David Rubadiri's "An African Thunderstorm" describes an intense storm that sweeps through an African village, as well as the way villagers scramble to prepare for its approach. First published in the 1960s, around the time that Rubadiri's home country of Malawi gained independence from British colonial rule, the poem can also be taken as an allegory for the violent upheaval that Western nations inflicted on Africa during the colonial era and its aftermath. The storm, in this reading, represents the devastation of colonialism and of the conflicts that tend to arise in its wake.

• Read the full text of “An African Thunderstorm”

• “An African Thunderstorm” Summary

• “An African Thunderstorm” Themes

  • 

    Colonialism and Social Turmoil

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-33
  • 

    Humanity vs. Nature

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 2-9
    • Lines 14-15
    • Lines 16-26
    • Lines 27-33

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “An African Thunderstorm”

  • Lines 1-5

    From the west ...
    ... Here and there

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 6-9

    Like a plague ...
    ... madman chasing nothing.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 10-15

    Pregnant clouds ...
    ... let it pass.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 16-19

    In the village ...
    ... the whirling wind,

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 20-24

    Women — ...
    ... Madly

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 25-26

    The wind whistles ...
    ... let it pass.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 27-29

    Clothes wave like ...
    ... expose dangling breasts

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 30-33

    As jagged blinding ...
    ... of the storm.

    

    

    

    

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• “An African Thunderstorm” Symbols

  • 

    The West

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “From the west”
  • 

    Clouds

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 2-9: “Clouds come hurrying with the wind / Turning / Sharply / Here and there / Like a plague of locusts / Whirling / Tossing up things on its tail / Like a madman chasing nothing.”
    • Lines 10-13: “Pregnant clouds / Ride stately on its back / Gathering to perch on hills / Like sinister dark wings;”
  • 

    Locusts

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 6-8: “Like a plague of locusts / Whirling / Tossing up things on its tail”
  • 

    Dark Wings

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 12-13: “Gathering to perch on hills / Like sinister dark wings;”
  • 

    Clothes

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 27-29: “Clothes wave like tattered flags / Flying off / To expose dangling breasts”

  • Wind

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-9: “From the west / Clouds come hurrying with the wind / Turning / Sharply / Here and there / Like a plague of locusts / Whirling / Tossing up things on its tail / Like a madman chasing nothing.”
    • Lines 14-15: “The wind whistles by / And trees bend to let it pass.”
    • Lines 17-19: “Screams of delighted children / Toss and turn / In the din of the whirling wind,”
    • Lines 25-26: “The wind whistles by / Whilst trees bend to let it pass.”
    • Lines 27-29: “Clothes wave like tattered flags / Flying off / To expose dangling breasts”

• “An African Thunderstorm” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Metaphor

    

    

    

    

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    Where metaphor appears in the poem:

    • Lines 10-11: “Pregnant clouds / Ride stately on its back”
    • Line 33: “the pelting march of the storm”

  • Simile

    

    

    

    

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    Where simile appears in the poem:

    • Lines 2-7: “Clouds come hurrying with the wind / Turning / Sharply / Here and there / Like a plague of locusts / Whirling”
    • Lines 8-9: “Tossing up things on its tail / Like a madman chasing nothing.”
    • Lines 12-13: “Gathering to perch on hills / Like sinister dark wings;”
    • Lines 27-28: “Clothes wave like tattered flags / Flying off”

  • Enjambment

    

    

    

    

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    Where enjambment appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-2: “west / Clouds”
    • Lines 3-4: “Turning / Sharply”
    • Lines 5-6: “there / Like”
    • Lines 8-9: “tail / Like”
    • Lines 10-11: “clouds / Ride”
    • Lines 12-13: “hills / Like”
    • Lines 14-15: “by / And”
    • Lines 16-17: “village / Screams”
    • Lines 17-18: “children / Toss”
    • Lines 18-19: “turn / In”
    • Lines 23-25: “out / Madly / The ”
    • Lines 25-26: “by / Whilst”
    • Lines 27-28: “flags / Flying”
    • Lines 28-29: “off / To”
    • Lines 29-30: “breasts / As”
    • Lines 30-31: “flashes / Rumble”
    • Lines 31-32: “crack / Amidst”
    • Lines 32-33: “smoke / And”

  • Alliteration

    

    

    

    

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    Where alliteration appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “west”
    • Line 2: “wind”
    • Line 3: “Turning”
    • Line 7: “Whirling”
    • Line 8: “Tossing,” “tail”
    • Line 13: “wings”
    • Line 14: “wind whistles”
    • Line 18: “Toss,” “turn”
    • Line 19: “whirling wind”
    • Line 20: “Women”
    • Line 21: “Babies,” “backs”
    • Line 25: “wind whistles”
    • Line 26: “Whilst”
    • Lines 27-28: “flags / Flying”
    • Line 31: “Rumble,” “tremble”
    • Line 32: “smell,” “smoke”
    • Line 33: “storm”

  • Assonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where assonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 12: “hills”
    • Line 13: “sinister,” “wings”
    • Line 14: “wind whistles”
    • Line 19: “In,” “din,” “whirling,” “wind”
    • Line 20: “Women”
    • Line 21: “clinging”
    • Line 23: “In”
    • Line 25: “wind,” “whistles”
    • Line 30: “jagged,” “flashes”
    • Line 31: “crack”

  • Onomatopoeia

    

    

    

    

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    Where onomatopoeia appears in the poem:

    • Line 14: “whistles”
    • Line 25: “whistles”
    • Line 31: “Rumble,” “crack”

  • Personification

    

    

    

    

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    Where personification appears in the poem:

    • Line 2: “Clouds come hurrying”
    • Line 9: “Like a madman chasing nothing”
    • Lines 10-11: “Pregnant clouds / Ride stately on its back”
    • Line 15: “trees bend to let it pass”
    • Line 26: “trees bend to let it pass”
    • Line 33: “the pelting march of the storm”

  • Repetition

    

    

    

    

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    Where repetition appears in the poem:

    • Line 2: “Clouds come hurrying with the wind”
    • Line 3: “Turning”
    • Line 7: “Whirling”
    • Line 8: “Tossing”
    • Line 9: “madman,” “chasing”
    • Lines 10-11: “Pregnant clouds / Ride stately on its back”
    • Line 12: “Gathering”
    • Lines 14-15: “The wind whistles by / And trees bend to let it pass.”
    • Line 19: “the whirling wind”
    • Line 21: “clinging”
    • Line 24: “Madly”
    • Lines 25-26: “The wind whistles by / Whilst trees bend to let it pass.”
    • Line 28: “Flying”
    • Line 29: “dangling”
    • Line 30: “blinding”
    • Line 33: “pelting”

• “An African Thunderstorm” Vocabulary

  Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

  • Locusts
  • Din
  • Whilst
  • Fired
  • Pelting
  • (Location in poem: Line 6: “Like a plague of locusts”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “An African Thunderstorm”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “An African Thunderstorm” Speaker

• “An African Thunderstorm” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “An African Thunderstorm”

• More “An African Thunderstorm” Resources

  • External Resources

    • A Video Interview with the Poet — Watch a 1964 interview with David Rubadiri via Indiana University Media Collections.

    • A Biography of the Poet — Read an obituary and biography of David Rubadiri.

    • The Poet in 1966 — Read a magazine interview with David Rubadiri from 1966, around the time thispoem was written.

    • Malawi's History — Learn about the history of colonial and post-independence Malawi, the poet's home country.

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