AFRICAN POETRY(WAEC/NECO) by B. C. Nwachukwu

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PART 4: INTRODUCTION TO POETRY

AFRICAN POETRY

BACKGROUND OF THE POET.

Birago Diop was born on December 11, 1906 in Dakar, Senegal.  He died in November 25, 1989.  He is known for his small but beautifully composed output of lyric poetry.  With his compatriot, Leopold Senghor, Diop was active in the Negritude movement in the 1930s which sought a return to African cultural values.

Birago Diop - VANITY

If we tell, gently, gently

All that we shall one day have to tell,

Who then will hear our voices without laughter,

Sad complaining voices of beggars

Who indeed will hear them without laughter?                                   5

If we roughly of our torments

Ever increasing from the start of things

What eyes will watch our large mouths

Shaped by the laughter of big children

What eyes will watch our large mouth?                                              10

What hearts will listen to our clamoring?

What ear to our pitiful anger

Which grows in us like a tumor

In the black depth of our plaintive throats?

When our Dead comes with their Dead                                             15

When they have spoken to us in their clumsy voices;

Just as our ears were deaf

To their cries, to their wild appeals

Just as our ears were deaf

They have left on the earth their cries,                                                20

In the air, on the water, where they have traced their signs

For us blind deaf and unworthy Sons

Who see nothing of what they have made

In the air, on the water, where they have traced their signs

And since we did not understand the dead                                       25

Since we have never listen to their cries

If we weep, gently, gently

If we cry roughly to our torments

What heart will listen to our clamoring,                                              30

What ear to our sobbing hearts?

Analytical Summary

The poem, “Vanity” explores the experiences of the poor Africans whose cry for freedom are not heard.  The experiences have two parts: the first one is the physical and the second one is the spiritual.  The physical is all about the generality of the poor Africans whose suffering and anguish are neglected by the African leaders.  The level of suffering of these people is so grave that when people hear them, they would laugh at them.  The poet-persona asks several questions which tell us more about the suffering of the people.  The persona makes it known to us that because of the way those in authority treat these poor Africans, they decide not to complain anymore and allow their anger to die with them.  Finally, the poet observes that when people die in their anger, no amount of wailing will make up the lost grounds, for the dead are no longer alive to human experiences.

The spiritual experience of the poor is anchored through our ancestors who “left on the earth their cries.”  This shows that African people did not listen to the message of the ancestors to always do the right thing.  In this spiritual experience, the persona reminds us that our travails are as a result negligence to the traditional ways of life and disregard to the ancestral voices.

FORM AND STRUCTURE

Diop’s “Vanity” has thirty lines of unequal length.  It is divided into two parts. The first part assesses the physical experiences of the people on earth while the second part dwells essentially on the spiritual part of the poor masses when they leave the physical realm.

LINE BY LINE ANALYSIS

The first three lines of the poem evoke the life of anguish which the people are going through.  The lines introduce us to the painful nature of human experiences.  It is a kind of suffering which demands sympathy not laughter. The speaker opens our thought to the feelings of the people thus:

If we tell, gently, gently,

All that we shall one day have to tell,

Who then will hear our voices without laughter (lines 1 – 3).

In line four, the poetic voice describes the people’s complain as being sad and that they are the wretched of the earth: “sad complaining voices of beggars” (line 4).

From lines five to fourteen, the persona rhetorically asks questions bothering on the state of the poor masses.  He calls them names to depict their state of penury.  He goes ahead to note ironically that anyone who hears their sad complain will laugh at them instead of pitying them:

Who indeed will hear them without laughter?

What eyes will watch our large mouths

Shaped by the laughter of big children

What eyes will watch our large mouth?

What hearts will listen to our clamoring?

What ear to our pitiful anger?

Which grows in us like tumor

In the black depth of our plaintive throats?

(Lines 1, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 & 14).

In lines fifteen to twenty one, the speaker blames the masses for their suffering because they fail to listen to their forebears:

When they have spoken to us in their clumsy voices;

Just as our ears were deaf

To their cries, to their wild appeals

They have left on the earth their cries

In the air, on water, where they have traced their signs

(Lines 16, 17, 18, 20, 21).

The poet persona asks nature: “air and water” to bear witness for the ancestors because their warnings are not taken by the “Unworthy Sons” (line 22) and daughters who “see nothing of what they have made” (line 23).  This expression goes further to indicate that these “Unworthy Sons” and daughters not only disobey their forebears but also destroy their social values.

The last lines of the poem recapitulate the points in the beginning of the poem.  In these (lines 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 & 30), the speaker asks the people not to blame anybody for their misfortune in life since they did not pay heed to the “appeals and clumsy voices” of their ancestors:

Since we have never listen to their cries

If we weep, gently, gently

What ear to our sobbing hearts? (line 26, 27 & 30).

TONE AND MOOD

The poetic tone is clearly pessimistic and straightforward.  It is imbued with sadness just as the mood of sorrow and emptiness of man run through the poem.  Also the persona’s rhetorical tone comes out as he questions the state of the human welfare.

FIGURES OF SPEECH AND SOUND DEVICES

SIMILE

This has to do with indirect comparison between two different things.  The poet uses simile to bring out the suffering of the people.  In lines twelve and thirteen, the poet compares the anguish of the African people with tumour:

What ear to our pitiful anger

Which grows in us like a tumor (lines 12 & 13).

REPETITION

Words and phrases are repeated to bring out the subject matter of the poem and for emphasis.

