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Benjamin Zephaniah, John Agard, non-standard English, poetic influences from other countries, Sujata Bhatt, Thomas Sayers Ellis, vernacular
Hello, my fellow poets, hope you all had a good start to your week.
Now, it may not have escaped your notice that we are a pretty diverse bunch of writers. We span the globe and all time zones, we write in a variety of styles, and, for quite a few of us, English is not even our mother tongue. Does that have en effect on our poetry? You tell me in the comments below.
But what I do know is that in English-language poetry there are many influences from other continents and from countries where English has become the dominant language but is not the first language of most people. All of these push at the boundaries of possibility, and since poetry is all about invention and reinvention, all about playing with language, it seems to be a natural outlet for language to be changed, refreshed and updated. Through non-standard uses of English and the influx of the vernacular or the amalgamation of cultures in places such as Australia, America, India, the Caribbean and Africa, we have a patchwork mosaic of new possibilities. Let me share some of these with you.
From The Telegraph.
1) Benjamin Zephaniah was born in Britain but lived in Jamaica during his formative years. He was even in an institution for youth offenders for a while and never finished school. Now he is one of the most widely taught contemporary poets on the school curriculum, has been awarded honorary doctorates from a number of British universities, and turned down an OBE from the Queen (he is a staunch Rastafarian and supports a republic of Britain).
Listen to the poet explore his Jamaican and Barbadian roots in this ‘song’ poem Reggae Head and read the transcript here.
http://www.poetryarchive.org/poem/reggae-head
From sawnet.org
2) Sujata Bhatt is an Indian poet who emigrated to the US when she was 12 years old, completed her MFA at the University of Iowa and has worked as a creative writing tutor in Canada and Britain. Her native tongue is Gujarati and she uses it very effectively in the poem Search for My Tongue, in which she includes phonetic Gujarati verses, letting the music of the phrases wash over the readers. Here are the first lines of this moving poem:
You ask me what I mean
by saying I have lost my tongue.
I ask you, what would you do
if you had two tongues in your mouth,
and lost the first one, the mother tongue,
and could not really know the other,
the foreign tongue.
From Poetryarchive.org
3) John Agard born in Guyana of a Caribbean father and a Portuguese mother, talks about feeling split but also about being judged for his ‘between cultures, between races’ status. In his most famous poem Half Caste he criticises the use of the term, which was quite current in Britain when he first moved there. See how he imitates the cadence of the Caribbean accent with the orthography that he chooses.
Excuse me
standing on one leg
I’m half-caste
Explain yuself
wha yu mean
when yu say half-caste
yu mean when picasso
mix red an green
is a half-caste canvas/
explain yuself
wha u mean
when yu say half-caste
yu mean when light an shadow
mix in de sky
is a half-caste weather/
well in dat case
england weather
nearly always half-caste
From smith.edu
4) Finally, Thomas Sayers Ellis incorporates the language of rapping and black American argot from his native Washington DC in his poem Vernacular Owl, of which just a small fragment below.
Us am,
an unfit
second
Constitution.
Us am, an ambulance full of …
broke-down,
as round as we bald.
Obeying
hawkish
eagles.
Why the young Brothers so big, what they eatin’,why they blow up like that, gotta wear big white tees, gotta wear white-skin sheets, like maggots, like lard, the domestic oil of death and klansweat, who blew them up, doctored,who pickin’ them off like darkcotton, make them make themselves a fashion of profitable, soft muscular bales, somebody got to clean this shit up.
To see the poet in action, watch this video recording of him reading his poem ‘My Meter is Percussive’.
So, I’d love to hear your thoughts on these often disruptive, non-standard uses of English in poetry… and what do you find most challenging about writing in English (if it’s not your first language)?
dVerse 
Good evening (well, at least it is here) and hope you’ve had a wonderful and restful weekend! Thinking about language and how it can be stretched and subverted, renewed and rebuilt. I sometimes have to struggle with my ‘red pen addiction’, I admit (I used to be an English teacher, after all). But there are no rules in poetry – and the English language has been evolving for centuries!
Ha ha, I understand the ‘red pen addiction’ very well!
