1. Electricity comes to cocoa bottom
Monday, 19 November 2018
jonathan peel SGS 2012

2. overview
A poem describing the excitement and eventual anti-climax caused by the arrival of electricity to a Caribbean island. This poem explores the meeting of cultures caused by modernisation and uses nature throughout as a contrast to and commentary on the unnatural harnessing of natural forces which is electricity. As is fitting for the setting of the poem, much of the imagery involves light and sounds. The narrator speaks of event s in the past, but the participle phrases (-ing) maintain a sense that this is a continuous event and help to develop a sense of excitement and anticipation
jonathan peel SGS 2012

3. The POEM
Then all the children of Cocoa Bottom went to see Mr. Samuel’s electric lights.  They camped on the grass bank outside his house,  their lamps filled with oil,  waiting for sunset,  watching the sky turn yellow, orange.  Grannie Patterson across the road  peeped through the crack in her porch door. The cable was drawn like a pencil line across the sun.  The fireflies waited in the shadows,  their lanterns off. The kling-klings swooped in from the hills,  congregating in the orange trees.  A breeze coming home from sea held its breath;  bamboo lining the dirt road stopped its swaying,  and evening came as soft as chiffon curtains: Closing. Closing. Light! Mr. Samuel smiling on the verandah – a silhouette against the yellow shimmer behind him – and there arising such a gasp,  such a fluttering of wings,  tweet-a-whit,  such a swaying, swaying.  Light! Marvellous light! And then the breeze rose up from above the trees,  swelling and swelling into a wind such that the long grass bent forward  stretching across the bank like so many bowed heads.  And a voice in the wind whispered: Is there one among us to record this moment?  But there was none – no one (except for a few warm rocks hidden among mongoose ferns) even heard a sound.  Already the children of Cocoa Bottom had lit their lamps for the dark journey home,  and it was too late – the moment had passed.
jonathan peel SGS 2012

4. Starting in medias res, the sense is of an on-going story being told
Starting in medias res, the sense is of an on-going story being told. The FREE VERSE allows the poet to place words for effect, without worrying about rhyme or regular rhythm. Thus, “lights” comes at the end of the opening couplet and focuses the subject of the poem.
The image is of a temporary home and also of a holiday “camped” and a contrast is drawn with the oil lamps of the children.
Then all the children of Cocoa Bottom went to see Mr. Samuel’s electric lights.  They camped on the grass bank outside his house,  their lamps filled with oil,  waiting for sunset,  watching the sky turn yellow, orange.  Grannie Patterson across the road  peeped through the crack in her porch door. The cable was drawn like a pencil line across the sun. 
“waiting for sunset” evokes the time of day and allows for the colour painting of “yellow, orange” to create the scene. It is also metaphorical in the sense that the new electricity will bring about a sunset of its own and replace the sun with a new form of light. This image is continued in the idea of the crossing out of the sun.
After Mr Samuel, we meet Grannie Patterson. The characters add a sense of truth to the narrative. Here we see the fear and excitement of the watchers –she “peeped through a crack”
Participles replace the simple past tense – a sense of anticipation builds.
jonathan peel SGS 2012

5. Local fauna are equally entranced
Local fauna are equally entranced. The fireflies have their “lanterns off” – natural light sources are being replaced by the new electric light.
The Kling Klings “congregate” – a verb used of a religious gathering which adds importance to this event.
The fireflies waited in the shadows,  their lanterns off. The kling-klings swooped in from the hills,  congregating in the orange trees.  A breeze coming home from sea held its breath;  bamboo lining the dirt road stopped its swaying,  and evening came as soft as chiffon curtains: Closing. Closing.
The sense of colour is maintained along with a possible image of the sphere of the sun which is no longer giving light.
All is ready and still. The gentle fading of the light brings evening in a gentle simile, The repeated participle form of “closing” shows not only the process of fading light, but also helps to build anticipation –it is like the lights going out in a theatre.
In this metaphor, the breeze is personified and “held its breath” suggestive of anticipation of the great event.
jonathan peel SGS 2012

6. Mr S is seen rather as an actor on the stage, illuminated from behind.
Light! Mr. Samuel smiling on the verandah – a silhouette against the yellow shimmer behind him – and there arising such a gasp,  such a fluttering of wings,  tweet-a-whit,  such a swaying, swaying.  Light! Marvellous light! And then the breeze rose up from above the trees,  swelling and swelling into a wind such that the long grass bent forward  stretching across the bank like so many bowed heads. 
After the stanza break, the single word with exclamation mark serves to show the suddenness of the great event.
Sound is used to indicate the excitement. Onomatopoeic phrases and alliteration provide a sensory soundscape for the scene.
Repeated and enhanced (marvellous), the light is seen as wonderful and exciting – NB the exclamation marks!
After the stillness of the previous stanza, nature’s response is depicted almost like a great church congregation – the swelling seeming to recall the sound of hymns being sung and the bowed heads in the simile seen as worshipping the new deity – electricity.
jonathan peel SGS 2012

7. “and” increases the sense of a conversational narrative and moves the action to its next phase – after the initial euphoria a ne mood enters.
And a voice in the wind whispered: Is there one among us to record this moment?  But there was none – no one (except for a few warm rocks hidden among mongoose ferns) even heard a sound.  Already the children of Cocoa Bottom had lit their lamps for the dark journey home,  and it was too late – the moment had passed.
The great event should be “recorded” – the wind “whispered” as though it knew the answer that would come.
The lack of witness is stressed by the repetition of the sound “one” which moves from positive to negative, eventually taking the form “no one” at the start of a line to emphasise the fact that not even a single person could be found.
The “warm rocks” suggest that nature has noticed the event even if humans a less impressed.
As the children leave, the tense shifts to the PLUPERFECT – used to describe an event in the distant past – already they have moved on and the coming of electricity is old news.
For them there is still a need to light their lamps and to return to reality – “the moment had pased”
jonathan peel SGS 2012

8. To conclude
The tense is important – note the shift to the pluperfect (had …) as it shows the moving of the event into the distant past. Free verse allows effects – always look for the unusual – the lines that must have been carefully considered and intended to have an effect – “Light! Marvellous Light!” is a good example. Another is “Closing. Closing.” Never ignore punctuation –look at the two examples above and see what you make of the choices made. Always look out for writers who use the senses to pull a reader into engaging with the writing. Onomatopoeia and alliteration are often used to assist with this.
jonathan peel SGS 2012