Examples include:

“Gently, gently” (lines 1 & 27)

“If we roughly our torments” (lines 6 & 28)

“What hearts will listen to our clamoring” (lines 11 & 29)

“Just as our ears were deaf” (lines 17 & 19)

“In the air, on the water, where they have traced their signs” (lines 21 & 24)

“If we” (lines 1, 27 & 28)

“What ear” (lines 12 & 30)

“Mouths” (lines 8 & 10)

“Deaf” (lines 17, 19 & 22)

DICTION

Birago Diop uses simple English to communicate thoughts and feelings in “Vanity”.  His simple diction makes it easy for reader to comprehend the poem without difficulty.  Apart from the following words, that may prove little challenge to the average reader, the language of the poem is generally simple:

“tumor” – a growth in the body like cancer

“clumsy voices” – difficult to understand

“plaintive throats” – sorrowful voice

SYNECDOCHE

This is a form of metonymy where part of something is used to represent the whole.

“What eyes will watch our large mouths” (lines 8 & 19)

ALLITERATION

“Gently, gently” – /dz/ sound (lines 1 & 27)

“Water … where” – /w/ sound (line 24)

“We weep” - /w/ sound (line 27)

“What heart will - /w/ (line 29)

IMAGERY

The poet employs the image of dead people in the poem to refer to the ancestors in line fifteen “When our Dead comes with their Dead.” “big children” in line nine represents mental immaturity of the present generation while “voices of beggars” in line four portrays the state of penury the people are passing through.  “Plaintive throats” (line 14) and “clumsy voices” (line 16) explore sorrow and sadness in the life of the people.

ASSONANCE

“We weep” – (i:), the long vowel sound (line 27)

“Dead … dead /e/ sound (line 15).

RHETORICAL QUESTIONS

The poet employs this device to bring out the pessimistic tone of the poem.  Examples include:

“Who indeed will hear them without laughter?” (line 5)

“What eyes will watch our large mouth?” (line 10)

“What hearts will listen to our clamoring?” (lines 11 & 29)

“What ear to our sobbing hearts?” (line 30).

THEMES

1.         Poverty is a disease

2.         The dangers of disobedience

3.         A stitch in time saves nine

4.         Disrespect to the ancestral voice leads to doom

5.         Death is a necessary end.

REVISION QUESTIONS

1.         Discuss the ancestral theme as the major theme of the poem, “vanity”.

2.         Discuss the poetic effects of rhetorical questions in the poem.

3.         How effective is the use of imagery in the poem?

4.         Discuss the structure of the poem.

5.         Discuss “vanity” as a poem about nothingness of man.

AMBUSH – GBEMISOLA ADEOTI

BACKGROUND OF THE POET

Gbemisola Adeoti is a lecturer in the Department of English at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria.  His area of teaching and research include: Dramatic Literature, Poetry, Literary History/ theory and Popular Culture.  He is the author of Naked Soles.

Gbemisola Adeoti- AMBUSH

The land is a giant whale

that swallows the sinker,

with hook, line and bait

aborting dreams of a good catch

fishers turn home at dusk                                            5

blue peter on empty ships

all Peters with petered out desires.

The land is a sabre-toothed tiger,

that cries deep in the glade

while infants shudder home                                        10

the grizzled ones snatch their gut

from the bayonets of tribulation

halting venturous walk at dusk

The land is a giant hawk

that courts unceasing disaster                                     15

as it hovers and hoots in space.

The land lies patiently ahead

awaiting in ambush

those who point away from a direction

where nothing happens                                               20

toward the shore of possibilities

Analytical Summary

Gbemisola Adeoti’s “Ambush” is a poem that lampoons the corrupt tendencies in Africa in general and Nigeria in particular.  It illustrates the grab and grab mentality of African leaders.  The poet uses “the land” as a metaphor for any nation that sees itself in the caricature portrayed in the poem.  The poet also sees Africa as a mother who kills her children.  The title of the poem “Ambush” reflects the portrayal of agony in the country hence country that is supposed to protect its citizens lays ambush for them to be killed.

STANZA BY STANZA ANALYSIS

Stanza one of the poem has seven lines filled with ironies.  In this stanza, the poem illustrates the way and manner the land lays ambush for its people.  It begins thus: “The land is a giant whale…” A whale is a big sea animal which feeds on other animals.  The poet uses this animal to evaluate how those in authority who pledge to protect the lives and properties of their citizens turn to hawks which lay ambush for the checks.  This is ironical because what is meant for protection should not be used for destruction. The poet goes ahead to observe that these leaders abort dreams of good things:

The land is a giant whale

That swallows the sinker

With hook, line and bait

Aborting dreams of a good catch

(lines 1 – 4).

The poet uses the fishers to portray how the people labour to get their daily bread without anything to show for it.  People who are supposed to be celebrated are not celebrated because their desires are not met:

fishers turn home at dusk

blue peter on empty ships

all peters with petered out desires (line 5 – 7)

The second stanza gives another description of Nigeria as a tiger which creates state of unhappiness for the children of the country.  The opening line of this stanza is metaphoric.  The country becomes fierce in its activities.  This fierce nature of the country makes its citizens to tremble.

PART TWO

The land is a sabre-toothed tiger

that cries deep in the glade (lines 8 – 9).

It goes on to inform us of the children’s plight in the hands of our leaders.  Because of the fierce nature of the country, the children are afraid even to make some adventurous move in the evening:

While infants shudder home

the grizzled ones snatch their gut

from the bayonets of tribulation

halting venturous walk at dusk (lines 10 – 13)

The above expressions indicate that there is grave level of insecurity in the land.

In the third stanza, the poet again metaphorically calls the land “a giant hawk” (line 14) which causes problems for its children.  Like the hawk, the country and its leaders hover in space seeking for whom to devour:

The land is giant hawk

that courts unceasing disaster

as it hovers and hoots in space (lines 14 – 16).

Finally, in the fourth stanza, the poet extends his creative eye towards time and waiting:

The land lies patiently ahead

 awaiting in ambush (lines 17 – 18).

