Analysis

An analysis of “Listen Mr Oxford don” by John Agard tells us that the poem is structured into eight stanzas of varying lengths and of different rhyme schemes. 

The characters in the poem include the speaker, who is a Caribbean immigrant (like Agard himself), and the Oxford don, an imaginary English professor from Oxford University. The don represents educated English people who see immigrants in a negative light, for instance when it comes to speaking English correctly.

The setting is only indirectly described, but it appears to be the UK and more specifically London. This is portrayed as a rather hostile place to be for immigrants as they are discriminated against. 

The poem’s language is very informal due to its use of Caribbean dialect which includes non-standard grammar and spelling. The poem also relies on specific word classes to get its ideas across. 

You can read the full analysis in the following pages.

Poem analysis

For more advice about analyzing poetry, you can read our general guide to poem analysis.