Showing posts with label Video. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Video. Show all posts

Friday 10 June 2022

Crispin George was a Sierra Leonean born in 1902. He published his own poetry anthology Precious Gems Unearthed by an African and nearly all his poems were non-political but strongly religious; the poem "Weigh Your Words" is quite no exception.

"Weigh Your Words" is a poem describing the goods and dangers words can cause then the poet warns that words can live forever so people must be mindful of their usage.

The poem contains alliteration "words may wound" (line 1) "furious air will scatter foliage" (line 7) "their passage-way be paved" (line 28). Similes are "like v
iands on the table" (line 11) "like atom-bombs" (line 13). Metaphor, imageries, parallelism, etc.

The following words existed in the movie and deserve explanation: Verbiage; the use of many words when a few would be sufficient. Viands; articles of food. Heinous; hateful. Harbinger; messengers sent beforehand to give advance notice or warning. Light the fuse of carnage; carnage means great destruction of life. The poet means that words are like the fuse used to explode gunpowder. Strike the oil of peace; when oil is poured on rough water it makes the waves smooth. If a match is struck, the oil will burst into flame. Scales of justice; justice is often represented as a figure holding a pair of scales.

The poem was seven stanzas of four lines per stanza. It had a tone of admonition, end rhyme scheme, simple dictions.

The good and evil of word usage is one of the themes of the poem. "Simple words may wound or soothen/ Much depending on their use" in line one and two of the poem, he further explained that the wrongly used word "will scatter foliage/ Thoughtless words good friends disperse" in line seven and eight while well used word was compared to "viands on the table/ They revive the hungry soul" according to line thirteen and fourteen.

Prudence is also a theme of the poem since words are two-way outcome, the poet employed the users to add wisdom and carefulness when dishing out words:
"Words, like atom-bombs, are heinous,
When they hurt both friend and foe;
Dangerous, cowardly and callous,
These are harbingers of woe." (stanza 4)

"Weigh them in the scales of justice
And be sure of their control;
Do not wing your words at random,
They may fly beyond their goal." (stanza 6)

Immortality is a theme where the poet considered words undying and evergreen, even when they are in a state of unuse; they lurk "at the portal/ Till their passage-way be paved" (line 27 and 28).

Samuel C. Enunwa aka samueldpoetry
(the Leo with wings in the sky)

Thursday 28 October 2021

Abiku as the name implies is a situation where a child is given birth to in multiple times. It's a Yoruba word and Yoruba people are very culturally oriented people where giving birth and naming ceremonies are vital culture of the Yoruba people because of the value attached to names and because of circumstances and mysteries surrounding birth (abiku is an instance).

The poem Abiku by John Pepper Clark has a rural setting and words like bats and owls and thatches and bamboos are evidence to support the claim and the setting shows a rural cultural living of the Yoruba people who lived in mud huts before civilization and urbanization tookover the land

Another cultural reflection from the poem is the adamant superstitious believes and supernatural robotism of the Yoruba people. According to line 2-3, "Do stay out on the baobab tree/ Follow where you please your kindred spirits." the Yorubas have strong believe in unseen force and the two quoted claimed that the actions of Abiku were dictated by some strange forces whose residence is on the baobab tree.

Now that the reflection of culture from the poem has been examined, other possessions of the poem are the theme of poverty (True, it leaks through the thatch/ When floods brim the bank) theme of indecision (the Abiku couldnt makeup his/her mind. Coming and going these several seasons... No longer bestride the threshold/ But step in and stay/ For good) the theme of counselling (the poet played the role of a counsellor to Abiku from start to the end of the poem) the theme of stigmatization and shame ( "We know the knife scars/ Serrating down your back and front/ Like beak of the sword-fish/ And both your ears, notched/ As a bondsman to this house/ Are all relics of your first comings" line 17-22) there are figures of speech (metaphor and simile= "like beak of the sword-fish" symbolism= "floods brim the banks" symbolizes rainy season synecdoche= "several fingers" bond phrase= "coming and going" "back and front") and many more.

