Summary

"A Far Cry From Africa" begins with a description of the native Kikuyu tribe that later formed a sub tribe called the Mau Mau in what is now the Republic of Kenya against British rule. Although Walcott never mentions the Mau Mau by name, it can be inferred because of Walcott's history and his expressed intentions.

The first stanza compares Africa to an animal whose "pelt" has been ruffled. The ruffling of the pelt is the uprising of the Kikuyu people. Once the battle is over, corpses lie strewn across the ground. Walcott compares the brutal massacre to the massacre of the Jews. He infers that the British think the African's are as dispensable as Hitler thought the Jews to be.

In the second stanza, Walcott compares the warriors to animals. He says that violence in the animal kingdom is perfectly...