Karoo Stop

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The poet describes an incident where his train had stopped at a siding in the karoo, a vast flat semi-desert scrubland in the South African interior. A coal train rolled past them slowly -- truck after truck that made the train appear never-ending. Nearby a horse and its foal frolicked, and an old man with wrinkled face and black teeth passed by and smiled up at them.

Sydney Clouts was a South African poet. He was born in Cape Town in 1926 and educated first at the South African College School and then at the University of Cape Town where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1950.

He worked in an insurance company and then as bookseller before moving into the publishing world where he became editor for the International Press Agency in Cape Town. In 1961 he relocated to London, where he would remain -- apart from an occasional visit to South Africa.

He began to write poetry in the 1950s and these were printed in South African magazines. They had limited readership, however, which meant that he failed to receive any immediate recognition.

Although Clouts wrote few poems, he is nevertheless remembered as one of the most creative of South African poets. Indeed, in 1968 he received both the Olive Schreiner and the Ingrid Jonker prizes for poetry.

He was married and had three sons, but died in 1982 at the age of 56.

His poem -- "Karoo Stop" -- recalls a vivid memory of a very long coal train passing them while his passenger train was halted in a karoo siding.

The poet uses several interesting devices to present the length of the coal train and the monotony of its rolling past them. He also plays with many words which rhyme with "coal". Can you work out why?

Read the left column and then answer
the following questions:


"A whole
trainful of coal
like a soul
burnt black in a hole
or tunnel, passed us slowly.
We were halted in our carriage.
The roll, roll, roll, roll, roll, roll, roll,
dragged painfully, each truck like the goal
achieved, yet still this kept control
of each eye."

• What is the purpose of using all these words which rhyme with "coal"? (4)

[Need help?]

One could describe this verse as a "picture poem" -- in other words, the poet is attempting to draw a picture with words of the very, very long coal train. He therefore uses the word "coal" -- which is what the train is carrying -- and then couples it to 26 words which rhyme with "coal", each word to replicate one of the trucks in the very long train of trucks. These trains were, in fact, often between 50 and 75 trucks in length. The locomotive pulling this massive load would have been a massive Class 25 steam locomotive -- sometimes two -- an example of which can be seen in the picture above. These hulking locomotives would often be surrounded by a cloud of steam and black smoke.

• Why would the trainful of coal be "like a soul burnt black in a hole or tunnel"? (4)

[Need help?]

Always remember that the poet is playing with words, trying to find ones which rhyme with "coal". "Soul" and "hole" do the trick. Having chosen these two words, however, the poet is then left to put in meaning. In this case, it's a black soul -- like a soul which has gone to Hell and is burning forever in the fiery pit. But a "pit" is also a "hole". But what type of hole would the train pass through? A tunnel!

• In what way would the rhythm of the words "like a soul burnt black in a hole" fit the purpose of this poem? (4)

[Need help?]

The poet is trying to capture the sound of the train, is he not? I suppose you really do need to have experienced a long-distance train ride to understand this fully. For those who haven't, however, try to imagine the train's steel wheels going clickety-clack over the joints of the rails. At the same time, the wheels make a steady rumbling noise of steel against steel, magnified by the sound of all the other trucks, a deep beat because the trucks are fully laden. In this case, however, the train is rolling along the lines very slowly, creating a very slow but regular beat of the many wheels rumbling on the steel rails.

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"We were halted in our carriage."

• Why would the poet be "halted"? (4)

[Need help?]

The train line through the karoo back in the 1950s was just a single track, with trains travelling along it in both directions. The trains could only pass at periodic sidings, and the train that reached the siding first would therefore have to wait for the oncoming train to reach it. The poet is referring to this period of waiting, where his passenger train was halted on one track, and the coal train is approaching on the other -- travelling slowly as it would probably itself be coming to a halt.

• Why the use of the plural "we" and "our"? (2)

[Need help?]

There are many passengers on the train and so the poet refers to them with the use of the plural.

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"The roll, roll, roll, roll, roll, roll, roll,
dragged painfully, each truck like the goal
achieved, yet still this kept control
of each eye."

• Comment on the repetition of "roll". (4)

[Need help?]

The repetition of the word is to describe in pictures the many, many coal trucks rolling past. On the other hand, there is a certain sound to the word "roll" (onomatopoeia) which imitates the hollow noise made by the heavy trucks rumbling past, steel wheels rolling on the steel lines -- and the sound being echoed by the trucks' undercarriages which formed a sound box.

• Why is each truck "like the goal achieved"? (4)

[Need help?]

There could be two possible meanings here. In the first place, each truck is filled to the brim with mounds of coal. This is the goal of each truck, its reason to be. Each truck's goal has therefore been achieved. On the other hand, it is the goal of the passengers to see the entire coal train pass them so that they might proceed on their journey. As each and every truck passes, therefore, it is a small goal achieved. And then the next goal of the next truck, until the ultimate goal has been fulfilled and the entire train has passed them -- leaving them free to continue their journey.

• In what way had the trucks "still . . . kept control of each eye"? (4)

[Need help?]

Despite each minor goal having been achieved of the individual truck having passed them, there were nevertheless so many more trucks to come. The never-ending line of trucks therefore rivetted their attention, causing the passengers to be hypnotised as they watched truck after truck after truck -- like the swinging watch held by the hypnotist.

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