It may take decades for those who left the country in a stagnant position to return back, but the country will not leave.  It still awaits them either in death or in life.  The leaders who destroy their land look for greener pastures outside are the ones the persona refers to here.  Nothing works at home because they have destroyed the foundation and therefore run to countries that have functional system.  The land is laying ambush for “those who point away from a direction”/“where nothing happens”/“toward the shore of possibilities” (lines 19 – 21).

FORM AND STRUCTURE

Adeoti’s “Ambush” is written in a free verse with run on lines. It consists of four stanzas of unequal length.  The first stanza has seven lines. The second stanza contains six lines while the third stanza has three lines. The first, second and third stanzas metaphorically sees Nigeria, “the land” and its leaders as destroyers of their kind.  The fourth stanza has five lines and it dwells on time and waiting for those destroyed their land to seek for better life outside.

FIGURES OF SPEECH/SOUND DEVICES

DICTION

The language of the poem is simple and straight to the point.  The poem is imbued with metaphorical expressions that bring out the subject matter of the poem.  However, some words may make it difficult for an average reader to comprehend.  Such words as “blue peters” which is the home of free games and funny things especially for children.  “grizzled” – bitter complain, “bayonets” – weapons of war.

METAPHOR

This is a direct comparison of two unlike things:

 “The land is a giant whale” (line 1)

“The land is a sabre-toothed tiger” (line 8)

“The land is a giant hawk” (line 14)

REPETITION

In order to bring out the poet’s subject matter and themes, “The land” is repeated in lines 1, 8, 14 & 17.

TONE AND MOOD

The poem depicts a sullen and sarcastic mood as the persona decries the evil perpetrated by those in authority who are supposed to safeguard the national treasury and the citizens they lead.

PIANO AND DRUMS – GABRIEL OKARA

BACKGROUND OF THE POET

Gabriel Okara was born in 1921 when Nigeria was still a British colony. Okara’s poems mainly reflect the travails of African nations especially the conflict between European culture and traditional African heritage.  His works also reflect the traumatic effects of colonisation and decolonisation in Africa. Presently, Okara lives in Rivers State, Nigeria.

Gabriel Okara- PIANO AND DRUMS

When at break of day at a riverside

I hear jungle drums telegraphing

the mystic rhythm, urgent, raw

like bleeding flesh, speaking of

primal youth and the beginning,                                 5

I see the panther ready to pounce,

the leopard snarling about to leap

and the hunters crouch with spears poised;

And my blood ripples, turns torrent,

topples the years and at once I’m                               10

in my mother’s laps a suckling;

at once I’m walking simple

paths with no innovations,

rugged, fashioned with the naked

warmth of hurrying feet and groping hearts               15

in green leaves and wild flowers pulsing,

Then I hear a wailing piano

solo speaking of complex ways

in tear-furrowed concerto;

of far-away lands                                                        20

And new horizons with

coaxing diminuendo, counterpoint,

crescendo. But lost in the labyrinth

of its complexities, it ends in the middle

of a phrase at a daggerpoint.                                       25

And I lost in the morning mist

of an age at a riverside keep

wandering in the mystic rhythm

of jungle drums and the concerto.

ANALYTICAL SUMMARY

Gabriel Okara’s “Piano and Drums” evokes the confusion that encapsulates an African as he faces the option of choosing between his culture and the Western culture in post-colonial Africa. The imagery of the poem is strong to evoke this confusion.  The setting of the poem is a river side and in a rural area.  The poem opens with this rural setting thus:

When at break of day at a riverside

I hear jungle drums telegraphing

the mystic rhythm, urgent, raw (lines 1 – 3)

The persona describes the sound of the drum as “mystic” and “bleeding flesh”. This raw emotion of the drum makes it have captivating influence on the poet.  Its potency makes the persona panic indicating the powerful influence of African culture.  It is important to note that the poet speaker is in his youthful age when experiencing the potency of the drum.

            The beating of the drum reminds us of the primordial organ when the African culture has not been contaminated by the Western values.  It invariably invokes the stage of innocence of the African child.  However, the confusion in the persona’s life sets in when he hears the sound of a “Wailing Piano” symbolizing complex culture of the Europeans.  The poet persona now dwells on extreme confusion on which culture to follow.

STANZA BY STANZA ANALYSIS

In stanza one presents to us the setting of the poem at the riverside at the dawn of the day.  This symbolically portrays the stage of innocence in the life of African before the advent of Western culture.  As the poet persona hears the sound of the drum, its echo vibrates in a high crescendo.  The speaker says:

                        When at break of day at a riverside

I hear jungle drums telegraphing

the mystic rhythm, urgent, raw

Both the first and the third stanzas are arranged in similar way.  Each of the stanzas contains three parts.  This is used to bring out the cultural dichotomy of traditional and Western cultures.  Stanza one deals with the rhythm of the drums and its impact on the life of Africans.  Stanza three dwells essentially on the piano – the Western culture and its influence on Africans.  In the first stanza, we hear the sound of the drums as having “the mystic rhythm”, which is “urgent” and “raw” (line 3).  The piano in stanza three makes a “wailing” sound in a “tear – furrowed concerto” (lines 17 & 19).  Though, the sound of the piano is alluring, its tune is complex:

… I hear a wailing piano

Solo speaking of complex ways

in tear – furrowed concerto (line 17 – 19).

Furthermore, the drums speak of “primal youth…” in stanza one while the piano in stanza three talks about “far away lands”/ “And new horizons” (lines 20 & 21).  Both stanzas one and three conclude with the persona’s reaction on hearing the sound of the instruments.  The drums in stanza one evoke the image of hunting expedition in the traditional African setting:

I see the panther ready to pounce

the leopard snaring about to leap

and the hunters crouch with spears poised (lines 6 – 8).

The speaker’s reactionary stance to the piano is that the sound is complicated and this makes him entangled in the Western culture which he finds difficult to let go:

                        But lost in the labyrinth

of its complexities, it ends in the middle

of a phrase at a daggerpoint (lines 23 – 25).

