Structure and language

Structure

The poem is written in free versefree verse: Poetry that has little or no rhyme scheme, regular pattern of rhythms, or line lengths., with lines of different lengths. The lines are short, so we read the poem slowly and can appreciate its full horrors.

It is divided into four sections. Each is marked by an indented line rather than a new stanzastanza: A group of lines of poetry that make up a unit - like a paragraph in a piece of prose; a verse., perhaps to emphasise the logical flow of ideas. There is minimal punctuation - why?

Language

Picture courtesy of Marco Masciovecchio

Think about how the language the poet uses helps to convey his ideas. Here are some points to consider:

• The title is in some ways deceptive, like Ezekiel's 'The Night of the Scorpion'. Although the poem begins with a cold and repulsive portrait of the vultures, we realise that they are a symbolsymbol: An image or thing (usually something physical, like a flag) that stands for or represents something else - usually something abstract, like a nation. A crucifix is a symbol of Christianity. of evil and their main purpose is to introduce us to the themetheme: A central, unifying idea that runs through a text or performance. of the poem.
• The description of the vultures is in the past tensepast tense: The verb form we use to make it clear that the action took place in the past (as opposed to in the present or the future)., but the Belsen Commandant is described in the present tensepresent tense: The verb form we use when an action is continuous and happening now (not in the past or in the future)., perhaps to remind us that evil is all around us now.
• The concentration camp Commandant cannot escape the evil deeds he has spent the day performing - 'the fumes of human roast [cling] rebelliously to his hairy nostrils' (line 32). The word 'roast' makes us think of food, so it is doubly repulsive that he then buys 'chocolate' for his 'tender' child (or children) on the way home.
• Which of the two conclusions in the fourth section of the poem is stronger? How do you feel Achebe wants us to leave the poem - with hope because love can exist in even the most evil creatures, or with despair because, despite that love, they cannot stop committing evil?