Namaqualand

• Again


  Tells us the speaker will describe an event mentioned in the title that has happened before
• Imbued


  Permeated/saturated with water
• Veld


  Open, flat, uncultivated piece of country or grassland in South Africa, often covered in scrubs or small trees, generally arid and dry
• Raceme


  A flower cluster with the separate flowers attached by short equal stalks at equal distances along a central stem. The flowers at the base of the central stem develop first.
• Revives


  Tells us the event is a repetition and that the land again seems more alive
• Rain mentioned in the title

  Described as "lyrical" and "imbuing" the landscape, nurturing water flowing over everything that it brings back to life/renews/rejuvenates
• Sap


  Sweetens the dry stalks, transports sugar/glucose around the plant that gives it energy to grow, perfumes the open pieces of land ("plains")
• Quickening


  Refers to when a woman starts to feel her baby move in the womb during pregnancy, suggesting the land feels alive with possibility of new growth
• Small roots explode


  In strings of stars
• Each bulb gives up its dream


  Flowers are blooming reluctantly, perhaps because change is scary, or it describes how the "bulbs" were asleep (during the harsh winter months) and now they are awakening
• Orchids


  Drip honey onto the flowers below, forming little "jewels" as they glisten in the sun
• The punctuation in stanzas 1 and 2, through the use of multiple commas and semi-colons, create a steady rhythm
• Desert sighs at dawn


  As if in another hemisphere
• Temple lotus


  Breaks her buds on the attentive air
• Sunlight


  Strikes pure streams from rocks beveined with metals
• Frou-frou


  Frills/other ornamentation, particularly of women's dresses and other clothing, creating an onomatopoeic sound of movement
• Puff


  Unruffling of petals, creating auditory imagery
• Gaunt


  Lean/haggard/unwell/scrawny, especially due to suffering/hunger/age
• Denude


  To strip (something) of its covering, possessions or assets/to expose something/to lay open and empty
• Burr


  Shrubs that grow near the opening of the caves in the Karroo, also known as "Sheep's Burr", which spread their seeds and symbolise the beginning of new life
• Lambs


  Give back plenty of the "burr" from the caves in the Karroo, symbolising rebirth and new life
• Kraal


  Bleached, but the grass is waving, greeting the speaker joyfully
• The punctuation in stanzas 6, 7 & 8 differs as the enjambment causes the pace to increase as the poem reaches its climax and rushes to the conclusion
• Namaqualand


  • Gaunt
  • Semi-desert area
• Crops have a difficult time growing in the semi-desert area


  New life can be seen "far" on the horizon as the seasons change
• Lambs


  Symbolic of rebirth and new life, associated with purity and used as sacrifices, have religious connotations
• Kraal


  A traditional enclosure for sheep, horses and other cattle
• Volley


  A number of bullets, arrows or other projectiles discharged at one time
• Veld


  • Described as "wav[ing]" "[g]rass" that seems to greet the speaker joyfully
• Kraal


  • Described as being "[b]leached" due to the "drought", appearing white/light brown and having lost its colour
• Peach-tree shoots "volleys" of "[p]ink" blossoms through a crack in a "broken wall"


  Peach-trees are symbols of fertility and being born again
• Structure


  • Regular and predictable, 8 quatrains with ABCB DEFE... rhyme scheme, mostly iambic trimeter or tetrameter, hymnal rhyme
• Willow trees


  • Hesitating to turn green, associated with sadness but also hope, belonging, safety and ability to let go of pain and grow new
• Willow tree twigs


  • Interlacing/delicate branching patterns, almost ornamental
• Soon birds, especially Loxia, will reproduce and build their "colonies" of "love nests" in the "willows growing around the dam"


  Symbolises the beauty in the natural cycle of life