NATURE

By H.D CARBERRY

Hugh Doston (Dossie) Carberry was born July 12, 1921, the son of sir
John Carberry, a former Chief Justice of Jamaica, and Lady Georgina
Carberry, in Montreal, Canada. He came to Jamaica in infancy and spent
most of his life there. He had his primary education at Decarteret school
in Mandeville, Jamaica and then attended Jamaica College. After working
with the Civil Service, to which he qualified as second out of over 100
applicants, Carberry went to St. Catherrine College, Oxford University,
where he obtained his B. A. and B. C. L.. He read Law at Middle Temple
and was called to the Bar in 1951, then returning to Jamaica to engage in
private practice.

In 1954, Carberry married Dorothea, and they had

two sons, Martin and John, and a daughter,
Christine. In addition to his career in law, Carberry
was a poet and gave outstanding service in the
cultural field, being a member of the Managing
Committee of the Little Theatre since 1951. A devout
Christian, he was also a pillar of the Providence
Methodist church as Class Co-leader. Carberry was
Clerk to the Houses of Parliament from 1969-1978
and a member of the commonwealth Parliamentary
Association. He was appointed Judge of the
Jamaican court of appeal in 1978 and served for a
decade. H. D. Carberry died on June 28, 1989.

Nature by H.D. Carberry

We have neither Summer nor
Winter
Neither Autumn nor Spring.
We have instead the days
When the gold sun shines on the
lush green canefieldsMagnificently.
The days when the rain beats like
bullet on the roofs
And there is no sound but the
swish of water in the gullies
And trees struggling in the high
Jamaica winds.

Also there are the days when leaves

fade from off guango trees
And the reaped canefields lie bare
and fallow to the sun.
But best of all there are the days
when the mango and the logwood
blossom
When bushes are full of the sound
of bees and the scent of honey,
When the tall grass sways and
shivers to the slightest breath of
air,
When the buttercups have paved
the earth with yellow stars
And beauty comes suddenly and
the rains have gone.

SYNOPSIS
The poem tells of the weather
conditions in Jamaica
although it does not have the
four seasons of spring,
summer, autumn and winter.
The weather conditions of
golden sunny days and wet
rainy days are just as good

Literal Vs Figurative
Meaning
We have neither Summer nor
Winter
Neither Autumn nor Spring
Line
1 -2 unlike
Jamaican
countries with
temperate climates,
does not have 4
seasons of spring,
summer, autumn and
winter.

Line 1 - 2
It may appear that we,
who come from
different races and
places, do not have
the same in life.

Literal Vs Figurative
Meaning

We have instead the days

When the gold sun shines on the
lush green canefields- Magnificently
Lines 3 - 5
Jamaica has instead bright
days when the weather is
very hot and the gold sun
shines brilliantly on the
fields rich with green
sugar cane.

Lines 3 - 5
However, we all do
have good times when
everything is bright
and pleasant and
things that bring joy in
their own ways.

Literal Vs Figurative
The days when the rain beats like bullets on
Meaning

the roofs
And there is no sound but the swish of water
in the gullies
And trees struggling in the high Jamaica
winds.

Line 6 - 9

6 - 9 life is a
Line
At times,
During rainy season, the rain
struggle and we may
falls heavily and beats with
face many problems.
such force on the roof of
Life may not be
houses.
We can only hear the water
pleasant anymore
rushing through the gullies.
because the road
The trees have to struggles
ahead is full of
against the strong winds.
obstacles.

Literal Vs Figurative
Meaning

Also there are the days when leaves fade from

off guango trees
And the reaped canefields lie bare and
fallow to the sun.
Line 10 - 12

Line 10 - 12

At other times, trees

shed their leaves and
the field are left bare.

At times, life is a struggle

and we may face many
problems.
There will be times when
certain things go beyond
our control and we have no
choice but to let them be.

Literal Vs Figurative
Meaning
But best of all there are the days when the mango and the logwood
blossom
When the bushes are full of the sound of bees and the scent of honey,
When the tall grass sways and shivers to the slightest breath of air,
When the buttercups have paved the earth with yellow stars
And beauty comes suddenly and the rains have gone.

Lines 11 - 15
The best days are when Earth is alive
again.
Fruit trees, like the mango and
logwood, bloom and the bushes are
full of bees and the fragrance of
honey.
The grass grows tall and moves to the
slightest breeze. The field are covered
with yellow buttercups that look like
shinning stars and nature bursts with
beauty after rainy days have gone.

Lines 11 - 15
But we will also get the chance to
experience the best times of our life.
We have go through bad days in
order to appreciate the good days.
When these good moments occur,
everything goes right and we enjoy
life to the fullest.
Then, we realize that everyone is
actually getting the same things in
life, only in different ways.

VOCABULARY
WORD
Lush
Magnificently
Swish
Gullies
Struggling
Fade
Fallow
paved

MEANING
Healthy growth
Wonderfully, grandly,
beautifully
The sound made by
moving water
Channels cut out in the
earth by persistent
rainfall
Fighting to survive;
moving with great
physical effort
Lose their colour
Left bare (in order to
recover natural fertility)
Covered

THE END