Limbo

Structure
• In relation to what the poem is about- the rhythm suggests the beat of the
west Indian drum
• No punctuation until the full stop at the end, which symbolises how the trip
went on and on

Language
• Danger signs
o “silence in front of me”
- Here, silence seems like a threat or a danger sign
- Could be symbolic of the clash of two cultures with two different
languages, there will be a cultural silence, and a lack of communication as
they cannot speak to each other in the same language
• Mocking
o “Water is hiding...limbo...limbo like me...down down down”
- There is now no joy of the limbo dance, but instead sounds like someone
mocking them
- May suggest this is what the captors did
• Feeling of hope
o “drummer is calling me...sun coming up...out of the dark”
- The drummer offers hope to him, and he feels as if he not alone and afraid
anymore
- This is the turning point in the poem, as darkness is replaced by light and
he is lifted out of the darkness

Themes
• Religious references
o “the dumb gods are raising me”
- Could mean the silent go is lifting him to the light
- May suggest one Christian attitude of evil and suffering- that it is not god’s
fault, but because of humans misusing their free will
- Could mean a stupid god for not letting him die- raising then becomes
ironic, as that is what he really wants- to be raised into heaven- but is
instead getting this terrible fate
o “on the burning ground”
- May suggest he has reached hell
- Some people believe in reincarnation, which is this- an afterlife after the
journey
• Suggestions of rape
o “darkness is over me...knees spread wide...dark ground is under me”
- Darkness here is being used as a metaphor for the English soldiers
- These also all suggest being forced down to the ground, which symbolises
denomination
- “knees spread wide” is ambiguous- could mean the low ceilings of the
decks or leaning back as the limbo stick gets lower
- They all symbolise rape: of an individual, or of a whole nation
• Repetition
o “long dark deck...long dark deck”
- Sounds like he’s completely trapped
 - May suggest he is losing his mind or memory and keeps on repeating
things because he is unsure of what is happening- emphasises bad
conditions on ship
- Fact that it is “long dark” may represent the unknown or how far they are
from home
- May suggests that even when he tries to distract himself, his mind keeps
on going to the terrible conditions he is in and his unknown future
• Darkness
o “long dark night”
- Suggests loneliness, despair and darkness (may represent their unknown
future)
- Night is when our fears are at their greatest/ the absence of light (good)
- Emphasises how awful the slaves lives are and the way they are being
treated
o “dark deck is slavery”
- May symbolise the peoples skin colour, as they are on the deck
- Suggests the hopelessness of the lives of the slaves

Sound
• Alliteration
o “stick hit sound”
- Phrase is not grammatically correct which may suggest the lack of order
and rules around them
- The short snappy sound are like the slaves being beaten
- The “stick” is ambiguous- could mean the limbo dance stick or the beating
stick