“Birdshooting Season” by Olive Senior

Summary of the Poem/Situation

Senior’s “Birdshooting Season” relays the events that take place before the actual hunt occurs. This
account is given by a child (who is assumed to be a boy). The persona tells of the transformation that his
house goes through as his father and the other men ready themselves to go hunting. The persona presents
the role the women play in the preparation activities, as they are the ones charged with the task of making
the food that the men will eat and drink while they are hunting. The speaker reveals that as a result of the
fraternity formed by the men and their desperate need to be seen as “macho” the women are unhappy as
they are being neglected and given additional work. When the men finally leave the children all gather to
see them off; however, the different genders are hoping for two different things. The little boys are
wishing that they too were grown and were able to participate in the act of shooting the birds and the little
girls are praying for the birds to escape their impending death.

Conflict
The dominant conflict in the poem is external, man versus nature as the title of the poem speaks to the
act of shooting the birds. There is also the minor conflict of man versus man as the women are in state of
discontent because of the neglect they suffer during this period.

Structure
The poem is made up of four short stanzas which contain no rhymes. The first two stanzas highlight the
preparation the men and women undertake before the men head to the hunting ground in stanza three. The
final stanza contains the dreams and desires of the persona and the other children as the men leave.

POETIC DEVICES

Figures of Speech
1. METAPHOR
“men make marriages with their guns” lines 1-2

This highlights the fact that the men are keeping their guns close to them and that the women have
been neglected in this season.

2. ALLITERATION
“men make marriages’ lines 1-2

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 This comforting ‘m’ sound highlights the fact that the men really do find happiness in the events that
are described in the poem .

3. PERSONIFICATION
“My father’s house turns macho” line 3

This is used to emphasize the fact the there are numerous men present at the persona’s father’s house
and that these men are competing with each other which makes the atmosphere quite ‘masculine’.

Literary Techniques
4. CONTRAST

The poet shows the contrast in the roles of the men and the women as it relates to preparing for the
hunt; their emotions also differ as the men are happy while the women are not. The wishes of the
children also differ as the boys and the girls hope for different things.

5. The CREOLE/ DICTION

Senior uses the Jamaican Creole in the poem in her choice of words such as “chocolata”, “cerassie”
“wrap pone” and “tie-leaf” in lines 7-8. This helps the reader to put the events within a context.

6. ALLUSION
“contentless women stir their brews” line 5-6

Senior brings to mind the image of witches stirring their cauldron. This helps the reader to see just how
unhappy the women were.

Tone and Mood

The tone of the persona is reflective while the mood created by the poet is one of excitement and eager
anticipation.

Theme(s)

Childhood Experiences, Nature, Gender roles, Relationships and Dreams and Aspirations

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 Test Match Sabina Park by Stewart Brown

Summary of the Poem/Situation

This poem tells of a white man’s journey to a cricket match in Jamaica at Sabina Park. The poem begins
with a proud persona (the white man) strutting into the venue expecting to see his team (England)
triumphant in their endeavour to beat the West Indies. He is let down by his team who perform
embarrassingly in the match and after much taunting from the local supporters he leaves the venue feeling
dejected and defeated.

Conflict
There is the conflict of man versus man in the poem “Test Match Sabina Park”. The persona and the
spectators who are from the Caribbean are both offended by the way the cricket match is going. However
the Caribbean spectators blame the English cricketers for the poor quality of the game.

Structure
The poem is written in six stanzas; in stanza one the persona speaks of his proud entry into the cricket
ground, while in stanza two he is amazed by the presence of the spectators who have come out to support
the West Indies Cricket team. He has never seen a crowd at a cricket match and at Lord’s (the cricket
ground in England). In stanzas four to six the persona, like the crowd realizes that the match is not
exciting as the English are unable to score runs quickly and at lunch time they are a meager sixty eight for
none. The persona tries desperately to convince the spectators that the wicket is slow and that his batsmen
are simply having a ‘muggy’ day; however he cannot convince the spectators nor can he convince himself
and as a result leaves the venue “sulking” and embarrassed.

POETIC DEVICES

Figures of Speech
1. SARCASM

To 'boycott' is to abstain from, or to stop, doing something. Therefore, the persona is being sarcastic
because excitement is a good thing. People usually boycott for something negative, therefore the persona
is, again, highlighting the slow and boring pace of the cricket match.

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 2. PUN
The poet also plays on the words ‘boycott’ and ‘amiss’ in the poem as these were the surnames of the
English opening batsmen.
Ie.Geoff Boycott and Dennis Amiss

Literary Techniques
3. RHETORICAL QUESTION

 Stanza 2, lines 6-7: This question reveals that, despite the fact that cricket is a popular sport in
England, the venues for the matches are not crowded. This question could also point to the
fact that Sabina Park was very crowded.

 Stanza 3, line 10: This question represents the general frustration of the West Indians in the
crowd. They are annoyed that the cricket match is progressing so slowly.

 Stanza 4, lines 15-17: These questions imply that the West Indian crowd's level of frustration has
escalated.

4. ALLUSION

The allusion to Lawrence Rowe, a very colourful and successful West Indian cricketer, emphasizes the
fact that the match is slow and boring.

5. The poet also uses CONTRAST between the beginning of the poem when the persona is
proud, and 'struts' into the venue and how he leaves the venue embarrassed and 'skulking' at
the poem’s end.

A contrast may also be seen in how the persona wore the rosette of his skin in the beginning
of the poem and how e wore it in the end (ie. proud and embarrassed).

There is also contrast in the language used by the poet. The poet ensures that the reader is
able to distinctly identify when the voice in the poem belongs to the persona and when it
belongs to one of the West Indian supporters.

There is an implied contrast in the way the English Spectators enjoy cricket as oppose to how
West Indian supporters enjoy the game. This may be seen as the persona announces that it was
not the same cricket that was played at Lords.

6. IMAGERY

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 The phrase 'rosette of my skin' (line 1) presents a visual image of the persona in the poem.
Rosette implies a reddish colour, in this case the skin. This description immediately identifies the race
of the persona as Caucasian (white). We see the persona as someone in the beginning of the poem as
someone who is proud of his race.

7. The Creole
The poet makes use of Creole as the West Indian spectators speak out about the condition of the match.
This helps the reader to connect the poem with a location in the Caribbean (specifically Jamaica).

Mood
The mood or atmosphere of the poem is a tense one. This is created by the discomfort of the persona in a
setting that was dominated by West Indians (blacks).

Tone
As there are two distinct voices that are heard in the poem the tones are also distinct the tone of the West
Indians is one of frustration while the English man becomes embarrassed (embarrassment).

Theme(s)

Race, Places, Culture, Nationality

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