ANALYSIS OF THE POEM "WHEN I SAY I LOVE YOU" (Jwan Mwaikusa) BY Samson Mwita

WHEN I SAY I LOVE YOU

Jwan Mwaikusa

Don’t take my word, little bird,

For I’m just like a child

That speaks to imitate,

Repeating after its mate

“I love you, I love you”

These words are not mine.

I utter them crooked

Like the very world

That taught me to talk

“I love you, I love you”

Concealing with fake flowers

The jagged rocks beneath,

Standing hard and ready

To stab your unsuspecting bottom,

As it falls on the seemingly soft soil

Slightly scratched by hasty ploughs.

Don’t listen to me, honey bee,

As I sing climbing your tree,          

Honey hunters taught me the trick,

To sing the song and make you sick,

With song and smoke in search of sweetness;

They calm your sting and make you helpless.

You lie deep in slumber

While your hive they plunder

And away they go, avoiding your anger,

Till too late you know they brought you hunger.

Don’t long for my word, therefore,

And for my crooked mouth to utter

The useless to your ears:

“I love you, I love you.”

Don’t look at me when I say

I love you,

But seek for truth instead.

INTRODUCTION

The poem “When I say I love you” is a critique to the behaviour of most men who cheat women and girls that they love them while in reality the words don’t come from the heart. They use this as a trick to get girls cheaply just to satisfy their ego (sexual desires). The persona awakens the women to be aware of such lies. He uses the symbols of honey bee and little bird to symbolise women/girl and honey hunters for men. The whole poem seems like an allegory. That is to say it has two levels of meaning. At one level it shows the relationship between men and women and at another level it shows the relationship between rich nations and poor nations.

THEMATIC ANALYSIS

HONESTY

The persona is honest in the question of love. He admits that in most cases when men tell girls that they love them they don’t speak honestly from the heart. It is just a trick to get girls falling into their traps. He shows this in the very beginning of the poem where he says;

Don’t take my word little bird

For I’m just like a child

That speaks to imitate

Repeating after its mate

“I love you, I love you”

These words are not mine

He shows that all he does is to speak like everybody else does when he wants to get a girl for sex. He says;

These words are not mine

I utter them crooked

Like the very world

That taught me to talk

“I love you, I love you

CHEATING IN LOVE/HYPOCRISY

The poet shows that most love affairs are based on lies and hypocrisy. The words ‘I love you’ do not necessarily mean what they happen to suggest. So the persona urges the girls to seek for truths when any man tells them ‘I love you’ in the final stanza he advices;

Don’t look at me when I say

‘I love you’

But seek for truth instead

EXPLOITATION

Poems have many interpretations. This poem seems at one level to be an allegory so it calls for digging the deeper meaning of it. In a broader perspective the poem may be analysed in a sense of being politically charged. The honey bee may also represent developing countries that are fooled by rich nations by using aids. He shows that at times, honey hunters (rich nations/capitalists) come with sweet songs (policies) in search for sweetness (our resources like gold, diamond, ivory, gas). They make us calm and plunder (exploit) our resources and go away. When we come to discover it they are gone. Look at the following lines and visualise what they mean.

Don’t listen to me honey bee,

As I sing climbing your tree      

Honey hunters taught me the trick

To sing the song and make you sick,

With song and smoke in search of sweetness

They calm your sting and make you helpless

You lie deep in slumber

While your hive they plunder

And away they go, avoiding your anger,

Till too late you know they brought you hunger

GUIDING QUESTIONS

a.    What is the tone and mood of the poem?

The tone is lovely and romantic. The mood is also romantic.

b.    What type of the poem is this?

This is a lyric poem as it expresses the feelings of the poet.

c.    Comment on the Figures of speech

             i.    Personification.

Ø  The very world that taught me to talk

Ø  Don’t listen to me honey bee

Ø  Don’t take my word little bird

           ii.    Simile

I’m just like a child

                iii.      Euphemism- the poet explains the act of making love euphemistically in this way.

‘The jagged rock beneath’ (male sexual organ)

‘Standing hard and ready to stab’ (erection)

‘As it falls on the seemingly soft soil’ (penetrates into the female sexual organ)

‘Slightly scratched by hasty ploughs’ (copulation)

          iv.    Symbolism

Little bird and honey bee = represent women/girls or developing nations

Honey hunters = men or developed countries

A hive and sweetness = resources

Jagged rocks (penis), soft soil (vagina) hasty ploughs (copulation)

            v.    Imagery

Ø  Gustatory image. This is an Image of taste

In search of sweetness

Ø  Image of touch

Soft soil

Standing hard

Ø  Kinetic image this is an Image of motion

Hasty ploughs

Climbing your tree

Ø  Auditory image this is an image of sound

As I sing

                  vi.    Repetition

‘I love I love you’

                vii.    Alliteration

As it falls on the seemingly soft soil.

Concealing with fake flowers

               viii.    Allegory

An allegory is a story, poem or painting in which the characters and events are symbols of something else.

All the characters in the poem are symbolic. Little bird, honey bee, honey hunters are all symbols for humanity.

                  ix.    Poetic licence

v  ‘And away they go’ instead of ‘and they go away’

v  ‘While your hive they plunder’ instead of ‘while they plunder your hive’. This is done to achieve poetic effect.

d.    Comment on the rhyming scheme.

Largely, the poem has irregular rhyming pattern with exception of stanza three that has a regular rhyming pattern of AA BB CC DD EE i.e. bee/tree, trick/sick, sweetness/helpless, slumber/plunder, anger/hunger

e.    Who is the persona? How do you know?

The persona is a man who makes girls aware of the tricks men use to get them. This is revealed from the ways he addresses the bird/honeybee (girl) not to trust him when he says “I love you”

f.     What is the message of the poem?

Ø  Don’t trust everybody who says he loves you.

Ø  It is good to be honest in love affairs.

Ø  Exploitation by rich nations makes poor nations poorer. So developing nations should be careful with western aids.

g.    Is the poem relevant to your society?

The poem is relevant because cheating in love is now a way of life.

Up to now rich nations still plunder our resources in the name of aids.