Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Antonio Jacinto's poem "Monangamba" is a searing critique of colonial exploitation and the dehumanizing labor system that subjugated African workers under the colonial regime. The poem uses vivid imagery and repetition to convey the suffering and exploitation of the "contratado," or contracted laborers, who toiled on vast estates, producing wealth for their colonial masters while receiving nothing but scorn and misery in return. The refrain "Monangambeeee..." is a haunting cry, symbolizing the collective anguish and despair of these laborers, as well as the unheeded calls for justice and recognition.

The poem begins with the powerful image of the estate, where "there is no rain" but instead "the sweat of my brow that waters the crops." This line immediately sets the tone for the poem, highlighting the intense physical labor that sustains the estate's productivity. The poet metaphorically replaces the natural element of rain with human sweat, emphasizing that the prosperity of the estate is built entirely on the backs of the laborers, whose sweat and toil are the true sources of growth and abundance.

Jacinto continues this theme by describing the coffee cherries, which "are drops of my blood turned sap." The image of the ripe, red coffee cherries as the blood of the laborers is both striking and disturbing. It suggests that the laborers' very lifeblood is being drained to produce the crop, turning the fruits of their labor into symbols of their own suffering and exploitation. The coffee, which is to be "roasted, ground, and crushed," becomes black, "black with the colour of the contratado." This association of the coffee's final color with the skin color of the African laborers underscores the profound connection between the laborers' identity and the product they are forced to produce, highlighting the dehumanization inherent in the colonial labor system.

The poet then poses a series of rhetorical questions, asking who performs the arduous tasks that sustain the estate and enrich the colonial masters. "Who gets up early? Who goes to toil? / Who is it carries on the long road / the hammock or bunch of kernels?" The repetition of "Who?" serves to emphasize the invisibility and exploitation of the laborers, whose work is essential yet unrecognized. The laborers are depicted as the backbone of the estate, responsible for everything from harvesting crops to transporting goods, yet they receive nothing but "scorn, rotten maize, rotten fish, ragged clothes, fifty angolares, beating for biting back." This litany of injustices underscores the brutal conditions under which the laborers live, where even the smallest act of resistance is met with violence.

The poem also highlights the stark contrast between the laborers' poverty and the wealth and excess enjoyed by the colonial masters. "Who gives the money for the boss to buy cars, machinery, women / and Negro heads for the motors?" This line is particularly powerful in its critique of how the wealth generated by the laborers is used to fund the colonial master's opulent lifestyle, while the laborers themselves are left with nothing. The mention of "Negro heads for the motors" is a chilling reminder of the dehumanization and commodification of African bodies under colonial rule.

As the poem progresses, the poet calls upon the natural world—"the birds that sing, the streams in carefree wandering, and the high wind from inland"—to bear witness to the laborers' plight. These elements of nature, which are free and unburdened, contrast sharply with the laborers' suffering and servitude. The birds, streams, and wind will answer the poet's rhetorical questions with a single, mournful word: "Monangambeeee..." This word, stretched out into a plaintive wail, encapsulates the collective pain and frustration of the laborers, a cry that echoes across the land but remains unheard by those in power.

The poem concludes with a plea for a moment of escape: "Ah! Let me at least climb the palm trees / Let me drink wine, palm wine / and fuddled by my drunkenness forget / - Monangambeee. ..." This desire to "forget" speaks to the unbearable weight of the laborers' existence, where the only relief from their suffering is to momentarily lose themselves in intoxication. However, the refrain "Monangambeee..." returns, suggesting that even in moments of escape, the reality of their exploitation and the cry for justice remains inescapable.

"Monangamba" is a powerful and moving indictment of the colonial labor system and the exploitation of African workers. Through its vivid imagery, repetition, and evocative language, Antonio Jacinto captures the profound suffering of the "contratado" and the deep injustice of their situation. The poem serves as both a testimony to the resilience of the human spirit in the face of dehumanization and a call to recognize and address the exploitation that underpins systems of oppression.

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