Analysis of “Meditation On Yellow” by Olive Senior

Analysis of “Meditation On Yellow” by Olive Senior

Introduction

The poem, Meditation in Yellow is an exploration of Caribbean history by Olive Senior. In her poetry, olive conveys how much she is displeased by the suffering and colonization of the Caribbean people. “Meditation in Yellow” is a poem about how the Europeans exploit the Caribbean people through colonization. The poem powerfully conveys the discontentment of seniors and how it relates to the land exploitation and the exploitation of the Amerindian tribe. This essay focuses on analyzing how symbolism, repetition, and language has been used in the poem, “Meditation in Yellow” to convey the message of the brutal nature of colonization.

Symbolism

In the poem, “meditation in Yellow,” symbolism is used in various instances. To start with, yellow is a symbol of the innocence of the Amerindians and how pure their minds and soul are when they first come across the whites. The innocence of the Amerindians can be seen in the text, “but WE were peaceful and childlike, in the yellow dawn of our innocence” (Senior line 8-9). The Europeans took advantage of the fact that the Amerindians lacked any idea of what would befall them, and offered the best they had to the Europeans who made their encounter miserable and sad. Yellow also symbolizes infection and sickness through the way it reflects in the minds of the Europeans who are infected with the thirst of power and wealth.

Europeans manage to infect the Amerindians by turning them into slaves and exploiting them through colonization. Here, the utilization of symbolism conveys the extremities of the existence of a set of two people, with the Amerindians being pure and kind and the Europeans existing as the cold-hearted and greedy people. Senior’s mechanical use of color yellow is the means that she uses to examine the actions of the Europeans that are responsible for the contemporary Caribbean. In its varying shades, yellow reinforces the thematic concern of solitude. Hence, Senior utilizes this poem as an outlet of her emotional anxiety towards colonization, by which she elicits an emotional response.

Senior offers a description of two periods from colonialism to neo-colonialism in the form of encounter as a stepping stone for comparing the utilization of the color yellow, as seen in the phrase, “brewed you up some yellow fever grass,” to the words, “I want to feel mellow in that three o’clock yellow” (Senior line 6). Through these phrases, Senior introduces two distinct ideas that the color presents to the Caribbean. At the start of the poem, the persona vies the Europeans greed as sickness, and as something yellow that needs fever grass. But as she proceeds through the poem, Senior presents an opportunity for healing and meditation that outlines a clear picture of what the persona wants, for the yellow of the sun to recover and shed light on the life of the Caribbean.

Language

In the poem, language is used as a powerful tool to express displeasure in the enslavement of the Amerindians. Throughout, humor and sarcasm are utilized through Senior highlighting her belittling and mocking of the Europeans as seen in the text, “had I known, I would have brewed up some yellow fever grass and arsenic” (Senior line 6). This phrase is sarcastic in that there is a distinction between the hospitality gesture of ethnicity that is fever grass, and the bitter intentions of Amerindians of assassinating the Europeans with arsenic poison. Sarcasm is used throughout the phrases; for instance, in words, “despite the differences in our skins, our piss was the same shade of yellow” (Senior line 38). Senior attempts to emphasize equality by outlining that regardless of the racial and ethnic distinctions, we are all the same.

A reader can relate to Senior’s words and take notes through her crude and striking comparisons. Since they were handled miserably, the Amerindians display a passive resistance by deliberately burning the bread of the Europeans, as indicated by Senior in the phrase, “for which management apologizes” (Senior line 78). By resisting, the Amerindians showcase their lack of remorse for their actions towards the Europeans. Also, Senior uses lineation technique that is indicative of trauma to give a voice to the indigenous population who were rendered voiceless by the European, as seen in the phrase, “I could rest pour my own, something soothing like fever grass and lemon, for I haven’t had a drop to think yet” (Senior line 98-100). The technique used in this phrase invites the reader to meditate and heal the trauma of colonialism through the use of parenthesis and caesurae and frequent sentence breaks.

Repetition

Finally, anaphora repetition is utilized in the poem to emphasize on the materialistic and greedy nature of the Europeans. For instance, the line “but it was gold in your mind, gold in your eyes, gold in your crown, gold the prize” (Senior line 54-57). This line illustrates the ravenous nature of the Europeans. Repetition in the poem also highlights the unreasonable desires and wants of the Europeans, as seen in the phrase, “want it strong, want it long, want it black, want it green, want it dread” (Senior line 118-122). The personas anaphorical repetition of “want it” creates a tense and abrupt mood within the poem and sheds light on the frustration that can be referred to as a tautological experience.

The feelings of frustration are cemented by the resignation of the persona to the previous ordeals that were brought upon by colonization. The feelings of the persona are manifested through Senior’s repeated weary tone that crescendos into anger. Repetition in this poem is shown through the persona’s experiences as represented through her revolt towards the damaging discursive of colonialism. There is also an emphasis on the distinct forms of destruction through the types of silver as a symbol, as repeated in the line, “silver was your Armor, silver the cross of your lord, silver the bullet I bite” (Senior line 57-61). Silver, in this case, is a representation of the technology used in the Iron Age as a representation of the military superiority of the Europeans over the Amerindians who were the stone age. Through repetition of these lines, a reader is alerted of the suffering of the Amerindians and how they endured the cold-heartedness of the Europeans

Conclusion

Through the utilization of repetition, symbolism, and language, Senior outlines how much she is displeased with the unfortunate struggles of the Amerindians through colonization. Through her traumatic experiences and frustrations, Senior frameworks the efforts of the Caribbean in the continued exploitation by the Europeans. As Senior contends, the list of activities conducted by the Europeans in the land of the Caribbean has an immense fatigue impact on the Caribbean man.

Works Cited

Senior, Olive. “Meditation on Yellow.”.” Gardening in the Tropics (1994): 11-18, https://www.poetryinternational.org/pi/poem/603/auto/0/0/Olive-Senior/meditation-on-yellow/en/tile