I presume that you guys are familiar with both these poems, but just in case you are

not, I will give just a brief account about what each poem is about. On a general note, the poem refugee mother and child as the title suggests is about a mother and her son in a refugee camp which is plagued with starvation, disease and pollution. Despite many other mothers who have given up all hope of looking after their children well, this mother stands up prominently as regardless of the fact that she knows that her sons morbid fate of death is inevitable, she still continues to care for her son with devotion, undoubtedly demonstrating that her motherly affection for her offspring goes down deep. --------------------------------On the other hand, in the abandoned bundle, we witness that an infant has been forsaken on a rubbish dump by his/her mother. The infant being the abandoned bundle is savagely attacked by a pack of scavenging dogs thus throwing the baby into the jaws of death just like how the son in the poem refugee mother and child is approaching death swiftly. It goes without saying that both the poems focuses on either a near-dead or a dead child that has needlessly died. Strikingly, this poem concludes with the mother walking away with what seems like a guilt-free attitude which arouses the question as to whatever happened to humanity in this world. ---------------------------------Notably, both the poets have explored a few vital themes which effectively link the two poems together as they both aim to write a poem of protest in which they convey strong messages about the harsh realities of life today. -----------------------------Firstly, lets take a moment away from this and lets look into these images [passes around the images]. Now what do you see in these images? A happy pair of a mother and her child. From the images I am sure one can perceive that the mother is well to do and can do anything for her child basically she has no limitations such as poverty. Now compare the mothers in these images to the mothers that you see here. What can you observe? You can see the pain in the mothers eyes it is quite understandable from what we see in this image that the mother is unable to do everything for her child quite in contrast to the mothers in those images. This should give us a clear idea as to how much the mothers in the poems refugee mother and child and in an abandoned bundle are struggling which ofcourse leads to the most predominant theme in both these poems: The Hardships of Motherhood. -----------------------------First and foremost, the most predominant theme in both these poems is that of the hardship of motherhood. Firstly, I would like everyone to take a moment to think about the relationship you share with your mother think about everything that your mothers do for you. Silence- You will realize that every mother leaves no stone unturned their love and affection is outstanding and they are willing to do anything that will give us happiness. Now consider these mothers as in the poem refugee mother and child and in an abandoned bundle. It is clear that they are unable to do everything for their child, it is clear that they are struggling to look after their offspring.

------------------------------------------Firstly, In "Refugee Mother and Child," the love that the sons mother has for him is shown in the way that she combed his hair and then began to part it. However, the poem somberly ends by remarking that she did this as if she were "putting flowers on a tiny grave." reinforcing that she was helpless and was unable to do anything to rescue her son from deaths claws. Moreover, the tone in the poem is notably melancholic and poignant such as in the line above, which further reinforces the sufferance of the mother. Significantly, she is struggling to look after her son in the refugee camp which is swamped with the lack of food, unhygienic conditions and diseases. As the mother witnesses her son dying little by little every day, we see that the mother too is in grave pain which is evident through her actions of carefully combing the rust-coloured hair left on his skull with a ghost smile between her teeth. The phrase ghost-smile underscores the remnant of a smile which puts emphasis on how much the mother is suffering from within, which ofcourse highlights the theme of hardships of motherhood. -----------------------------Similarly, the theme of the hardships of motherhood has been vividly explored in the abandoned bundle by the very action of the mother who abandoned her young infant. At this point, it is essential that we ask the question: why would any mother dump their child so ruthlessly in a rubbish dump? Was the mother perhaps compelled by something? A mother perhaps loves her child more than any other individual and this is because of the bond that a mother and a child shares right from when the child is in the mothers womb. Therefore, it would be safe to say that it could only be a matter so serious that would have forced a mother to take such an action. In this case, the poet describes the setting in which this incident took place to be an appalling, dirty slum conveyed by the first line the morning mist and chimney smoke of white city jabavu flowed thick yellow as pus oozing from a gigantic sore. The use of the simile in this line reinforces how revolting the place is and demonstrates the enormity and vastness of the chimney smoke as suggested by the phrase gigantic sore. Furthermore, we are given an idea of the lack of food portrayed by the presence of the scavenging dogs. This illuminates the poverty and deprivation of the white jabavu city. This highlights that from the mothers point of view, she was struggling to take care of her child due to the very poverty that was enveloping the city. Providing food, shelter and clothes for her child was probably proving a difficult task for her due to her poverty and therefore, unable to see her child suffer like that, she was compelled to abandon her child perhaps this was the only option the mother had. --------------------------Significantly, the theme of the hardships of motherhood is strongly interconnected with the theme of the social circumstances in-pinned on people to act in a certain way. Clearly, both the mothers are in such desperate conditions in their society that they are struggling to look after their offspring.

