You Laughed and Laughed and Laughed
You Laughed and Laughed and Laughed
You Laughed and Laughed and Laughed
and laughed
1. In your ears my song 22. But your laughter was ice-
2. is motor car misfiring block
3. stopping with a choking cough; 23. laughter and it froze your i
4. and you laughed and laughed inside froze
and laughed. 24. your voice froze your ears
25. froze your eyes and froze
5. In your eyes my ante- your tongue.
6. natal walk was inhuman,
passing 26. And now it’s my turn to
7. your ‘omnivorous laugh;
understanding’ 27. but my laughter is not
8. and you laughed and laughed 28. ice-block laughter. For I
and laughed 29. know not cars, know not
ice-blocks.
9. You laughed at my song,
10. you laughed at my walk.
30. My laughter is the fire
11. Then I danced my magic 31. of the eye of the sky, the
dance fire
12. to the rhythm of talking 32. of the earth, the fire of the
drums pleading, air,
13. but you shut your eyes 33. the fire of the seas and the
14. and laughed and laughed 34. rivers fishes animals trees
and laughed. 35. and it thawed your inside,
36. thawed your voice, thawed
15. And then I opened my your
mystic 37. ears, thawed your eyes and
16. inside wide like 38. thawed your tongue.
17. the sky, instead you
entered your 39. So a meek wonder held
18. car and laughed and 40. your shadow and you
laughed and laughed whispered;
41. ‘Why so?’
19. You laughed at my dance, 42. And I answered:
20. you laughed at my inside. 43. ‘Because my fathers and I
44. are owned by the living
21. You laughed and laughed 45. warmth of the earth
and laughed, 46. through our naked feet’
Summary of poem:
This poem compares 2 value systems (a) the western system which is
unkind, rude, intellectual and it uses the images from technology e.g. cars
(b) The other is the mystic which means from the “inside”. This an Okara
word one’s values and integrity, warmth and is linked to the sun This
poem depicts the life of Africans who faced racism at the hands of the
whites. They were ‘laughed at’ or mocked by white people for their song,
dance and music through which they expressed their pain and emotions.
White people laughed at the Africans because they had no understanding
of the meaning dancing and singing had for blacks. The poem ends on a
positive note when the poet describes how whites started to understand
the importance of the dancing and singing to Africans.
In the fourth stanza, the speaker reveals that the listener's laughter is like
ice, which freezes their voice, ears, eyes, and tongue. However, the
speaker's laughter is like fire, which thaws the listener's frozen insides and
opens them up to a "meek wonder."
The final lines of the poem reveal that the speaker's laughter is connected
to their cultural heritage and the "living warmth of the earth" that they
and their ancestors are owned by through their "naked feet." Overall, the
poem explores the themes of cultural identity, artistic expression, and the
power dynamics of laughter.
He says white people do not value African culture, instead they laugh
and laugh and laugh.
The repetition of ‘laughed and laughed and laughed’ emphasizes the
racial discrimination that black people experience.
The speaker's song is compared to a motor car misfiring and stopping with
a choking cough, implying that the song is unappealing. The person who is
listening to the song laughs continuously, which shows their disrespect for
the speaker's work.
Stanza 2
Lines 5-8 In the eyes of the white people blacks have a peculiar walk,
‘ante natal walk’ (image of a pregnant woman) which is considered
‘inhuman’ (not like a human)
Stanza 3
Lines 9-10 Stanza 3 These two lines summarize and put emphasis on
how white people mock Africans for their song and walk.
The speaker then dances a "magic dance" to the beat of talking drums,
which implies that this is a cultural or traditional dance. Despite this, the
listener still laughs and refuses to engage with the speaker's performance.
Stanza 4
Lines 11-14 Even after the African danced, the white people refused to
acknowledge them “… you shut your eyes” and they still mocked them
“...they laughed and laughed”
The speaker opens up their "mystic inside," which is compared to the sky,
indicating that they are revealing something profound about themselves.
