4 Cekal English Blog: In The Midst Of Hardship

IN THE MIDST OF HARDSHIP - LATIFF MOHIDIN

At dawn they returned home

Their soaky clothes torn

and approached the stove

Their limbs marked by scratches

Their legs full of wounds

but on their brows

there was not a sign of despair

The whole day and night just passed

they had to brave the horrendous flood

in the water all the time

between bloated carcasses

and tiny chips of tree barks

desperately looking for their son's

albino buffalo that was never found

They were born amidst of hardship

and grew up without a sigh or a complaint

now they are in the kitchen. making

jokes while rolling their cigarette leaves.
-Latiff Mohidin

Themes

1.Facing hardship and problems with optimism
2.The power of love.
3.Thinking positive
4.Being grateful of way of life
5.The power of nature

SYNOPSIS
The poem tells about the hardship of a couple after facing a big flood in a village. They returned at dawn after being out for searching their son’s albino buffalo which was missing when the heavy flood occurs. They are wet and hurt with body full of scars but they do not show any sign of despair. Even though they are living in hardships, they never complaint anything. The couple live happily and spending time together. Now, they are in the kitchen making jokes and relax with a smoke.

INFORMATION ON THE POET, LATIFF MOHIDIN

Latiff Mohidin was born on 25th August 1941 in Negeri Sembilan. Latiff Mohidin is usually known for his graphic and imagistic experiment. He addresses social themes in his poems, illustrating the all-important concept that poetry serves society. Among the poems he has written are Dream 1, Mirror, The Puppeteer’s Wayang, Words Adrift on Air, The Legend of the Dawn, His Thick Shroud, The Shore of Time, Mask of My Name is Rawana and ‘A City, A Grandmother and Death’.

MEANING OF EACH STANZA

First Stanza:
They return home with their torn drenched clothes, their bodies were marked by scratches and wounds after enduring the flood that waits outside. though, they were not worried. They head straight to the stove to warm themselves after being in the waters overnight. They may have physical injuries but they are not affected by the incident emotionally.

Second Stanza:

Even though the flood lasted for a day, they were left to face the undesirable after effects of the flood. As they went on with their overnight search for their son's albino buffalo, they had to encounter destroyed carcasses and tree barks that have fallen due to the heavy current of the flood waters

Third Stanza:

They were born in a life of hardship where they must struggle to survive. However, they grew up without a sigh or complaint and continue to accept their misfortunes. Despite being hit by flood and losing their albino buffalo, they endured the storm and are now resting and joking with one another while rolling cigarettes leaves.

Literary Devices

1. Personification

-'Horrendous flood’

* The flood is given the characteristic of a human quality, ‘horrendous’. The phrase could refer to the severity and the horrifying disaster that had befallen them.

2. Symbol

-Flood

* The flood that had befallen the family in the poem symbolises the suffering that they had to endure.

- Albino buffalo

* Albino buffaloes are usually used by farmers in agriculture. This suggests that the family could have been farmers and the buffalo is their lifeline as they are willing to brace the "horrendous flood in the water all the time" and "bloated carcasses and tiny chips of tree barks", which had given them scratches and wounds, just to look for it.

3. Visual Imagery