/beads
• 4th stanza: free/fee
• 5th stanza: night/right
• 6th stanza: bad/had
• 7th stanza: all/funeral
TONE & MOOD
Tone of the persona is ironic while the mood of the reader is angry to Atieno's uncle and sympathetic to Atieno.
FORM
Bound verse as it rhymes. It also falls under the category of a narrative poem.
STRUCTURE OF THE POEM
The poem has seven stanzas, each with six verses (lines) of unequal length and a refrain “Atieno yo”
WHAT IS THE POEM ABOUT?
The poem is about a girl called Atieno who is mistreated by her uncle whom she lives with. Atieno lives in bad condition. She is overworked, mistreated and worse still she is not sent to school. Atieno's uncle sends only his children. Since she is not well taken care of and protected, Atieno gets pregnant before marriage and under a small age. Getting pregnant while she is very young, she dies of postpartum bleeding. During the funeral, her uncle prepares a huge feast for the mourners to show that he has been deeply touched by the death of his niece. Then the uncle takes another person to fill Atieno's gap.
POSSIBLE THEMES
Child Labour
Atieno works at her uncle's house at a tender age of eight years. Children under this age are supposed to be at school and not working. So obvious this is an element of child labour.
Oppression
Atieno is overworked at a very tender age of eight years old. To make things worse, she sleeps on sacks in the kitchen. This is an oppression of the highest degree.
Exploitation
Despite alot of domestic activities Atieno does, she is not paid. The justification of Atieno's uncle is baseless as he does not pay Atieno because she is his niece. This in in fact some sort of exploration.Atieno's uncle says;
"Since she is my sister's child, Atieno needs no pay"
Early pregnancy
Atieno is impregnated under the tender age of fourteen. This is not the right age suggested by doctors for one to be pregnant as it causes a lot of complications during childbirth.
Irresponsibility
Atieno's uncle is irresponsible. As he is uncle, he is supposed to protect and take care of his niece but he doesn't do so instead he foolishly asks; "Who will teach her what is right?". He asks the question foolishly as if he doesn't know that it is his responsibility to teach his niece what is right.
Selfishness
Atieno's uncle is selfish. He is concerned with his own affairs, his wife and his own children. He is not touched by the way Atieno lives. He doesn't send her to school. He doesn't treat her well and the reason behind is that because she is not his own child. This is really selfishness.
Hypocrisy
Atieno's uncle is hypocritical as he pretends to be sympathetic to Atieno after her death by preparing a huge feast. He didn't do this when Atieno was alive as her sleeping place, food she ate and almost all her welfare was not good. But he hypocritically says; "Meat and sugar more than all, she ate in such a narrow life, were lavished on her funeral".
Poverty
One can infer as this poem is concerned that Atieno is from a poor family. Had it not been this, she could not have lived with her uncle who mistreats her.
MESSAGES/LESSONS
• We should fight against child labor because it is against children's rights. In the poem, Atieno's uncle is treating Atieno like a housemaid while she is still too young. That is against children's rights.
• We should fight against early pregnancy since it is dangerous as it leads to death. In the poem, Atieno dies due to early pregnancy as it is revealed in stanza six.
• Parents and caretakers should be responsible in taking care of their children. In the poem, Atieno's uncle fails to take care of Atieno, that's why she gets an early pregnancy and dies of post- partum bleeding.
• All children should be given the right to education. In the poem there is denial of education for Atieno as her uncle says; "Don't I keep her, school my own ones All for progress: aren't you grateful Atieno yo?"
RELEVANCE
• Early pregnancy is an order of day in our society as many girls acquire pregnancy before the right time. The severe problem of early pregnancy is tremendously increasing in the continent.
• Child labour is also a common phenomenon despite many cries of various organizations against child labour.
• Hypocrisy, exploitation, oppression and poor parental care are all common phenomena in our country.
• Selfishness practised by some family members is a common thing in Tanzanian society.
