Hyena by Edwin Morgan -Analysis-

Annotations:

• I am waiting for you. I have been travelling all morning through the bush and not eaten. I am lying at the edge of the bush on a dusty path that leads from the burnt out kraal. I am panting, it is miday,Ifound no water-hole. I am very fierce with no food and alhough my eyes are screwed to slits against the sun you must believe i am prepared to spring. What do you think of me? I have a rough coat like Africa. I am crafty with dark spots like the bush tufted plains of Africa. I sprawl as a shaggy bundle of gathered energy like Africa sprawling in its waters. I trot, I lope, I slaver, I am a ranger. I hunch my shoulders. I eat the dead. Do you like my song? When the moon pours hard and cold on the velt I sing, and I am the slave of darkness. Over the stone walls and the mud walls and the ruined places and the owls,the moonlight falls. I sniff a broken drum. I bristle. My pelt is silver. I howl my song to the moon -up it goes. Would you meet me there in the waste places?It is said I am a good match for a dead lion. I put my muzzle at his golden flanks, and tear. He is my golden supper, but my tastes are easy. I have a crowd of fangs, and i use them. oh and my tongue -do you llike me when it comes lolling out over my jaw very long, and i am laughing? I am not laughing. I am not snarling either, only panting in the sun, showing you what i grip carrion with.I am waiting for the foot to slide, for the heart to sieze, for the leaping sinews to go slack, for the fight to the death to be fought to the death, for a glazing eye and the rumour of blood, I am crouching in my dry shadows, till you are ready for me. My place is to pick you clean and leave your bones to the wind.

1. Poem of address

   Annotations:

   • "I am waiting for you."
   1. The hyena speaks to us directly
      1. it is in a threatening and challenging manner
         1. this remains throughout
2. Persona

   Annotations:

   • "My place is to pick you clean."
   • Persona:  -the author is speaking through another character
   1. the hyena is used as a momento mori
3. Repitition of...

   Annotations:

   • "I am waiting..." "I am lying..."
   1. "I am"
      1. confidence in himself
      2. arrogance
      3. self obsorbed
      4. he is the center of the universe / talking about himself
   2. "You"
      1. Hyena is addressing and challenging the reader
         1. making the reader feel uncomfortable
      2. he wants us to now that we're in his sights
   3. "I am waiting"
      1. First line of first and last stanza
         1. emphasises the Hyenas patience
         2. reminds us that he is watching and stalking us
      2. makes the reader feel uncomfortable
      3. --momento mori: reminder of death
4. Connotations of...
   1. "I have a crowd of fangs"
      1. sharp
      2. violent
      3. vampires/ werewolves
      4. ability to hunt
         1. threatening/ frightening
   2. "My pelt is silver"
      1. But second best to "golden" lion
      2. precious
      3. valuable
      4. important
   3. "I am a slave of darkness"
      1. bound to doing bad things
      2. controlled by darkness
      3. evil
5. Sibilance

   Annotations:

   • "Although my eyes are screwed to slits against the sun, you must believe I am prepared to pounce"
   1. repitition of 's' sound
   2. draws our attention to Hyenas alertness
   3. prepared to get us even though he is weakened by hunger, thirst and the sun in his eyes
6. Metaphor

   Annotations:

   • "I sniff a broken drum"
   1. the broken drum represents a human body
      1. suggests the kraal has been destroyed/burnt by humans
      2. the heart doesnt beat anymore like the drum doesnt beat
         1. -useless, broken, forgotten
      3. when death comes to humans they are unable to move or make a sound
   2. the hyena knows the signs of death and is prepared to pounce
7. List

   Annotations:

   • "For the foot to slide, for the heart to sieze, for the leaping sinews to go slack,"
   1. Hyena is waiting for us to die
   2. very disturbing
   3. makes us feel paranoid and frightened of all the ways death can come to us
      1. and powerless over its inevitability
8. Use of constanant/ vowel sound
   1. "A"

      Annotations:

      • I am crAfty with dArk spots/ I sprAwl as a shAggy bundle of gathered energy"
      1. relaxed sound reflects hyenas state
      2. contrasts last line "bundle of gathered energy
   2. "D"

      Annotations:

      • "I eat the dead."
      1. makes the reader notice the terrifying statment
      2. reader feels uncomfortable and disgusted
   3. "T"

      Annotations:

      • "I have a rough coaT... I am crafTy with dark spoTs... I eaT.
      1. draws our attention to his looks and character
      2. alarms us that he is so greedy and unsympathetic
9. Hyena beleifs/superstitions

   Annotations:

   • "Do you like my song?"
   1. Hyenas are assosiated with greed, uncleanliness and cowardice
   2. Their laughs were meant to imitate human voices calling the names of their victims to lure them
10. Alliteration of...
    1. ...'F' sounds

       Annotations:

       • "I am very fierce without food."
       1. Draws our attention to the threat and how dangerous the hyena is
    2. ...'S' sounds

       Annotations:

       • "My eyes are screwed to slits against the sun."
11. "I am not laughing."
    1. Hyena tells reader that we do understand him/his superior ways
       1. --Because he isnt laughing; he's showing off his teeth to scare us
12. Hyena facts

    Annotations:

    • "It is said i am a good match for a dead lion" "Carrion"
    1. hyenas are scavengers who eat dead meat (carrion)
    2. Rarely hunt their own prey
    3. Very strong digestive systems (to eat rotten meat)
    4. Cowardly Hyena = steals meat that others have killed for him and doesnt take down anything on his own
13. Rhetorical Questions

    Annotations:

    • "Do you like my song?" "Will you meet me there in the waste places?" "Do you like me?"
    1. he doesnt care about our answer
       1. arrogance
       2. He has already influenced our answer -NO
14. African words

    Annotations:

    • "Kraal" "Veldt"
    1. words not known by the majority of readers
       1. shows hyenas arrogance by using words he knows we dont understand
    2. makes him seem superior, wiser and more knowledgable than us
15. Subverting usual poetry stereotypes

    Annotations:

    • "when the moon pours hard and cold on the veldt"
    1. in poetry the moon is usually a symbol of romance
       1. But this is not romantic
          1. no happiness
16. Euphamism

    Annotations:

    • "Do you like my song?"
    • Euphamism: a pleasant way of saying something unpleasant eg. kicked the bucket
    1. Describing the laughing as a song makes it seem more pleasant
17. Short statements

    Annotations:

    • "I trot, I lope, I slaver, I am a ranger."
    1. Blunt and threatening
    2. The language is meant to disgust us
    3. Shows his arrogance
18. Humour

    Annotations:

    • "It is said I am a good match for a dead lion."
    1. Self depreciating humour- to put himself down
       1. He knows he is a bit of a coward because he doesnt kill anything himself
          1. He uses this humour because -even so- he got the lion in the end no matter whether it was braver
             1. so he can still feel superior
19. Dramatic monologue

    Annotations:

    • "My place is to pick you clean and leave your bones to the wind."
    1. Monologue: 1 person talking
       1. Dramatic: the speaker isnt just on his own talking to himself
    2. Someone else is supposed to be listening -a message for us