Poetry Analysis: "We Refugees" by Benjamin Zephaniah

Stanza 1

The poem begins with the personal pronoun "I", specifically "I come", which is repeated throughout the poem. This repetition creates a personal tone and suggests movement, representing the speaker's arrival in a new country after fleeing their homeland. The phrase "brother torturing brother" suggests social unrest within the country the speaker is fleeing. The term "brother" refers to a sense of community, not necessarily a blood relation. Zephaniah focuses on the disruption within his country of origin.

Stanza 2

This stanza uses strong verbs such as "hate", "don't like", and "ban" to portray the speaker's home country as oppressive and brutal. The collocation of "ban" and "free" elevates the contrast between these two concepts, highlighting the oppressive nature of the country.

Stanza 3

This stanza provides more information about the state of the country. It highlights gender inequality and a school system that dictates what to believe. The reference to "young boys" who "grow beards" alludes to Islamic customs, suggesting the country may prescribe to the Muslim faith.

Stanza 4

Zephaniah presents the degeneration of a "beautiful place." The destruction of the "great old forest" into "a field" demonstrates a sense of loss. The final two lines are ambiguous, suggesting that the people the speaker "once knew" may have either escaped the country's unrest or died.

Stanza 5

This stanza deviates from the poem's typical quatrain structure, expanding to eight lines to draw attention to the poem's message. The line "we can all be refugees" connects the reader and poet through the use of "we" and "all." The triple repetition of "we can all" emphasizes this message. The repetition of "someone" in the last two lines highlights the absurdity of discrimination against refugees, suggesting that circumstances could easily change, leading to different outcomes.

Stanza 6

This stanza considers the possibility of seeking refuge due to a natural disaster. Examples like "floods" and "hurricanes" suggest that random events can force people to seek refuge, emphasizing that such situations can happen anywhere.

Stanza 7

Zephaniah explores the loss of culture. The "ancient" place is inaccessible to the poet, who cannot simply go and live there. A disconnection between the poet and their family who were "born there" is explored through the desire "to go", contrasted with the impossibility "to live" there due to danger.

Stanza 8

The stanza examines the ignorance of people who take holidays to places others have to flee. People "darken skin" through tanning while ignoring the horrors happening in those countries.

Stanza 9

This stanza uses the repetition of "I am told" to emphasize the line. The passivity of "I am told" suggests that people are lecturing Zephaniah despite his personal experience, relating to the previous stanza's point about ignorance.

Stanza 10

Similar to stanza 5, this stanza disrupts the structure by being longer, with ten lines. The opening sentence, "we can all be refugees", encapsulates the poem's central sentiment. War, natural disasters, or simply bad $luck$ can quickly turn someone into a refugee. The final line re-establishes a sense of connection. The ambiguous nature of "here" and "somewhere" makes the poem universally applicable, reinforcing the global connection Zephaniah aims to establish. "We Refugees" seeks to end the discrimination against refugees, binding the world of the reader and poet together.