Answer to Question #213328 in English for Stacey

Question

In the poem Johannesburg by Lesego Rampolokeng, comment on the effect of the images in stanzas 2 and 3 on the meaning of the poem as a whole.

Answer 1

The tone of the poem is sad as the author describes the predicament and sufferings of black South Africans in urban centres during the Apartheid era. The persona brings into perspective the ills of Apartheid where Africans were used abusively to construct amenities such as roads to provide comfort for white South Africans.

This poem about the city of Johannesburg is a poem written by Lesego Rampolokeng in

2013.This poem is written to show the plight of living in the city of Johannesburg. The poet

uses different figures of speech to ensure that the message is conveyed so that the reader can

see the situation even if they have never been there before. The use of imagery is dominant in

the poem to describe the city and also the choice of words is so strong as to paint the picture

of the city in the minds of people.

In the very first stanza of the poem, the poet shows his attitude towards the city that he has

lost hope in, he says “my city is paved with Judas gold, deceptions and lies, dreams come

here to die.” This means that people come to Johannesburg to fulfil their dreams but they fail.

All they get is lies from the people who promise to help them but they don’t deliver on their

promises. The use of “Judas” as a metaphor shows that the poet feels betrayed by the city. He

and other people had hopes that they would achieve what they wanted but they failed as their

dreams come to the city to die. If a dream dies, it means a person has failed to achieve what

he or she had wanted to achieve. People come to Johannesburg with the hope of getting

wealth as the place is full of gold. Gold is one of the mineral resources that carry the wealth

of the country. That is why most people are looking to the area with that desire of getting rich

because there is gold. The alliteration of “deceptions”, “dreams”, and “die” reinforces the

speaker’s anger that his dreams have indeed died.