In stanza two, the persona becomes emotional.  As the hunters determine to take action, his memory moves from “primal youth…” (line 5) to memories of childhood showcasing that he cherishes Africa and its aesthetics.  That memory of childhood is seen in line eleven when the speaker is “in my mother’s laps a suckling.”  The beauty of African aesthetics is captured from lines twelve to sixteen thus:

At once I’m walking simple

paths with no innovations,

rugged, fashioned with the naked

warmth of hurrying feet and groping hearts

in green leaves and wild flowers pulsing.

The last stanza is the meeting point of the two cultures; African and Western.  This meeting point makes the person more confused.  He is seen wandering emotionally as the sound of the drums and the piano meld around him in a confused outfit:

And I lost in the morning mist

of an age at a riverside keep

wandering in the mystic rhythm

of jungle drums and the concerto (lines 26 – 29)

This brings out clearly the major theme of the poem as bothering on the conflict of cultures – African and European.

FORM AND STRUCTURE

The poem is written in four stanzas.  Stanzas one and two portray the poet’s love for his culture (African) and how this love evokes childhood memories in him.  Stanza three talks about the Western culture and the confusion it brings in trying to distort the African heritage.  Stanza four makes the speaker more confused as he finds it difficult for follow the Western culture represented by the piano.  Stanzas one and three are of three parts each.  In the first part, the poet hears the sound of the instruments, while part two celebrates the beauty and systems of the sound of the instrument, the last part of the two stanzas is the poet’s reaction to the sound of the drums and the piano.

FIGURES OF SPEECH/SOUND DEVICES

PERSONIFICATION

The poet uses this figure of speech to bring out the beauty of his language.  The following are examples in the poem where the drums and the piano are presented as having human qualities:

“Bleeding flesh” – (line 4)

“Wailing piano” – (line 17)

“Wild flowers pulsing” – (line 16)

SIMILE

“Like bleeding flesh” – (line 4)

REPETITION

The following expressions are repeated in the poem:

“jungle drum” – (lines 2 & 29)

“riverside” – (lines 1 & 27)

“mystic rhythm” – (lines 3 & 28).

ALLITERATION

There are repetitions of consonants sounds in the poem.  Examples:

“rhythm… raw” - /r/ (line 3)

“leopard… leap” - /l/ (line 7)

“turns torrent” - /t/ (line 9)

“panther… pounce” - /p/ (line 6)

“my mothers” - /m/ (line 11)

“solo speaking” - /s/ (line 18)

“morning mist” - /m/ (line 26).

ASSONANCE

Some repetitions of the vowel sounds include:

“break of day” - /ei/ (line 1)

“jungle drums” - /۸/ (lines 2 & 29).

TONE AND MOOD

The poet is in a mixed mood because of the conflict created in his emotion by the sound of the two music instruments – “the drum” and “the piano”.  The poem opens with a happy mood where the poet persona swells with joy at the sound of the drum.  That happy mood leads the speaker to where there is a state of indecision whether to follow the drums or the piano.  The speaker moves from the state of happiness to the state of confusion.

DICTION

Okara uses simple diction to address his audience.  The subject matter of the poem is made clear through his metaphoric portrayal of the two conflicting cultures – “the drums” representing the African culture and “the piano” representing the Western culture.  Though, the language is simple, there are some words that may pose some difficulty to an average reader:

“Primal” – (line 5) – earliest beginning of things

“Panther” – (line 6) – leopard

“Dagger point” – (line 25) –

“Diminuendo” – (line 22) – diminishing voice in music

“Crescendo” – (line 23) – gradual increase in voice.

SYMBOLISM

The title of the poem itself is symbolic. “The drums” symbolises primitive African life while “the piano” stands for Western ideas.  The time at which the speaker listens to the sound of the “drums” – “the break of day” symbolically refers to the earliest time in African culture when everything was at its raw beginning.  There is also the image of childhood innocence where the speaker dwells “in my mother’s laps a suckling” (line 11).

THEMES

Themes are the ideas or the philosophies which the literary writer proclaims in his work.  The following themes are derived from Okara’s “Piano and Drums”:

1.         Conflict of cultures

2.         Traditionalism verses modernism

3.         Africa before the influence of Western culture.

REVISION QUESTIONS

1.         Examine the structure of the poem.

2.         Discuss the elements of contrast in the poem.

3.         What is the significant of the musical instruments employed in the poem?

4.         Discuss any five literary devices used in the poem.

5.         Discuss the major theme of the poem.

6.         Comment on the language of the poem.

THE DINNING TABLE – GBANABOM HALLOWELL

BACKGROUND OF THE POET

Gbanabom Hallowell is a journalist who resides in Freetown, in Sierra Leone.  Already established as a poet, he has ventured into the genre of storytelling.  He witnessed the ten years civil war which engulfed his nation.  It is for this reason that most of his writings are filled with war imageries.  He has attempted to conquer some of the African cultural taboos using his own personal experiences.  Gbanabom Hallowell is the author of a collection of poems, Hills of Temper.

Gbanabom Hallowell- THE DINNING TABLE

Dinner tonight comes with
gun wounds. Our desert
tongues lick the vegetable
blood—the pepper
strong enough to push scorpions                                             5
up our heads. Guests
look into the oceans of bowls
as vegetables die on their tongues.

