guy butler a prayer for all my countrymen made by ronel myburgh

MADE BY RONEL MYBURGH

GUY BUTLER

A Prayer for all my countrymen


A Prayer for all my countrymen Though now few eyes Can see beyond Our tragic times complexities Dear God ordain Such deeds be done Such words be said


That men will praise Your image yet When all these terrors And hates are dead


Through rotting days Beaten, broken, Some stayed pure; Others learnt how To grin and endure And here and there A heart stayed warm A head grew clear.


Guy Butler (full name Frederick Guy Butler, b. 21 January 1918 in Cradock, Eastern Cape South Africa - 26 April 2001, Grahamstown, South Africa) was a South African poet and writer.He was born and educated in the Eastern Cape town of Cradock. He attended Rhodes University and received his MA in 1938. After marrying Jean Satchwell in 1940 he left South Africa to fight in the Second World War. After the war, he read English Literature at Brasenose College, Oxford University, graduating in 1947. He returned to South Africa, lecturing in English at the University of the Witwatersrand. In 1951, he returned to Rhodes University in Grahamstown to take up a post as Senior Lecturer, and a year later was made Professor and Head of English. He remained there until his retirement in 1987, when he was appointed Emeritus Professor and Honourary Research Fellow. He received honorary doctorates from the University of Natal, the University of the Witwatersrand and Rhodes University.Butler promoted the culture of English-speaking South Africans, which led to the charge of separatism from some critics, although he argued for integration rather than exclusivity. He was influential in achieving the recognition of South African English Literature as an accepted discipline. In his poetry he strove for the synthesis of European and African elements into a single voice


A Prayer for all my countrymenThe title

• A prayer to God at a time when there was political intolerance and injustice.

• The prayer is meant for all his countrymen – people of all race, colour and creed.

• The fact that the poet expresses his thoughts in the form of a prayer tells us that he is asserting his own faith, his belief and his trust in God.

• My countrymen- implies that they are more than just people living in the same country – this suggests a sense of belonging – they all belong here.


A Prayer for all my countrymenThe theme

Praying to God, on behalf of all South Africans, to remove all ideological tension and all injustice in South Africa by creating a better understanding between all people.


A Prayer for all my countrymenCompare this poem to our

National Anthem

• Lord, bless AfricaMay her spirit rise high upHear thou our prayersLord bless us.

• Lord, bless AfricaBanish wars and strifeLord, bless our nationOf South Africa.

Nkosi sikelel' iA

frika

Maluphakanyisw' u

phondo lwayo,

Yizwa im

ithandazo yethu,

Nkosi sikelela, th

ina lusapho lw

ayo.

Morena boloka setjh

aba sa heso,

O fedise

dintwa le m

atshwenyeho,

O se boloke, O

se boloke se

tjhaba sa

heso,

Setjhaba sa

South Afrika – South Afrik

a.


1. Though now few eyes

2. Can see beyond

3. Our tragic times

complexities

• A time filled with tragedy and complicated and intricate problems.


4. Dear God ordain

5. Such deeds be done

6. Such words be said

7. That men will praise

8. Your image yet MADE BY RONEL MYBURGH


9. When all these terrors

10. And hates are dead

11. Through rotting days

12. Beaten, broken,

13. Some stayed pure; MADE BY RONEL MYBURGH

14. Others learnt how

15. To grin and endure



16. And here and there

17. A heart stayed warm

18. A head grew clear.

Even amidst the anguish

and the madness there are

sti ll signs of human

dignity and goodness


A head grew clear.

guy butler a prayer for all my countrymen made by ronel myburgh

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