COMMON QUESTION:-
(1) Examine the styles and themes of Abiku by John Pepper Clark.
(2) Examine the elements of culture in J. P. Clark's "Abiku".
(3) Compare Abiku by John Pepper Clark with Futility by Wilfred Owen.

>>> MORE POETIC ANALYSIS [deep analysis of post mortem by wole soyinka]

Samuel C. Enunwa aka samueldpoetry
(the Leo with wings flying still)

Thursday 9 August 2018


The poem revealed the level of mesmerism the poet had when met with a dazzling nature acting under the cause and effect mechanism. 

Readers are meant to see how an inanimate can communicate beautifully with animate without the use of spoken words.

William Wordsworth (07/04/1770-23/04/1850) was motivated to write the poem: Daffodil while passing on a stormy day, he saw the breeze orchestrating the daffodils, making them danced so gracefully.

It is revealed that the poem is of two versions: the original and the improved version. 

The original version was published in 1807, having three stanzas while the improved version of the poem was published in 1815, having four stanzas where the second stanza made the improved version completely different from the original. 

It was said that the changes in the lifestyle of William Wordsworth gave birth to the changes found in the second version of the poem

[Listen to the poem Daffodil] and you can also [Read the Two Versions of the Poem]

Both version of the poem: Daffodil has a rhythm of four feet per line, five lines per stanza and maintained a strict pattern of end rhyming scheme that forms ABABCC, DEDEFF, etc. 

Wednesday 8 March 2017

If you ask me, I just wonder how the title of the poem relates with the context; probably the title might be symbolic.

Corn Grinders by Sarojini Naidu, is an elegy where the voice in the recounts the sorrowful feelings of multiple bereaved entities. The mouse, the deer, and the bride are the victim of bereavement as shown in stanza 2, 4, 6.

In a question-and-answer form, the voice of the poem posed questions to the victims which in their responses revealed to the readers their plights and the reasons behind their cries all through the night;
stanza 1, 3, and 5 are instances of the varying questions asked.

Structurally, the refrains in the poem are couplets while the other non-couplets are equal stanzas of seven lines patterned abbacca. The poem has both rural and nighttime setting. According to the second stanza, the male mouse died of snare in a farmer's farm:
"Alas! alas! my lord is dead!
Ah, who will ease my bitter pain?
He went to seek a millet-grain
In the rich farmer's granary shed;
They caught him in a baited snare,
And slew my lover unaware:
Alas! alas! my lord is dead"

The poet dominated the poem with rhetorical questions both in the couplets and the broader stanzas of the poem. Not only that, there are refrains "Alas! alas! my lord is dead!" which add a lyric flavour to the poem. Personification in line 2 "While merry stars laugh in the sky". Instance of rhetorical question is stanza 5 "O little bride, why dost thou weep/ With all the happy world asleep?" Metaphor in line 25 "My soul burns with the quenchless fire" and alliteration in line 26 "That lit my lover's"

The painful effect of death, the importance of marriage or having a lover, the positive impact of husband, etc. The poem shows the victims with the sorrows of how to fill the void of their lovers:
"Alas! alas! my lord is dead!
Ah, who will stay these hungry tears,
Or still the want of famished years,
And crown with love my marriage-bed?
My soul burns with the quenchless fire
That lit my lover's funeral pyre:
Alas! alas! my lord is dead" (in accordance with stanza 6).

The poet, Sarojini Naidu, née Chattopadhyay was an Indian poet born between 1879 and 1949. Sarojini Naidu once served as the first governor of the United Province of Agra and Oudh. Many also refer to Sarojini as sobriquet.

READ MORE HERE>>>

Samuel C. Enunwa aka samueldpoetry
(the Leo with wings flying)

Wednesday 14 October 2015

One of my student asked me: "Sir, how can someone explain the absurdity of war in The Dining Table by Gbanabom Hallowell?"

How Pleasurable Is The Dining Table By Gbanabom Hallowell

How To Describe Oppressing and Suffering In The Dining Table By Gbanabom Hallowell

Judging from my own point of view, I believe her question was navigated toward the irrationality of war or act of warring.

According to the poem "The Dining Table" attacks and assaults from the war bestowed victims with much difficulties and epidemics which made revenge an impossibility.

