The Huntsman

Edward LowburyEdward Lowbury (1913 - 2007) , was born in London in 1913. Though he was an innovative British medical bacteriologist and pathologist, yet he enjoys a good repute as a published poet. He had dedicated all his life to the service of medical research. 

His fame mainly depends upon his unique use of humor, irony, paradoxes, and satire. 

The Huntsman is an interesting poem based on African folklore. It is a story of a huntsman Kagwa. He used to hunt lions in the forest.

One day, while he was hunting, he saw a talking skull of a man. He asked the skull, how did he come there. 

The skull replied that talking brought him there. Kagwa was surprised to see the talking skull. He hurriedly went to the king's court and told him about the talking skull. The king sent guards with Kagwa to search the talking skull. Kagwa and guards searched the talking skull everywhere in the forest. 

After a long search, they found the talking skull. Kagwa asked the same question how did he come there. This time the skull did not open its mouth. Kagwa requested the skull time and again but to no avail. The guards executed the order of the king. 

The king's men promptly killed the hunter there and punished him for his talkative tongue. At that moment the skull opened its mouth and asked Kagwa how he had come there. The dead man answered "Talking brought me here'.

Symbol: lion – bravery, skull – death

personification: skull opened its mouth, went his spear

Supernatural element: Skull speaks.

kinesthetic imagery: skull opened mouth

Humor: Kagwa trying to converse with a skull and skull replies

inversion: Shows the slow speech of the king by using selective words.

antithesis: shows the difference between the actions of Kagwa and the King.

conversations: story telling feature.

Suspense: the searching of the skull and skull being silent evokes suspense

humour: the question of the skull and the answer of Kagwa evoke humour.

The end reveals the moral of the story. It was late for Kagwa to understand the meaning of the golden word spoken by the skull when they met first. It is advisable for a person to understand what he speaks and to whom he speak and he should be responsible for what he speaks. Kagwa’s predicament shows the reader the ill effects of speaking to a wrong person with unconfirmed information. He could have questioned further from the skull and discuss the matter with a person with better intellectual capacity before conveying the message which is beyond his level of explanation.