The table
that gathers us is an island where guerillas                             10
walk the land while crocodiles
surf. Children from Alphabeta with empty palms dine
with us; switchblades in their eyes,
silence in their voices. When the playground
is emptied of children`s toys                                                   15
who needs roadblocks? When the hour
to drink from the cup of life ticks,
cholera breaks its spell on cracked lips

Under the spilt
milk of the moon, I promise                                                    20
to be a revolutionary, but my Nile, even
without tributaries comes lazy
upon its own Nile. On this
night reserved for lovers of fire, I’m
full with the catch of gun wounds, and my boots
have suddenly become too reluctant to walk me.                   25

ANALYTICAL SUMMARY

Gbanabom Hallowell’s “The Dinning Table” is a poem which illustrates the effects of war and bad leadership on humanity.  It explores the emotional and physical pains of people during and after war.  The poet uses the table as a metaphor for governance.  Here, the government pays lip service in solving the people’s problems.  Hence the dinning table is for meals, people gather around it during war times and moments of hardship in fear and trembling.  It evokes the tension and passion of the masses as they eat and die of gun wounds:

Dinner tonight comes with

gun wounds.

This poem is seen as a protest poem against bad leadership which has resulted to war (emotional and physical).  African nations have been in a sad economic hardship due to bad governance.  It is the sad experiences of the people that the poet tries to explore in “The Dinning Table”.  In the poem, we discover that Africa is blessed with abundant natural resources but its people wallow in dehumanizing and humiliating poverty. “Oceans of bowls” in line seven tell us more about the volume of natural resources in Africa.  The poem, therefore, is a protest poem meant to make the leaders awake to the responsibilities for good governance.

STANZA BY STANZA ANALYSIS

In the first stanza o the poem, the persona reflects on the fear which surrounds people while they are at dinner during war times.  The persona observes that “Dinner tonight comes with/gun wounds”.  The poet moves on to describe the taste of the meal which he says is filled with “Pepper”.  He describes the meal as a “Vegetable Blood” instead of vegetable soup indicating that there is an atmosphere of blood letting in the land.  “The Pepper” in line four is a metaphor for pain which the masses go through.  The persona describes this thus: “The Pepper”/“strong enough to push scorpions up our heads” (lines 4 & 5).

            In the second stanza, the persona goes on to illustrate the effects of war and bad leadership on the people.  Fear becomes the order of the day.  This is seen in the following words:

The table

that gathers us is an island where guerillas

walk the land while crocodiles

surf (lines 9, 10 & 11).

The lack of cohesion in the land makes it impossible for the children to come out to play as there is absence of children’s toys on the playground.  Innocent children are the worst hit by this economic problem.  They eat with their parents only in silence bearing in mind that if they complain nobody will listen to them:

Children from Alphabeta with empty palms dine

with us; switchblades in their eyes,

silence in their voices.  When the playground

is emptied of children’s toys (lines 12 – 15).

War times are replete with food insecurity and pollution and for this reason it becomes difficult for people to drink good water because the attention of the leaders is not there.  So when the people drink water, they contact cholera:

The speaker says:

When the hour

to drink from the cup of life ticks,

cholera breaks its spell on cracked lips

(lines 16 – 18).

The third stanza is the resolution to the economic and physical war which may take more lines.  The persona in this final stanza is galvanising the masses into revolution as a way of curbing the problems in the land.  The poet puts it this way:

Under the spilt

milk of the moon, I promise

to be a revolutionary… (lines 19 – 21).

The speaker indeed wishes to take the lead in the revolutionary war but his people lack the spirit of cooperation.  This is symbolically expressed by the image of the “nile” and “tributaries” in lines twenty one and twenty two thus:

…but my Nile, even

without tributaries comes lazy

upon its own Nile

Though, the poet is calling for revolution, he is still weak and unable to execute his revolutionary will and his body is filled with “gun wounds”.  The persona becomes weak and agonized because he has been economically and politically dehumanised and therefore, feels reluctant to continue the fight:

On this…

night reserved for lovers of fire, I’m

full with the catch of gun wounds, and my boots

have suddenly become too reluctant to walk me.

(lines 23 – 26).

FORM AND STRUCTURE

Hallowell’s “The Dinning Table” is written in three stanzas of twenty six lines.  The first stanza consists of eight lines and it describes the pain associated with eating during economic strangulation. The second stanza contains ten lines and it describes the plight of the masses in the hands of bad leaders.  The third stanza brings out the resolution to the crisis associated with economic, political and social wars.  The resolution is the persona’s revolutionary stance against bad leadership.  The stanza has eight lines.  The poem is written in free verse and it has run on lines.

TONE AND MOOD

The poem is an emotional one; it is pathetic and is imbued with suffering, pain and agony.  A sad and painful mood runs through the poem even as the poet’s revolutionary stance comes out vividly.  Despite the poet’s call for revolution, the poem ends in a pessimistic note.

FIGURES OF SPEECH AND SOUND DEVICES

IRONY

The poet uses irony to bring out his suffering in the hands of the leaders.  Irony expresses the opposite between what is said and the reality.  In “The Dinning Table”, the poet applies irony to the meal which is supposed to be a period of enjoyment but turns out to be a meal of anguish with “vegetable blood” and “gun wounds”.  It is, therefore, ironical that the “dinner” comes with pain and suffering.

RHETORICAL QUESTION

The poet rhetorically asks question in lines 14 – 16 to indicate that the children are part of the suffering in the land:

When the playground

Is emptied of children’s toys

Who needs roadblocks?

DICTION

The poem is written in simply English which is mass oriented.  The simplicity of the language makes the poem easy to comprehend.  Apart from the word “Alphabeta” which is the first two letters of Greek Alphabet, every other word in the poem is self-explanatory for an average reader.  “Children from Alphabeta” in line 12 means infants.

ALLITERATION

Examples of alliteration in the poem include:

“strong… scorpions” - /s/ sound (line 5)

“cholera … cracked” - /k/ sound (line 18)

“for lovers of fire” - /f/ sound (line 24)

“to… to” - /t/ sound (line 26)

“milk … moon” - /m/ sound (line 20)

“with … wounds” - /w/ sound (line 25).

