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The Huntsman

The poem "The Huntsman" by Edward Lowbury retells an African folk tale about a hunter named Kagwa. Kagwa discovers a talking skull in the forest that tells him "talking brought me here." When Kagwa tells the king about the talking skull, the king does not believe him and sends guards with Kagwa to find the skull. The skull remains silent when Kagwa asks it to speak again. The guards then kill Kagwa as the king instructed. After Kagwa's death, the skull speaks again, repeating that "talking brought me here." The poem serves as a warning about the dangers of unnecessary talking, especially to those in positions of authority.

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1K views2 pages

The Huntsman

The poem "The Huntsman" by Edward Lowbury retells an African folk tale about a hunter named Kagwa. Kagwa discovers a talking skull in the forest that tells him "talking brought me here." When Kagwa tells the king about the talking skull, the king does not believe him and sends guards with Kagwa to find the skull. The skull remains silent when Kagwa asks it to speak again. The guards then kill Kagwa as the king instructed. After Kagwa's death, the skull speaks again, repeating that "talking brought me here." The poem serves as a warning about the dangers of unnecessary talking, especially to those in positions of authority.

Uploaded by

TukTukDude
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as TXT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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An Analysis of the Poem The Huntsman by Edward Lowbury

Kagwa hunted the lion,


                Through bush and forest went his spear.
One day he found the skull of a man
 And said to it, “How did you come here?”
The skull opened its mouth and said,
 ‘Talking brought me here.’
 
Kagwa hurried home;
                Went to the king’s chair and spoke:
‘In the forest I found a talking skull.’
                The king was silent. Then he said slowly,
‘Never since I was born of my mother
 Have I seen or heard of a skull which spoke.’
 
The king called out his guards:
 ‘              Two of you now go with him
And find this talking skull;
                But if his tale is a lie
And the skull speaks no word,
                This Kagwa himself must die’
 
They rode into the forest;
                For days and nights they found nothing.
At last they saw the skull; Kagwa
                Said to it, “How did you come here?”
The skull said nothing. Kagwa implored,
                But the skull said nothing.
 
The guards said, ‘Kneel down.’
                They killed him with sword and spear.
Then the skull opened it’s mouth;
                ‘Huntsman, how did you come here?’
And the dead man answered,
 ‘Talking brought me here.’
"The Huntsman" has been composed by the modern English poet Edward Lowbury. It is
based on an African folklore which explains the uncertainty of human life. The poem
is an evidence of imaginative richness and psychological insight of the poet. It is
also full of suspense mystery and supernatural. The poet tells us the mysterious
story of a famous hunter Kagwa, who was fond of talking. 

He lost his life due to talking needlessly. Kagwa used to hunt loin in the forest.
One day when he was wandering in the forest he came across the skull of a dead man.
Kagwa was surprised to see that skull and asked what had brought it there. The
skull opened its mouth and told that talking had brought it there. But he failed to
understand the meaning of these words.

Kagwa was a simple fellow and could not conceal this unusual discovery.
Immediately, he went to the king and told him this unbelievable incident. The king
suspected the truth of his story but sent two guards with him. He instructed them
if his story proved false the hunter must be put to death. They explore the forest
for many days and nights. At last they found the skull. The hunter asked it the
same question again but the skull remained silent. Kagwa requested the skull gain
and again to speak and save his life but the skull did not answer. The king's men
promptly killed the hunter there and punished him for his talkative tongue. At that
moment the skull openedits mouth and asked Kagwa how he had come there. The dead
man answered "Talking brought me here'.

The general atmosphere of the poem is gloomy and fearful. The presence of a talking
skull and the killing of the hunter terrify us. The message in the poem is that one
should be very careful when talking to others and especially to men of authority.

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