About Benjamin ZephaniahBenjamin Zephaniah was born in Birmingham, and grew up in Jamaica and in Handsworth, where he was sent to an approved school. He left school at 13 unable to read or write, ending up in prison for burglary. His anger stays with him, channelled into protest, music and performance.He moved to London in 1979, the year Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister; in the early 80's Punks and Rastas were on the streets protesting against SUS laws, unemployment, homelessness, the National Front and the policies of the Thatcher government. Zephaniah's poetry could be heard on the demonstrations, at youth gatherings, outside police stations, and on the dance floor. His mission was to take poetry everywhere.' Reggae Head', in this recording, gives a taste of his unique sound, his comic exuberance, and his rage.Touring and performing is at the heart of his focus on keeping the oral tradition alive; over a 22 day period in 1991 he performed on every continent.
He recorded a tribute to Nelson Mandela with the Wailers; soon after release from prison, Mandela requested a meeting and this led to Zephaniah working with children in South African townships and hosting the President's Two Nations concert at The Royal Albert Hall in 1996.Zephaniah's first book of poetry for children, Talking Turkeys, was a startling success; children respond to his delight in words and sounds, and his realism. He is a vegan: turkeys, he says in the title poem, have mums. In this recording of 'Library Ology' he develops an idea originally used in a famous BT advert: you got an Ology! The voice is dark, sexy and playful.He has fun with words and sounds, but the fun is only a means to an end.
This recording of 'City River Blues' gives an illustration of his unwavering purpose: to express simply and starkly the pain some citizens feel in living in modern Britain. The river runs through our lives, dat bloody smell: listen to the fury in the voice, the urgent rhythm, the despair moderated by defiance, the refusal to compromise the truth of what he sees and feels.Benjamin Zephaniah was a candidate for Oxford's poetry professorship, and talked of as a possible Poet Laureate. But when offered an OBE in 2003, he declined, because the word Empire reminded him of how his foremothers were raped and his forefathers brutalised.
Form and ToneThe poem could adequately be described as being quite playful in tone. It takes the idea of a recipe and uses that as a kind of allegory for society in Britain. The effect is highly amusing. The poem is separated into two sections and is written in free verse. The line lengths are uneven and there is no discernible rhythm.
The British - Poem by Benjamin Zephaniah. Then take a blend of Somalians, Sri Lankans, Nigerians And Pakistanis, Combine with some Guyanese And turn up the heat. Sprinkle some fresh Indians, Malaysians, Bosnians, Iraqis and Bangladeshis together with some Afghans, Spanish, Turkish, Kurdish, Japanese And Palestinians Then add to the melting pot.
However, rhyme is used to great effect in the second stanza. I think that disjointed rhythm, combined with the rhyme is a reflection of the diversity in Britain, celebrating the differences, while the rhyme highlights that we all have much in common.The British (serves 60 Million) Analysis. First StanzaIn the first line of the poem the narrator begins with the initial “ingredients”, these are three civilizations from early Britain. The celts, who are relatively famous and the Picts and Silures who are perhaps less so. The narrative voice then suggests you let them settle. This has an obvious double meaning as it a phrase one might use when making a cake, but also denotes the passing of time.
This clever use of figurative language is a fixture throughout the poem. The third line is interesting because while the tone is distinctly in keeping with the rest of the poem, the content is not really a double entendre but takes us forward in the history of the country introducing the “Roman element”. The poet then continues “adding” various civilisations to the “mix” before concluding the stanza with the phrase “then stir vigorously” this could well be suggesting that during this time period when the country was influenced by the likes of the Saxons and the Vikings that there was a great deal of upheaval, the shaking here then, while sounding like it is part of the “recipe” for Britain is also probably a metaphor for war. This is clever because Chileans sounds a lot like Chilli, which we know of course is hot and spicy, but this is also a fairly apt description of a stereotypical South American, with a fiery temperament. He then mentions cool Jamaicans, this mirrors the “ingredient” that proceeded it, with the hot being balanced by the cold, and don’t forget cool is also slang for being laid back, which is certainly a common Jamaican stereotype!
Let us also not forget that Zephaniah himself is half Jamaican!There are elements of sibilance in the opening section of the second stanza. There is frequent repetition of the S sounds, which give the words a nice flow despite the disjointed rhythm. Rhyme is also used here and this accomplishes the same feeling. Also, note the use of the word blend here, this is very clever wordplay as it could work as either a noun or a verb depending on the context. Then in the seventh line, we see the narrator instructing us to turn up the heat. Once again this could well be an allusion to rising conflicts between the different races living in the country but it fits beautifully with the motif of making a meal.
![Zepjaniah Zepjaniah](/uploads/1/2/5/6/125625146/728888692.png)
(albeit a meal that Hannibal Lector may well enjoy! The rhymes continue in the next section as once again we see the wealth of incoming nationalities. With Japanese rhyming with Guyanese, Chinese and Sudanese could the suggestion from this “ease” sound that these people all get along without too much effort?Midway through the second stanza, the recipe seems to have all of its ingredients have been added to the mixture and are then left to “simmer”. In this section, there are a lot of pleasant sound “l” sounds which give the impression of things coming together in a positive way. This is suggested by the language itself with the use of the term flourishing to describe the languages of the various residents of Britain.In the 14th line we see the repetition of the word blend, perhaps this is to emphasize the point that all of these great people are coming together as one, what is interesting though is in the line that directly follows that he says:Binding them together with English.Binding is not quite such a positive word. Yes, like blend it describes a coming together, but binding suggests oppression. Could this be suggesting that England can be an oppressive place?
At times it really does feel that in Britain people are not as tolerant of other cultures than they should be, so perhaps that is what the intonation here is. Another incident of repetition is used directly after with Zephaniah using the word “cool” once more. Perhaps if the use of bind is suggesting an oppression that this period of “cooling off” is what is needed to rid the country of that.The final stanza comes to a close on a positive with Zephaniah suggesting that the “mixture” requires:unity, understanding, and respect for the futureand finally, justice, although the word justice may well carry negative connotations as it pertains to authority and therefore might hint at what is perceived to be Britain’s slightly authoritarian nature.There is, of course, two rather amusing additions after the final stanza, almost acting like disclaimers.
The first is that all the ingredients are equally important. This gives us a message that equality between different cultures is vital. It then goes on to add that justice is important to be used with equality in mind too. Given Zephania’s heritage, his views here are not at all surprising.About Benjamin ZephaniahBorn of parents hailing Jamaica, is a contemporary British poet that is well respected by critics. He was recently included in a list of the most influential writers since the Second World War which is a massive achievement but even more prominent considering that at the age of just 13 Zephaniah left school and struggled to read and write. Zephaniah often covers contemporary issues such as racial equality in his poetry.