IMAGERY

The poem is suffused with imageries which bring out the subject matter of the poem.  The first stanza is filled with imageries of war and pain.  In the opening line, it reads: “Dinner tonight comes with gun wounds”.  “Gun wounds” is an imagery characterised with war.  “Vegetable blood” is also an imagery of suffering and it demonstrates bloodletting. The image of poverty is seen when the persona tells us of the “pepper”/ “strong enough to push scorpions”/ “up our heads”.  The dinner is prepared with only pepper and vegetable and it becomes tasteless on the tongue as “vegetable die on their tongues”.  There is an image of epidemic as “cholera breaks its spell on cracked lips” (line 8 & 18).

THEMES

1.                  Consequence of bad leadership on the people.

2.                  Theme of war and destruction.

3.                  The plight of people

4.                  Poverty

5.                  Suffering in the midst of plenty.

6.                  Lack of direction due to poverty.

7.                  Corruption of political office holder and its effects on the masses.

8.                  Social revolution.              .

REVIEW QUESTIONS

1.         What are the major themes in “The Dinning Table?”

2.         Discuss the major figures of speech in “The Dinning Table.”

3.         Discuss the structure of the poem.

4.         Who are the guerillas and crocodiles in the poem?

5.         Discuss the use of symbolism in the poem.

THE ANVIL AND THE HAMMER – KOFI AWOONOR

BACKGROUND OF THE POET

Kofi Awoonor was born in Wheta, Ghana on March 13, 1935.  He was baptized in the Presbyterian faith and was given the name George Awoonor Williams.  He was raised in his mother’s extended family and was exposed more to the traditional Ewe culture than to Western religion.  He had his education in Ghana, United States and Britain.  He taught literature at the State University of New York and also served as one time Ghanaian Ambassador to Brazil.  Awoonor was imprisoned several times for his political belief but emerged as an important political figure in life. Kofi Awoonor died in a terrorist attack in Kenya where he went for a literary program in 2013.

Kofi Awoonor- THE ANVIL AND THE HAMMER

Caught between the anvil and the hammer

In the forging house of a new life,

Transforming the pangs that delivered me

Into the joy of new songs

The trappings of the past, tender and tenuous                                                5

Woven with the fibre of sisal and

Washed in the blood of the goat in the fetish hut

Are laced with the flimsy glories of paved streets.

The jargon of a new dialectic comes with the

Charisma of the perpetual search on the outlaw's hill.                        10

Sew the old days for us, our fathers,

That we can wear them under our new garment,

After we have washed ourselves in

The whirlpool of the many rivers' estuary.

We hear their songs and rumours every day                                       15

Determined to ignore these we use snatches from

                   their tunes,

Make ourselves new flags and anthems

While we lift high the banner of the land

And listen to the reverberation of our songs                                      20

In the splash and moan of the sea.

CONTENT ANALYSIS

Kofi Awoonor’s “The Anvil and the Hammer examines the issues of creativity in life.  The poet person uses the blacksmith as an anchor on all creative persons.  The poem itself dwells essentially on the method of forming new ideas that will last.  The poet draws inspiration from the past. Here, he reincarnates the old African life where unity and brotherly love are the major philosophies which bind Africans together just as the blacksmith forges metal into new products and shapes. The invites us to find joy in doing new things which will last.  The persona resorts to nature and tradition for new creation and new ideas.  The last of the poem illustrates the harmony to be derived when our ways are good.

LINE BY LINE ANALYSIS

The poem opens with the elements of creativity in the life of a blacksmith.  The persona uses the “anvil” and the “hammer” to illustrate to us that a new product is in the making through the creative effort of the blacksmith.  The poet is caught between the creative instruments and the new product which is being formed:

                        Caught between the anvil and the hammer

                        In the forging house of a new life, (lines 1 – 2)

The persona in lines three and four makes us to understand that in forming anything new, we have to overcome the difficulties in order to achieve success in life:

                        Transforming the pangs that delivered me

                        Into the joy of new songs (lines 3 – 4)

Apart from dwelling on the issues of creativity, the poem and indeed lines 1 – 7, symbolically explore the persona’s struggle whether to fully accept modernity or return to tradition but he later settles for a mixture of both.  The anvil and the hammer are the instruments used in shaping metals in the forging house.  They, therefore, represent the old and new creation.  By describing the old ways of doing things as “tender and tenuous” in line 5, the persona reminds us of the earliest stage of the African culture before the advent of modernity.

Lines 7 – 10 are emblematic because it tells us that in spite of the new culture, the persona is still influenced by the old ways of doing things though he cannot let it go.  The persona’s old ways of doing things holds him like a trap and for this reason; the new culture does not have a firm grip on him.  They are not as good as they seem.  They are not as good as they seem.  They are “laced with the flimsy glories of paved streets” (line 8).

Having been dissatisfied with the new system, the persona searches for his lost identity in lines 9 and 10.  He sees the new culture as being filled with propaganda:

                        The jargon of a new dialectic comes with the

                        Charisma of perpetual search on the outlaw’s hill

The speaker goes traditional in making request from the ancestors.  To make his feelings of hard work and vitality realised, he offers sacrifice to the ancestors “washed in the blood of the goat in the fetish hut” (line 5).  This invokes the feeling of African traditional religion where the blood of animals is used to petition the gods.  The persona’s prayer comes out in lines 11 and 12 where he says:

                        Sew the old days for us, our fathers

                        That we can wear them under our new garment

This implies that their ancestors should explain the old cultures to them so that they might mix them with the new culture after they have mingled with the new cultures.  In other words, the persona and his people have been affected by the modern ways of doing things.  He therefore calls for moral and cultural transformation against the totality of Western orientation.  In lines 13 and 14, the poet says that the gods should cleanse him and his people after mingling with the Western culture:

                        After we have washed ourselves in

                        The whirlpool of many rivers’ estuary

Furthermore, the persona has studied cultures and decides not to completely follow them but to take some aspects that are good for him and his people:

                        We hear their songs and rumours everyday

                        Determined to ignore these we use snatches from

                        their tunes (lines 15 – 17)

From lines 18 – 21, the speaker makes a resolution to copy those aspects of the Western culture which will help his people develop a new and better culture.  This is seen the image of “new flags and anthems”.  This is, therefore, a call to promote African culture.  It is also a show of patriotism for one’s culture.

