Llimbo annotated

1. LIMBO

2. This is a poem about slavery. Men, women and children
were captured in Africa and were taken in ships to
America. Once there, they were made to work as slaves
on the plantations in America and the Caribbean islands.
The slaves would be expected to row on the voyage and
they would be struck with whips to ensure that they did
so.
Slave Ships – An estimated 15 million Africans were
transported to the Americas between 1540 and 1850. Due
to the fact that they were chained together, it was very
difficult for the slaves to move. Conditions aboard the
ships were so poor that a large number of slaves died in
the process and many were crippled for life due to the
appalling conditions.
Limbo by
Edward Kamau Brathwaite

3. Edward Kamau BrathwaiteEdward Kamau Brathwaite
Edward Brathwaite was
born in Bridgetown,
Barbados in 1930. He
studied History at
Cambridge. In 1983 was
appointed Professor of
Social and Cultural
History at the University
of the West Indies in
Kingston, Jamaica. He has
won many awards for his
poetry.

4. What is the poem about?
The poem is really about the bringing of
slaves from Africa to America. It is about
the hardships and humiliations they had to
suffer. It is about the harsh way they were
captured and treated.

5. LIMBO – What does it mean?
A dance in
which a dancer
has to pass
under a stick by
bending over
backwards; the
stick is
gradually
lowered
An
intermediate
place between
two extremes
An imaginary
place for lost,
unwanted or
forgotten
things
In Christianity,
the place of rest
for infants who
dies without
baptism
In Roman Catholic
tradition, it is a
place where the
souls of people go,
if they are not
good enough for
heaven or bad
enough for hell

6. And limbo stick is the silence in front of me
limbo
limbo
limbo like me
limbo
limbo like me
 
long dark night is the silence in front of me
limbo
limbo like me
 
stick hit sound
and the ship like it ready
 
stick hit sound
And the dark still steady
limbo
limbo like me
"silence" suggests the clash of
two cultures, each with a
different language.
repeated lines
establish the rhythm
of the dance.
impatient cracking of the
stick,
Alliteration
adds to the
impact of the
beating of the
slaves
symbol of
oppression…..the
slave-driver's
weapon to
intimidate the
people taken into
slavery
loneliness of captivity
limbo is the prison
ship onto which the
Africans are
herded.
By repeating the word "limbo“,
it also reinforce the layers of
meaning in the word "limbo"

7. long dark neck and the water surrounding me
long dark neck and the silence is over me

limbo
limbo like me

stick is the whip
and the dark deck is slavery

stick is the whip
and the dark deck is slavery

limbo
limbo like me

drum stick knock
and the darkness over me
similar lines
suggest he’s
completely
trapped
limbo is now the whip. The
deck of the ship is slavery.
Darkness = despair of
the slavery
Repetition
Hard
consonant
sounds.
Onomatopoeia
horror of
the journey
…………image
of darkness.
……vastness
of the ocean
Images of violence appear.
….the victim is forced to
the ground and the threat
is pressing downwards.

8. knees spread wide
and the water is hiding
limbo
limbo like me

knees spread wide
and the dark ground is under me

down
down
down
and the drummer is calling me

limbo
limbo like me

Use of first person
engages the reader and
makes them
sympathetic
Repetition of
lines –
harshness of
conditions on
the ship
Before rising out of slavery he
sinks right to the bottom.
Dancer goes under the limbo
stick
Drumming has an almost
hypnotic effect on the
dancer
Suggests the
physical abuse of
the individual and
the organised
abuse of a whole
nation.
The victim
is no longer
alone.
There is
hope in the
line.

9. sun coming up
and the drummers are praising me

out of the dark
and the dumb gods are raising me

up
up
up

and the music is saving me

hot
slow
step

on the burning ground.
This line is the
turning point of the
poem – dark replaced
by light
New hope – he’s
lifted out of the
darkness
finally ascends
out of the
misery of
slavery
his hope will probably be
short-lived – his suffering
will continue when he
arrives at his destination
A symbol of life,
of hope.
the shared hopes
and rebirth of
black people
everywhere.

10. 1.The poem is in free verse form, with effective use of
rhyme and a very strong rhythm.
2.The rhythm of the poem and the strong rhymes suggest
the musical beat of the West Indian limbo dance.
• where the word limbo appears as a complete line, it
should be spoken slowly, the first syllable extended
and both syllables stressed: Lím-bó.
•the italics give the chorus) which reminds us of the
dance, the rest of the poem tells the story enacted in
the dance:
•almost every syllable is stressed, until the very last
line, where the rhythm is broken, suggesting the
completion of the dance, and the end of the narrative
Structure and Language Use

11. 1.The poem is in 1st person narrative which makes it
closer to the audience. Trustworthy and reliable.
2.There is no punctuation except the full stop at the
end which suggests the end of all slavery; the dance;
movement
3.Use of alliteration which is depressing - suggests
doom (d,d,d).
4.Use of repetition emphasizes the message and
portrays the feeling of the dance.
5.“down…down…down” This may suggest the drum beat.