In Refugee Mother and Child, the mother and her child are in a refugee camp where the air was heavy with odours of diarrhea of unwashed children with washed-out ribs and dried-up bottoms. This not only portrays poor sanitation in the camp but also emphasizes that it has been plagued with diseases such as diarrhea and kwashiorkor. Similarly, in the abandoned bundle, the circumstances of poverty, starvation and the revolting, suffocating setting understandably puts the mother in a difficult position as to how to look after her infant in such horrible conditions. Consequently, there is the one mother who gives up and abandons her child in the abandoned bundle, while on the other hand there is the mother in refugee mother and child who despite the knowledge that her sons end will still come, still does not cease to care for her child. This portrays the different ways in which the two mothers acted to a similar situation thus strongly reinforcing how the social situations that one faces tends to affect your decisions and the way in which you act in that particular situation. ---------------------------------Furthermore, I would also like to point out that both the poems highlight one of the crucial issues of the world today which is the poverty that compels people to face such situations whereby they can no longer meet the needs of their loved ones and have to watch helplessly as their loved ones die due to deprivation of good health care, food and shelter. This is a matter that encompasses many of the people today and thus through these two poems the poet aims to create awareness of this situation. ----------------------------------Another idea that has been embedded deeply in these two poems is the theme of death and what is striking is that both the poets chose to portray death through the young innocent children who had to needlessly die. Therefore, the poets aim to reinforce the deepest and darkest connotations of death through these children as it will allow the audience to connect to this theme in greater depth. To begin with, in the poem refugee mother and child, the poet begins with a biblical allusion: No Madonna and Child could touch that picture of a mothers tenderness for a son she soon would have to forget. Clearly, the Madonna and Child refers to this image of Mary and Jesus. Undoubtedly, in this image, we can see the deep affection between mother and son it is said to be divine and pure. However, the line above conveys the idea that not even the motherly affection that Mary has for Jesus can be compared to the affection that the refugee mother has for her dying child. We also understand through this quote that the mother is going to have to witness the horrid death of her son and move on in life after his death, just like how Madonna cane in terms with the crucifixion of her son Jesus. Apart from this, the diction in this poem impressively highlight the theme of death, such as the terms ghostsmile, ghost, skull and grave. Note how all these terms are mentioned in the second half of the poem hence reinforcing that the sons death is fast approaching and it is indeed unstoppable. Furthermore, these words have such negative connotations of death attached to it that it also helps create a bleak and ominous atmosphere. ----------------------------------

In the poem an Abandoned Bundle, we see that a pack of ferocious scavenging dogs draped in red bandanas fought fiercely for a squirming bundle in what appears to be like a dirty, revolting looking slum. This on its own is a scene of death and destruction as we see that the dogs are quarrelling over a squirming bundle proving that whatever is in it is STILL alive. Later, we learn that the dogs had been fighting over an infant which is now just a mutilated corpse. The term corpse reinforces the idea of death as it refers to a dead body, in this case, the dead body of an infant which effectively connects to readers as vividly, the child has died needlessly. Apart from that, the phrase bared fangs creates a lethal, almost deadly image which certainly contributes to the theme of death. Furthermore, the shocking imagery of an infant dumped on a rubbish heap creates a sorrowful tone which is associated with the theme of death as the baby was evidently abandoned, mutilated and died on this rubbish heap. Note that there is also a biblical allusion in this poem: Oh! Baby in the Manger. This phrase refers to Jesus when he was born and as we all know, he was the savior of mankind, therefore, by referring the dead infant as the baby in the manger the poet indicates that the baby had the potential to be a savior of the world but has been put to waste as the infant has died needlessly. Moreover, the imagery sleep well on human dung strikingly conveys the idea of death as usually when one is dead, they are kept to rest/sleep in a coffin in graveyard, however in this case, the infant is kept to rest/sleep on human dung which is utterly shocking as what did this innocent life do to deserve such brutality. The tone in this poem appears to be one of sorrow and grief due to the death of the infant and thus establishes a heavy, mournful atmosphere which adds to the theme of death. --------------------------Therefore to conclude with, I would like to highlight the 3 major themes in this poem: hardships of mother, social circumstances in-pinned on people to act in a certain way and death. All these themes play a major role in these two poems and through it, the poets try to make their audience sit up and realise their own inhumanity in more than one way and on that note, I would love to end this presentation.