When I first began to write poetry years ago, I wrote in ‘proper English.” I capitalized the first word of every line, as most classical poets I read did. I used standard poetic punctuation, etc. Today, though I know proper form and punctuation I most often do not use capital letters or punctuation. Perhaps even native English speakers somehow stretch or subvert the language.
Exactly, that’s the sort of thing I had in mind…
I write in English but not in French, my mother tongue. Since the poetry I read is in English and I speak English all day, I do not think French affects my writing very much.
Interesting that you should say that, because I too was convinced that Romanian didn’t have much of an influence on me, because I never wrote (creatively) in it, and my preferred language even in childhood was English. But lately I’ve started to see some similarity in my ‘wild’ (unedited) prose style with the South American writers or other Romance languages… so maybe… subconsciously…
An interesting topic, Marina Sofia. I enjoyed the examples you gave, but really don’t have a lot to add – as English is my first language.
I do very much admire many poets in the blogosphere who write poetry in English when English is NOT their native language. Especially form poetry!
I do think that writing poetry in a person’s first language in challenging enough without trying to write it in a second language as so many wonderful blogosphere poets do!
When I hear Zephaniah or Ellis reading, it sounds so different from standard English, so much more melodious and rhythmical, that I become really envious. Alas, my English pronounciation is bog standard…
I will check out the poets you listed here Marina. I grew up learning and writing in English in school & in my work, though my mother tongue is not English but the dialect of the islands I grew up with. English was the common universal language, and it proved an advantage when our family migrated to Canada. Now, English is very much my first language and I am more comfortable with expressing myself in English, than in my native tongue. I noticed though that writers whose first language is not English, choose English words differently, sometimes not often used in the everyday language. They also tend to incorporate their culture and history, which makes their work stand out. They definitely bring color and a different way of describing life which make me sit up and think about it.
Thanks for the interesting post and Happy Monday ~
Very astute observation, Grace: sometimes it’s not just the language, but also the choice of words, choice of topics perhaps… and certainly the way of seeing the world. I am fascinated how much of our early experience does imprint itself on our brains!
I’m always amazed to see the work that comes from our fellow dVerse poets for whom English is a second language–Claudia, Bjorn to name just two. I have written a bit in French, a language I used to think and dream in, but it has become tedious for me. It is such a beautiful language. I wish I had continued to use it when I moved home from France in 1974…a loooong time ago. Kudos to those of you who do take on the task of writing and translating.
I agree, Victoria – it’s amazing how versatile and in command our non-native English speaking poets are… Perhaps they are also better at breaking the rules? Because the rules don’t mean that much to them?
I think the tenses are hardest for non-native speakers, but they bring new ideas and words that help lift the language. Since poetry is not exact, it’s a good place to be.
Ah, yes, those wonderful English tenses…. Prepositions are also very tricky. I find even those who’ve been living in English-speaking environments for ages still get them wrong… (I speak from experience)
of all things, that jumps out to the ear – but variety is good – and there phrases – for example the Asian Indian guys in IT tend to say “Please do the needful” which is quintessentially theirs but still a delight to hear.
This is a really great topic, Marina! I am lovin’ Thomas Sayers Ellis – My Meter is Percussive. I enjoyed reading about each of these poets. I especially liked Benjamin Zephaniah’s story, shows our past only defines us if we let it. 1st person that pops into my head for poets whose mother tongue isn’t english is Claudia. She uses her voice very uniquely and her work reads like abstract art.
Sometimes being an ‘outsider’ (not of that culture or language) gives you creative freedom, doesn’t it – I am certainly exhilarated by Claudia’s style, unlike anything I’ve read before in poetry. And glad you liked those poets – it’s always fun to hear new and different voices, isn’t it?
I love reading all the flavors of language that come through in English translations.. and the more complex they are to interpret the more i enjoy reading them time and time again.. to get to the meaning… the more complex.. the more interesting in my eyes.. and sometimes the complexity can just be in approximation of translation from one language to another..:)
And I haven’t even gone into the whole subject of translated poetry yet – that’s perhaps a topic for a future Pub Talk!