FORM AND STRUCTURE

The poem is written in one stanza of twenty lines.  Thus, it is well structured and connected in themes and subject matter.  It is a free verse with run on lines.  From lines one to seven, the poet is in a struggle between accepting traditionalism and modernism.  However, he settles for a mixture of both cultures.  Lines eight to fourteen, he reveals to us that he has come in contact with other culture but could not go for them because they are filled with propaganda though he takes only some aspects of the foreign cultures.  From lines fifteen to twenty, he wishes to apply the aspect of foreign culture he appropriates to help him build a new and better culture.  The poem is written in the traditional idiom.

FIGURES OF SPEECH AND SOUND DEVICES

DICTION

The poet achieves success in the poem due to his simplicity of language.  He uses imagery and symbols to buttress his points.  “Flags and anthems” represent the spirit of patriotism.  “Our songs” stand for African identity.  “Blood of goat symbolises traditional worship.  “New garment” is a metaphor for new culture while “outlaw’s Hill symbolises old ways of doing things which are outlawed by the new method.  “Jargon of new dialectics implies the propaganda associated with the new cultures.

REPETITION

‘new” is repeated in lines 1, 4, 12 and 18

“songs” is repeated in lines 4, 15 and 20

“washed” is repeated in lines 7 and 13

“we” is repeated in lines 12, 13, 15, 16 and 19.

ALLITERATION

“trappings… tender and tenuous”

/t/ sound is alliterated in line 5.

“woven … with” /w/ sound in line 6.

“lift… land” /l/ sound in line 19.

“splash… sea” /s/ sound in line 21.

THEMES

1.         The clash of cultures

2.         African identity and Western orientation

3.         The spirit of patriotism

4.         Traditional belief system and modern culture

5.         African rebirth

6.         Creativity.

REVISION QUESTIONS

1.         Discuss the structure of the poem.

2.         Discuss the poet’s use of imagery in the poem.

3.         Access any three poetic devices in the poem.

4.         Evaluate the theme of clash of culture in the poem.

5.         “The Anvil and the Hammer” are symbolic in their portrayal of African cultural identity and rebirth.  Discuss with reference to the poem.

6.         Access any four poetic devices used in the poem.

THE PANIC OF GROWING OLDER – LENRIE PETERS

BACKGROUND OF THE POET

Lenrie Peters was born in 1932 in Gambia where he had his early education. He also attended Trinity College, Cambridge and University College Hospital, London where he obtained MD degree.  He worked briefly in England before returning to Gambia to take up employment with a government hospital as a Surgeon.  Peters started his writing career as a student.  His writings are filled with physiological and anatomical imageries thus justifying his profession as a medical doctor.  His published works include Poem (1964), The Second Round (1965), Satellites (1967), etc.  He died in 2009.

Lenrie Peters- THE PANIC OF GROWING OLDER

The panic

of growing older

spread fluttering winds

from year to year

 at twenty                                                        5

stilled by hope

of gigantic success

time and exploration

at thirty

a sudden throb of pain

laboratory test                                                 10

having nothing to show

legs cribbed

in domesticity allow

no sudden leaps

at the moon now.                                15

Copybook bisected

with red ink

and failures–

nothing to show the world.

Three children the world perhaps       20

the world expects

it of you. No

specialist’s effort there.

But science give hope                         25

of twice three score

and ten. Hope

is not a grain of sand

Inner satisfaction

dwindles sharp                                    30

blades of expectation.

From now on the world has you.

ANALYTICAL SUMMARY

Peters “Panic of Growing Older” is a moral and philosophical poem which dwells on time and change.  It explores the pains associated with growing old.  The stages of human growth are characterised with pain, success and failure.  Old age is a blessing but when it comes with lack of preparation, it is filled with regret and fear.  The title of the poem itself is an illustration of the saying: “make hay while the sun shines”. This brings to light the biblical sermon in Saint John’s Gospel Chapter 9:4 – 5 which says: “As long as it is day, we must keep on doing the work… night is coming when no one can work.”  The word “panic” from the title of the poem is imbued with anxiety, that mental consciousness which seem to threaten the inner being.  The poem, therefore expressed the various stages of human psychological development as he or she grows older.  One is not always at ease as he is always faced with life challenges.  He does not know whether his/her life would be as success or a failure in the future.

At twenty, one has lots of hopes and promises of success and feels he has enough time to explore things.  At thirty, reality sets in as one realise that the world is not a bed of roses.  He/she may have tried his/her hands on several things but no success is recorded.  The poem finally celebrates the gains of hard work in youthful age as it makes old age a worthwhile experience.

STANZA BY STANZA ANALYSIS

The first stanza of the poem introduces us to the tension human beings face in the process of growing older.  This panic comes moment after moment as the poet observes:

                        The panic

                        of growing older

                        spread fluttering winds

                        from year to year (lines 1 – 4)

The expression “spreads fluttering winds” in line 3, shows the emotional tension which the persona passes through while growing older.  The anxiety is metaphorically compared to the winds which spread to all direction.

The second stanza takes about youthful exuberance which makes the youth to experiment on a lot of things both positive and negative.  The persona makes us to understand that at the age of twenty, human beings begin to experiment on different issues about this world.  The anxiety is filled with ambitious dreams both real and imaginary.  The poet writes:

                        at twenty

                        stilled by hope

                        of gigantic success

                        time and exploration (lines 5 – 8)

Furthermore, this stanza philosophically reveals the foundational period in human development.  This is a period when the road map set out by anyone makes or mars his/her future (old age).