The irrationality of the war led to homelessness causing the peaceful dwelling souls to gather and dine painfully on a hypothetical "dining table".

Destructiveness and insecurity in another case gave rise to the people's homelessness, and made them strove for survival, evacuating their bullet excavated homes to run till their "boots became suddenly too reluctant to walk" while cholera broke its spell on their cracked lips and left them wander with ill health.

Effects of War on Children in Dining Table

Discuss The Themes of Political Revolution in Dining Table

Samuel C. Enunwa aka samueldpoetry
(the Leo with wings soaring high)

Monday 12 October 2015

What is Subject Matter?
In poetry and other genres of literature, the phrase "subject matter" has always been confusing. To break it down, other words to represent subject are topic, major, main, controlling, specific, overall, dominating, etc.
It can be referred to as the cause of further explanation and messages of a poem or any other literary work which can be compressed into a sentence to make a subject matter of such poem or literary work.
This post will make mention of the subject matter of the following poem: Ambush by Gbemisola Adeoti, Vanity by Birago Diop, Piano And Drums by Gariel Okara, The Anvil And The Hammer by Kofi Awoonor and The Panic Of Growing Older by Lenrie Peters.

The poem: Ambush has "political disorderliness" or "bad governance" as its subject matter. The land governed is full of helplessness and deceitness in disastrous and chaotic situations.

The poem: Vanity has "negligence and injustice" as its subject matter. The calls and the cries of the poet and his people were not reckoned with and such led to the increment in their ruins.

The poem: Piano And Drums has "the juxtaposition of past and present" as its subject matter. The poet expressed his past experiences and his present situation leading to unknown future.

The poem: The Anvil And The Hammer has "the juxtaposition of past and present" as its subject matter. The poet speaker compared his past socio-political life with that of his present.

The poem: The Panic Of Growing Older has "the varying challenges of adulthood" as its subject matter. Amongst those challenges are societal expectations, clumsy ambitions, anticipated achievements, etc.

>>> MORE POETIC ANALYSIS

Samuel C. Enunwa aka samueldpoetry
(the Leo with wings soaring)

Sunday 11 October 2015

POET:-
Professor Remi Raji is a Nigerian poet, he works as a lecturer at University of Ibadan and he's the author of Web Of Remembrance in which this poem is among.

Themes:-
(1) Rebellion:- There are expressions of resistance and resilience through the poem. The poet saw himself as victim of the dangers in his environment but was not ready to resign to fate. "... I shall not flee" in line 1 "... I will not die" in line 10.

(2) Danger:- Brutality and deceitfulness in high places are described in the poem where drum of silence deafen the land. The poet continued:
"Let new maps be born
Let the puzzles of state multiply...
Let numerous lies flower in your brain
Let the wind sneeze in toxic waves I shall not fret."

POETIC FIGURES:-
(1) Anaphora:- Virtually most of the lines begin with "Let"
(2) Repetition:- The following words or phrases are repeated in the poem "I shall not" "Let the skies" "Let the land" "Let the skies cry in crimson rage I shall not flee"
(3) Alliteration:- "cry in crimson" "Let the land" "wind sneeze in toxic waves" "veteran virgin"
(4) Allusion:- "Resolute like Oranmiyan's vault" Yoruba mythical story
(5) Simile:- "like Oranmiyan's vault" "Like a veteran virgin"
(6) Others are irony, oxymoron, metaphor, euphemism, onomatopeia.

The poem speaks of bad ruling and chaotic situations like bloodshedding, bombing, political misdirecting, etc. The poet proved his displease with optimistic affirmations towards the menace.

>>> MORE POETIC ANALYSIS

Samuel C. Enunwa aka samueldpoetry
(the Leo with wings)

Wednesday 7 October 2015

Before I explain the effect of music in Kubla Khan, I'll speak of the themes, the style and poetic devices in a very brief way.