Great topic! I worked with fellow engineers from all over the world. It always impressed me how many were taught English in their school curricula. Their command of conversational English often made me shake my head when I heard my mother tongue English bastardize the grammar, spelling, meaning of English. I have wished my Japanese was as pure and correct as my favorite engineer’s English. When I read poems by Bjorn and Claudia, I am impressed anew. Not just to speak English, but to write so beautifully and with such command. And, I always find interesting the differencesnin English – American vs. English English vs. Idioms from the South, Midwest, etc. Of our country and then sprinkle in the Canadians, Australians, etc. The different languages add to the poems like different spices add to food.
My French students loved the English or American exercises!
And I am so used to your beyond excellent English, I forget about your being French!
English as Esperanto… although that can have its downsides. I sometimes run courses on International or Business English, which is the English language reduced to its basic grammatical forms and with a limited vocabulary. But that’s impoverishing a language, to my mind, instead of enriching it.
I never knew anyone who spoke Esperanto. But they did speak exceptional English, besides the business English. I would sometimes have to supply a supplemental word or concept and they in turn would supply from their language. My favorite engineer, a tightly buttoned Japanese man, was entranced that when he went into certain type restaurants, he was called honey or sweetie, just because they do that here in the South. We became and still are the best of friends. He is the person about whom I wrote a series of poems, The Walk…
Whoa, my longish comment just disappeared as I was typing; spooky. I was saying that some of us have a good other for slang vernacular in other languages, but have never been fluent in any of them. The diversity of the dVerse pack of beautiful poets has constantly flat-out amazed me. Folks like Bjorn, Claudia, Abhra, so many others can create poetry in English wonderfully. I have struggled to get a decent level of competence in English for over 70 years, & I’m still discovering new words, tones, & abstracts. For me, the biggest thing I have gained from my association with this international family of bright talented poets, is the confidence to experiment with the shape & form of my words & stanzas on the blank page, an exhilarating tool that I am slowly mastering. It feels like the freedom of form demonstrated by Brian & Claudia can be liberating to the poem, to the words.
Hell, the auto-spell check sneaks in too often! That would be “some of us have a good “ear” for slang.”
And I thought it was another “Glenn-ism” and smiling at it. I am always interested when we poets write in the accents or rhythms of our geographic areas.
Ah, shame, but glad you persevered!
You have a wonderful oral style and turn of phrase – must be your actor’s ear. In spite of my love for sounds and accents, I have to admit I cannot tell apart the various regional accents. I remember when I first moved to the UK confusing Welsh and Jamaican accent, Irish and American and being laughed at quite mercilessly.
English is not my first language too…so when I first started writing poetry it was a bit childish, I was very careful about grammar and all…..however it maybe cause I was just learning English and was just 13 years old.. but now I write what comes to my mind, in anyway I want to tell the story……..so I would really like to get some views about my work from other poets especially the ones who speak English language as their mother language………. 🙂
That’s the best way to go about it – focus on the story/message/what you want to tell… and the words will find a way to help you. Eventually. Don’t be shy about letting us know when you post a poem what you want help with – for instance, ‘I’m not sure there isn’t a better way to say this in the second stanza’ or ‘am I changing the word order so much here that it doesn’t make sense’? I’ve learnt to ask for very specific comments, so that readers can give useful advice and I can learn as much as possible.
Thanks
I have nothing but admiration for many of the pub’s poets who write eloquent poetry in their second language. I know just how hard it is: whenever I try to write a poem in French, I am always brought up short, wondering if I’ve made a stupid mistake with gender or conjugation, and this gets in the way of the poetry. The same applies to translation – I can reproduce the meaning, but the poetry is never quite there.
I do love reading the non-standard English of poets like Zepaniah and the other excellent examples you’ve given us. Such poets bring life and rhythm and zing!
Oh, you’re very brave! I haven’t even attempted a poem in Romanian (supposedly my mothertongue), let alone French or German…
Zing is the perfect word – don’t they just add that? Or pizzazz?
I love that word pizzazz as well!
I grew up speaking Australian English, and lost it. Started learning Malay when I was 6. It is now what I consider my mother tongue, though I think in English.
Writing requires some bravery, whatever the language. I dabble in English, Malay and French sporadicly, and thank my lucky stars for this passion for writing.