New Hebrides / Niuhebridis

Albert Leomala

Immediately we can see how English has influenced the language developed and used by Albert Leomala in this poem. Both the indigenous and the English versions of the poem start with the line “niuhebridis niuhebridis”, which is an indigenous term from Vanuatu. When looking at the second line in the first stanza the author says “you drink wine”, “yu tring waen” and then “and you drink whisky”, “mo yu tring wiski”. The similarities between both versions of the text are undeniable; however this English influence is evident in some words more than others. For example “who’s gonna eat them” and “hu bambae i kakae frok”, it almost impossible to distinguish any English within the indigenous terms.

Albert uses a great deal of imagery in this poem and I think it works well with the language to reference some of the influences of colonisation, such as alcohol. In the first stanza Albert states “you drink wine and you drink whisky but you hate kava” and following this in the second stanza “for they want to plant kava on your land and they want you to drink it”. It seems as though Albert is countering the use of the term ‘whisky’ by mentioning the local and culturally important drink of choice ‘kava’. The way in which he references the term kava within each stanza gives us the impression that the drink has so much more significance to both him and the people of the pacific beyond its intoxicating abilities.

Communicated throughout the poem is a sense of loss. “you have plenty of children but you hate them”, to me this is an extremely powerful, but also very sad line. It contrasts well with the line “because of all your black children ... drink it”, as for me it implies that there is this feeling among the indigenous people that there is a loss or a wanting to go back to something that they are missing that was before. In the third stanza Albert states “i wasn’t born in rhine but in kolo”. This line conveys that Albert is unable to relate to the colonial culture and that the pacific and its people are grieving. “come back to the black child he’s patiently waiting for you” waiting in a sense that these people will always be there.