However, the listener enters their car and continues to laugh, ignoring the
speaker entirely.
Stanza 5
Lines 15-18 When the African Africans showed their the mystic the white
people reacted by “...enter [ing] [their] car…”
Stanza 6
Lines 19-20 the whites laughed at everything that mattered most to the
Africans: their culture and dance.
The speaker's laughter is powerful and has the ability to thaw the
listener's frozen emotions and senses.
Stanza 7
The speaker describes the continuous laugher of the whites as ice cold.
Mocking freezes their ability to relate to Africans and the sense of
understanding of the African culture.
The laughter shut down all the senses of the whites (hearing, seeing
and tasting), preventing them from relating to the Africans.
* The speaker responds by explaining that they and their ancestors are
connected to the "living warmth of the earth" through their naked feet.
Stanza 8
In this stanza, the speaker uses ‘And now’ to indicate a change.
Stanza 9
Line –30-38 The strength of the African laughter is shown through the
use of the image of fire to show intensity of the water, air, water (seas),
river fishes and trees . All these are natural elements.
The speaker describes the African’s laughter as the fire of the sun (eye
of the sky). The intensity of the hotness of the sun is emphasized.
The intensity the water, air, water (seas), river fishes and trees melted
(thawed) their frozen hearts, inside, voice, ears, eyes and tongue.
These had been frozen in stanza 7 when the whites laughed.
this allowed the white people to be able to speak, hear , see and
understand the African culture.
Stanza 10
Lines 39-46 -The white people who laughed were surprised that the
warm and kind laughter of the African enabled them to see, hear, speak
and understand the Africans,
This stanza concludes the poem. It is at this point that the white man
realizes that despite all the humiliation the Africans underwent, they
are still warm-hearted people. .
They belong to the earth They are very close to Nature.
Themes
1-Racism The issue of racism is shown throughout the poem. The speaker
raises the shame of racial intolerance when the white people mock African
people’s music and dance.
2-Culture African culture is mocked by white people who misunderstand
the songs and dance. White people do not understand the Africans’
culture and misunderstand the connection that Africans have with Nature.
Line 1& 2
Metaphor
...my song is motor car misfiring…” The African’s song is taken to be
car that is misfiring.
it makes an uncomfortable sound just like a gun being fired.
Line 6
Metaphor
the way the African walks is compared to how someone would
walk before they are born.
The words ante-natal ’ means before birth’ here they possibly indicate
that something is “undeveloped”
the struggle with walking is used to show how the whites see the
Africans as ineffective or unproductive
Line 7
The word omnivorous refers the love for books. The speaker is saying
that the white people’s understanding is based on books, so there are
things that they do not understand
Line 12
Metaphor
The sound the drum makes is compared to talking.
This means that the drums actually speak and they need to be listened
to
Line 16
The inside is the place of the soul and a person’s life force and
integrity.
it is mysterious and magical but it cannot be known intellectually by
studying or read in a book.
Here it is generously shown “ wide”
Line 23
Metaphor
Line 22-23“...ice-block laughter…” The white's laughter is compared
to ice blocks . This shows that it is unfriendly.
however it affected the whites and not the Africans. The whites were
then unable to perceive and understand. Ie Their sight, speech, hearing
was blocked.
Line 29
Symbolism
This is when an object mentioned in the poem represents or stands for
something else.
Cars lines 15&29 symbolize/ stands for the white people’s technology
and materialistism.
Line 31
Metaphors
1-line 30 Laughter is taken to be or compared to fire
2-line 31 the sun is taken to be or compared to the eye of the sky
3– lines 31,32,33 the power/ intensity/ strength is compared or
taken to be a fire.
the fire image is used to show the intensity/ power/ strength of the
water, air, water (seas), river fishes and trees .
Line 34
Symbolism
voice and tongue symbolizes communication
ear symbolizes ability to hear
eyes symbolize the ability to see
line 44
Personification
Lines 43-45 the earth is taken to be person who can own
something. In this case the earth owns the African people, the
Africans belong to the earth