Love me mudder

You are in charge of a part of the poem.

► Workbook p. 103

1

Watch the video and find the passage corresponding to your part.

2

Analyse the poem.

a. Focus on the language.

Pick out the words in Jamaican English.

Try to find their “standard” English translation and make a glossary.

b. Focus on the poetic devices.

Pick out the alliteration, assonance and rhymes.

What effect do they provoke?

c. Focus on the description of the mother.

Pick out the words which describe his mother.

What is the relationship between Benjamin Zephaniah and his mother?

d. Focus on the underlined lines. What do they mean? Be ready to rephrase and explain them.

I love me mudder and me mudder love me
we come so far from over de sea
we heard dat de streets were paved with gold
sometime it hot sometime it cold,

I love me mudder and me mudder love me
we try fe live in harmony
you might know her as Valerie
but to me she is my mummy.

She shouts at me daddy so loud some time
she stays fit and she don’t drink wine
she always do the best she can
she work damn hard down ina England,

She’s always singing some kind of song
she have big muscles an she very very strong.
she likes pussy cats an she love cashew nuts
she don’t bother with no ifs and buts.

I love me mudder and me mudder love me
we come so far from over de sea
we heard dat de streets were paved with gold
sometime it hot sometime it cold,

I love her and she love me too
and dis is a love I know is true
my family unit extends to you
loving each other is the ting to do

“I love me Mudder”, Benjamin Zephaniah, 1982.

GROUP WORK

MEDIATION

Share your findings with your classmates to understand the whole poem.

3

Make a portrait of Benjamin Zephaniah’s mother (ID, tastes, etc.).

4

How is Caribbean culture represented in this poem through his mother’s portrait?

Les consonnes muettes

Certaines consonnes ne se prononcent pas dans certains mots.

- C : muscle, acquire, scissors
- K : know, knife, knock
- L : would, could, half

► Précis phonologique p. 262