Stanza three dwells on the pain of aging when the human body begins to manifest physical and emotional strains.  At this age, frustration and state of hopelessness set in despite the planned successes in life.  The persona uses the expression “a sudden throb of pain” to illustrate a reversal of hope to hopelessness.  This sudden change in the persona’s life brings nothing but pain.  All efforts to remedy the situation prove abortive as seen in the expression “laboratory test/having nothing to show” (lines 11 and 12).  Medically, speaking, the poet observes that at the age of thirty signs of perennial sickness continue to surface:

                        at thirty

                        a sudden throb of pain

                        laboratory test

                        having nothing to show (lines 9 – 12).

In stanza four, the pains of aging begins to manifest with regrets for whatever thing one did not do or achieve in his/her youthful age.  In lines 13 and 14, the persona in this act remembers his home duties but feels that he cannot do them again without assistance due to old age.  This stanza is also a reminder to those who are young to make use of their young age because that exuberance recorded at a younger age will vanish in the course of time.  The poet says:

                        legs cribbed

                        in domesticity allow

                        no sudden leaps

                        at the moon now (lines 13 – 16).

The dialectics of human activities on earth starts to dwindle from the moment old age sets in as seen in stanza five.  At this moment, the person will only remember his failures and successes.  In this regard, the person becomes his own assessor and he genuinely tells himself the truth where he did well and where he did not.  The person discovers that his life is an embodiment of failure because he has nothing to show to the world as his achievement:

                        copybook bisected

                        with red ink

                        and failures

                        nothing to show the world.  (Lines 17 – 20)

In stanza six, the poet goes ahead to reveal another pain of wasted life.  This is seen in the aspect of procreation where the person involved does not have any child to represent him when he dies.  There is no effort to get married in the first instance during the youthful life.  The life of such a person becomes a wasted journey because his/her life does not bear good fruit.  The poet says:

                        Three children to show the world…

                        the world expects

                        it of you.  No

                        specialist’s effort there. (Lines 21 – 24)

Stanza seven makes an allusion to the biblical age of man as is seen in the book of Psalm 90:10.  This stanza fully reminds us of our time on earth which is transient. It tells us to make good use of our life so that our old age would not turn us into sorrow and misery.  If our youthful life is not spent well, there will be panic of unfulfilled life when our life draws closer to the grave.  This stanza is theologically imbued with moment of transition and our little time on earth.  It brings out what William Shakespeare writes in Macbeth Act 5, Scene 5, that life is wax which fades away in a moment:

                        Out, out brief candle;

                        Life’s but a walking shadow

                        a poor player that struts and

                        frets his hour.  It is a tale

                        told by an idiots, full of sound and

                        fury, signifying nothing.

In the words of the poet it reads:

                        But science give hope

                        of twice three score

                        and ten hope

                        is not a grain of sand (lines 25 – 28)

In the last four lines of the poem, the persona explores that state of a failed life on earth by those who did not make hay while the sun shines.  During this stage, such a person has no hope of success again in life.  The only thing he/she is himself.  The poet summarises “The Panic of Growing Older thus:

                        inner satisfaction

                        dwindles sharp

                        blades of expectation.

                        From now on the world has you (lines 29 – 32).

FORM AND STRUCTURE

Peters “The Panic of Growing Older” is written in eight stanzas of thirty two lines.  Each stanza has four lines.  The first three stanzas of the poem draw our attention to the age of intense human activity when life is planned for better tomorrow.  This period has hopes and aspirations with its panic.  Stanza four presents to us the period when old age sets in with its body change.  Stanza five is the assessment period which is replete with regret due to lack of good life.  Stanzas six, seven and eight reflect on the life span of man and comes to a conclusion that our life on earth is transient and so we should make good use of every time we have.  The poem is a free verse and has run-on lines.

TONE AND MOOD

The poetic tone is clearly informative.  The division of the poem brings out the mixed feeling of the persona.  There is the mood of optimism at the beginning of the poem but towards the end regret sets in due to failed life.  The tone is mild.

FIGURES OF SPEECH AND SOUND DEVICES

METAPHOR: The poem is metaphoric in nature.  The title of the poem itself is a metaphor for time management. In lines 27 and 28, the poet compares hope with a grain of sand.

DICTION: The poem is written in simple English as there is no word that seems difficult for the average reader.  The simple nature of the poetic language makes it clearer to explore the subject matter and theme of the poem.

IMAGERY: The poet uses imagery to bring out his message.  In line 3, “fluttering winds” is an image of confused excitement characterised with growing up.  “Legs cribbed” in line 1 is an image of youthful age when opportunities abound in life.  “Red ink” in line 18 is mark of failure.

ALLUSION: The poet uses biblical allusion in stanza 7 lines 21 – 24 to comment on the life span of human beings on earth.  The allusion is made directly to the book of Psalms 90:10.

ALLITERATION: “From year to year” the /j/ sound in line 4.

REPETITION: The following words are repeated in the poem:

“Year” in line 4

“Show” – lines 12 and 20

“World” – lines 20 and 32

“Hope” – lines 25 and 27

HYPERBOLE: This is an exaggeration of facts or issues.  An example in the poem is “gigantic success” in line 7.

THEMES

1.         The stages of human growth

2.         Time management

3.         The dangers of unplanned life

4.         The tension and passion of growing up

5.         A stitch in time saves nine

6.         Make hay while the sun shines.

REVISION QUESTIONS

1.         The Panic of Growing Older is a metaphor for time management. Discuss.

2.         Discuss any two themes from the poem.

3.         How would you assess the state of panic in the poem?

4.         Comment on any three poetic devices in the poem.

5.         Discuss the structure of the poem.

 CC. Benedictus Chinwendu Nwachukwu