Theme are (1) the beauty of imaginations and (2) the effect of feminine music on masculine. Coleridge saw so much beauty in hills, caves, domes, fountain, etc in his imaginative dream. He painted sweet pictures of each object and made use of words like romantic, pleasure, incense-bearing, etc. The beauty and musical skill of the Abyssinian maid over stretched his thoughts, made him believe that the loud and long music could help him build objects floating in air:
"Her symphony and song
To such a deep delight 'twould win me
That with music loud and long
I would build that dome in air
That sunny dome! Those caves of ice!"

Style:- Kubla Khan was a rhyme poem narrating how the poet visioned a place he called Xanadu where a sacred river (Alph) ran through caves "down to a sunless sea"; he further told of lady playing dulcimer.

Poetic Devices:- the poem is device full but few common ones will be mentioned and they are imageries "meandering with mazy motions", "lifeless ocean" alliterations "symphony and song" "mighty fountain momently was forced" simile "vaulted like rebounding hail" "as holy and enchanted/ As e'er beneath a waning moon" personification "these dancing rocks" hyperbole "I would build that dome in air" etc.

The Effect Of Music In Kubla Khan
Samuel Coleridge created a musical effect in the poem with characters like river, fountain, rocks, dulcimer, Abyssinian maid etc; he used words like song, singing, dance, enchanted, voices, played, loud. He even demonstrated music with the inanimates: "A mighty fountain momently was forced/ Amid whose swift hair-intermitted burst/ Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail/ Or chaffy grain beneath the thresher's flail/ And mid these dancing rocks at once and ever/ It flung up momently the scared river". The musical effect as said earlier also aided the poet's imagination where he wished he had remembered the lady's song to help him build the caves in the air.

>>> MORE POETIC ANALYSIS [Ode To A Grecian Urn]

Samuel C. Enunwa aka samueldpoetry
(the Leo with wings soaring)

Sunday 27 September 2015

NOTE:- This is to aid poetry under Literature-In-English for WASSCE/WAEC, GCE, NECO, MAY/JUNE, NOV/DEC, etc.

QUESTION:- Explain the signifance of the subject matter in Piano And Drum by Gabriel Okara.

ANSWER:-
Piano And Drum by Gabriel Okara is one among many that brought out the beauty of music in poetry and the subject matters of the poem were made to blend with the use of musical effects.
The subject matters are the remembrance of the youthful days and the complex nature of the future to come.

The poet recollected his youthful days (the primal youth and the beginning) through the quietness of the early morning river and the echoing forest while "at the riverside" (his land of youth). He further mentioned in stanza 2,
the effect such remembrance gave
his mem
ory of sitting “in my mother’s lap a suckling”, “walking simple paths with no innovations”, and groping in green leaves with wild flowers in
naked hurrying feet.

The complexity of the future to come according to the stanza 3 of the poem was with “a wailing piano” which symbolised a painful sound “solo speaking of complex ways” (the unknown future) and such painful sound brought a silent cry which the poem referred to as “in tear-furrowed concerto” which lost the poet with labyrinth of it's complexities”.

Adulthood in human life stands between the past and the present which in many occasions bring out the feeling Gabriel Okara felt in the poem "Piano And Drum". Conclusively, any adult, in any given time, can find himself or herself in the shoes of Gabriel Okara which makes the subject matters of the poem to be very much significant.

Samuel C. Enunwa aka samueldpoetry
(the Leo with wings soaring high)

Friday 25 September 2015

Poet's Background, Style And Language:
He was an English poet born in London in 1795. He first went into Medicine but later on turned a poet at age 21, he died in 1891.
It is a poem of five stanzas of equal length of ten lines each with a partial rhyming scheme. It is both objective and descriptive. The language is a bit complex especially with the use of words like Sylvan, Tempe, Arcady which denote places and Old English words like canst, loth, thou, thy, ye, hast, doth, sayst which situate the time of the poem for us.

Summary of the poem:
The poet here praises what he calls a Grecian Urn which, according to him, can tell the history of humans, and deities through the pictures on it. He, therefore, praises all the pictures on the Urn as more beautiful and enduring than anything mortal.
In this wise, he tells the Bold Lover on the Urn in respect of his woman who he can never kiss
"do not grieve
she can not fade, though thou hast not thy bliss
For ever will thou love and she be fair"

With the above in mind, the poet also addresses and sees advantages in these inanimate pictures: boughs, melodist etc. To him, these are better than human life, struggles and love that are ephemeral and end leaving.
"A burning forehead, and a parching tongue"
Finally, he sees the Urn as everlasting in its beauty and longevity while human beauty and life are short and filled with woes.

