Fulani Cattle by John Pepper Clark: Critical Appreciation

This is a poem expressing compassion (pity) towards a herd of cattle (cows) resting near a town before being taken to the slaughterhouse (where animals are killed by the butcher). The situation of this monologue by an inquisitive passer-by is easy to understand.


John Pepper Clark

The poem however begins with a statement by the speaker that makes us feel that he has been thinking upon this issue not only for a moment this time, but also for a long time, as suggested by: "Each time I come upon the wake of your clan".

There is no concrete, outward development in terms of action in the poem. Only some time elapses as the speaker asks a series of questions to the mute animals. He asks them a list of questions because they don't answer him and he thinks of alternative answers to his own question as to why the animals are not expressing their emotions or revolting against the cruel drover (person who drives the animals from one place to another). The poem develops with further questions, expressing the sense of wonder, curiosity and pity of the speaker. Indirectly, the poet intends to express his sympathy towards animals and satirize the cruelty of the so called superior animals (human beings) towards the innocent animals.

The intention of the poet is simple to understand: he has presented a compassionate persona whose questioning of the animals is supposed to provoke our own thoughts, imagination and sympathy. We feel the sense of guilt that he feels; we realize the man's cruelty to animals; we wonder whether and what kinds of feelings, animals have and why they do not revolt; and we are aroused to ask many other questions of our own.

The choice of words in this poem suggests that the poem was written in a different culture where the idioms are neither like those of the English or any other language. The poem is probably translated from the Nigerian language. The word-choice also reveals that the speaker identifies himself with the suffering animals to some extent. It is notable that the choice of words perfectly matches the theme of serious pondering and the expression of a deep sympathy. The very first line is a good example of all these features of word-choice. Contrition or the sense of guilt makes the poet feel very bad. He expresses this in a local idiom as "Contrition twines me like a snake". He feels sorry because human beings have tortured animals for centuries; and though he is one of them he is unable to do anything. He feels guilty every time he becomes conscious of this fact, that is, when he comes "upon the wake of your clan". The mention of 'clan' brings ideas of racial torture in our minds.

The choice of words that this speaker makes has created many unique images. The Fulani cattle have come down the hills and across the desert moving up and down and in curving paths. This is described as "undulating along in agony". Though rather abstract, this is very suggestive. The face of the animal to which the man is speaking is described as a "stool for mystery". It is actually difficult to know the emotions of animals. But that makes him think and sympathize even more. He thinks that the animals' knowledge and hopes are "locked in your hump away from man". Though this suggests that he is ignorant of the scientific facts about the location of feelings, we also have a feeling that he is using traditional wisdom and beliefs. The animals are, however visibly 'pale'. But he wonders what gives them the courage to tirelessly walk on and on, and not revolt. They ought to kick man's face! Further images are developed in his attempt to find an answer to the question why the animals are silent. The word choice also reveals that the questions are more rhetorical than straightforward.

Certain words reveal that the speaker is either an uneducated and ignorant man, or else he is using traditional ideas and 'folk wisdom' rather than scientific knowledge. For instance, he guesses that the cattle may be carrying their long experiences of suffering in their horns. He also guesses that the cattle might be hiding some knowledge and hopes in their 'humps', or back. Many other words also suggest that the speaker has different and rather odd ideas about cattle. He says that a moment without the beating on their backs may be arousing "shocks of ecstasy". It is odd that relief shocks them with 'ecstasy', or extreme pleasure, as he believes. He also believes that the long knife will prevail over the innocent, which we may believe.

The logical structure of this poem may be said to be one of associative thought process. The speaker thinks of alternative answers to key questions as to why the animals are not expressing their feelings and the sense of rebellion. But during the process we are also told many more things about the plight of the animals. We learn that they have been driven to this city from faraway places across the desert and forests. Our sympathy is aroused when the speaker reveals that these animals are being brought to the "hungry towns by the sea".

There are no traditional European types of figures (metaphors, irony and allusions) in the poem. Yet the images created by the poet in the course of the meditation are striking and deeply meaningful, as discussed above. The mention of "clan" suggests that the poet may be identified with the animals, most probably because he also belongs to a clan which has been oppressed for a long time. The mention of Niger is another clue which tells us that the poem is African, if not precisely Nigerian, where there is a long history of domination and discrimination the Negroes.

I found the poem particularly interesting because of its simplicity. The speaker of the poem seems to be a simpleton, but he is much better than the common run of heartless people who never understand that animals also have life and feelings, and that they must be loved to prove our so-called "superiority" over them.

Literary Spotlight

Summary of Fulani Cattle

Literary Appreciation of Fulani Cattle

Biography of John Pepper Clark

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