Final answer:
The poem 'Grieved Lands of Africa' is depicted as profoundly melancholic, touching on themes of despair and desolation due to colonization and exploitation. However, there are instances of a defiant tone that suggest resilience against the depicted sorrow and corporate subjugation.
Step-by-step explanation:
The student has inquired about the extent to which the poem 'Grieved Lands of Africa' is pessimistic. The poem appears to express a profound melancholy characterized by desolation and hardship. This is echoed through phrases such as 'enforced fallowness' and 'crusted ice,' painting a picture of barrenness and despair. Similarly, references to a confronting 'Egyptian gloom', the misery of stolen freedom, and the dejection in waiting suggest a deep-seated pessimism.
The poem captures the agony of the African lands suffering from colonization, exploitation, and the sorrow of the African diaspora. The reference to the 'dreary, too' landscape and 'cold as misery' wind encapsulates the theme of despair, alluding to the unhappiness and helpless condition of the subjects. Yet amidst the negativity, some poems retain a defiant tone, possibly offering a glimpse of resilience.
For instance, Pablo Neruda's 'La United Fruit Co.' reveals a tone of defiance against oppression by condemning corporate subjugation of Latin America. In another perspective, the phrase 'hoary anguish' in one poem conveys the universal and age-old sorrow seen in the struggles of infancy, emphasizing the overarching theme of struggle and weariness.