Themes Of Ode To A Grecian Urn:
(1) Transiency of human life and actions compared to permanency of art and art-related objects.
(2) Beauty lasts longer than love as represented in the Urn.

Keats' major pre-occupation in this poem is the everlasting beauty that is inherent in a Grecian Urn which is a Greek vase with painted pictures as compared to human beauty which fades within a short time.
According to Keats, this urn can tell human history as it
"canst thus express
A flowery tales more sweetly than our rhyme"
It does not matter whether the story is of mortals or the gods,
The Urn has seen it all and has the pictures on it for verification.
To the poet, though the pictures on the Urn are inanimate, they enjoy everlasting beauty and longevity as never
"can those trees be bare
happy melodist unwearied
For ever piping songs for ever new"
For him, human struggles are temporary as all breathing human passion leaves a heart high-sorrowful and cloyed. A burning forehead and a parching tongue and even town where humans once lived
"will silent be and not a soul to tell
why thou art desolate."
If hu
man beauty and love will therefore last, they should be put on and in the Urn which though a ceramic will stay alive longer than mortal life.

Poetic Devices In Ode To A Grecian Urn:
(i) Metaphor in line 1 to 3. The Urn is compared to a bride who, while unspoiled and unpossessed. Remains for ever adorable and beautiful. The Urn is also seen as undemanding in speech and not easily affected by the destructive forces of time i.e. It can endure for a long time. It is also compared to a historian who can tell stories of generations gone.

(ii) Symbolism in line 5 to 10, the above portray all the struggles of man. While line 8 talks of humans line 9 is of struggles and line 10 is of songs. "Thou silent form" stands for the Urn which is inanimate and therefore does not converse. "When old age shall this generation waste" is a representation of the decimation death wroughts on humans.

(iii) Rhetorical Questions in line 5-10, line 31-40

(iv) Alliterations are "be base"(line 16) "though thou hast not thy"(line 19) "to tell"(line 39) "marble men and maiden"(line 42)

(v) Repetition "Bold Lovers, never, never canst thou kiss"(line 17) "Ah, happy, happy love! More happy, happy love"(line 25)

(vi) Onomatopoeia is "Leadst thou that heifer lowing at the skies"(line 38)

(vii) Apostrophes are "And, little town, thy streets for evermore"(line 38) This refers to a place where humans must have lived once "Thou silent form"(line 44) This is in reference to the Urn.´

(viii) Personifications are in line 44-46 "Thou, silent form! Dost tease us out of thought... When old age shall this generation waste"

Questions To Answer On Ode To A Grecian Urn:
(1) With reference to the poem, Ode To A Grecian Urn, which can jostle with immortality-human beauty or art beauty?
(2) "Human life and love are transient". Explain this statement with the aid of the poem, Ode To A Grecian Urn.
(3) "Beauty can last longer than love". Explain your opinion of this statement in reference to the poem Ode To A Grecian Urn.

>>> READ MORE POETIC ANALYSIS

Samuel C. Enunwa aka samueldpoetry
(the Leo with wings soaring high)

Thursday 24 September 2015

If you wonder what poetic devices occured in the poem? Personification has to be reckoned with. John Donne is known to be poet of personification and in this poem_ like several others, the sun personified a lot; it was written like a proper noun in the poem "Sun". It was also made a workaholic and a prying person "busy old fool, unruly sun/...through window, and through curtains, call on us" (in line 1 and 3) there are other poetic devices as hyperbole "if her eyes have not blinded thine", simile "Thou Sun art half as happy as we", there was also rhetorical questions in the poem "Must to thy motions lovers' seasons' run"(in line 5) "Thy beams, so reverend, and strong/ Why shouldst thou think"(in line 11 and 12) alliteration in line 8 "Call country ants to harvest offices" in line 23 "Princes do but play us" in line 28 "To warm the world", etc.

If you wonder what themes of the poem are then Pride of love and beauty will come to mind. After that comes The supremacy and consistency of life's events. The third theme is duty and it positive and negative effects.

(i) the pride of love and beauty was made evident when the poet downcast the sun by giving it derogatory names like "Busy old fool, unruly Sun" "Saucy pedantic wretch" but placed much importance on his love and the beauty of his lover. John Donne believed so much in lo
ve he said in line 9 and 10, "Love, all alike, no season knows, no crime,/ Nor hours, days, months, which are the rags of time"

(ii) The supremacy and consistency of life's events. John Donne was of the support that love is supreme and consistent than the sun working so hard to be supreme. He pointed that the sun couldn't last all the time unlike love withstands all odds hours in hours out, days after days, months after months, etc. He took the whole stanza 2 of the poem to belittle the sun:
"Thy beams, so reverend, and strong
Why shouldst thou think?
I could eclipse and cloud them with a wink,
But that I would not lose her sight so long:
If her eyes have not blinded thine
Look, and tomorrow late, tell me
Whether both the Indians of spice and mine
Be where thou leftst them, or lie here with me.
Ask for those kings whom thou saw'st yesterday,
And thou shalt hear, All here in one bed lay."

(iii) Duty and it's positive and negative effects. Duty has both positive and negative effect based on the busy performed by the sun in the poem; part of the positive of the sun is its ability to create awareness "through window, and through curtains, call on us" was in line 3 referring to the sun. Another positive duty of the sun is its ability to warm people "...and since thy duties be/ To warm the world, that's done in warming us" (line 27 and 28) the sun also performs the duty of lightening the whole during the day. The negative aspect of it duty is that it disturbs people where the poet was not even an exception and the poet even made us see that its duty can be limited by darkness.

If you wonder what the poem is about in a simple narration, The Sun Rising by John Donne is a three stanza poem with a little bit old english usage. It had a daytime setting with an attacking tone where the characters are the Sun, ants, apprentices, King's servants, school boys. John Donne described how he felt about the busy old fool, unruly Sun that moves around in the break of each day disturbing his and his lover. He was so pissed by the Sun that he rained abuses on the Sun; he even undermined the brightness of the Sun, saying that he could eclipse and cloud them with a wink. John Donne concluded that the Sun lacked much happiness as he and his lover did; "Thou Sun art half as happy as we,/ In that the world's contracted thus".

>>> READ MORE POETIC ANALYSIS

Samuel C. Enunwa aka samueldpoetry
(the Leo with wings soaring greatness)

Tuesday 22 September 2015

WHAT IS METAPHOR?
According to wikipedia, "A metaphor is a figure of speech that identifies something as being the same as some unrelated thing for rhetorical effect, thus highlighting the similarities between the two."
Following an online dictionary, it can also be called a figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable in order to suggest a resemblance, as in “A mighty fortress is our God.”

How Does Ambush Reveal Societal Evils?
We know that an AMBUSH is a poet written by Gbemisola Adeoti; it speaks of the common problems of the society. It has the following four themes: (1) the theme of hopelessness (2) the theme of helplessness (3) the theme of danger (4) the theme of deceit.

It became evident in the poem that the poem held a rural setting with the usage of “saber toothed tiger that cries deep in the glade/ while infants shudder home” and “lies patiently ahead/awaiting in ambush”; is worthy of creating likeness in a reader.

The poet drew the poem close reality with the use of nature and natural things. Things like animals (whale, tiger, hawk, etc) and natural things (dusk, space, dreams, etc) made the poem take the look of reality and could be easily related to what readers must have seen or may possibly see.

A land of evil dweller cannot go unnoticed and in that wise every evil has a negative effect on the people of such land. So many instances were seen in the poem like when the sabre-toothed tiger cried “deep in the glade”, the poem speaker m
ade the readers realize that “infants shudder home” and adults that stood their grounds only did so because such troubles or tribulations were inevitable. Besides their helplessness towards the tiger, they also had no help against the hawk of disasters hover above them and none to redirect from the path where the land await ambush them “toward the snare of possibilities”.

The people were faced with all sorts of dangers and virtually all the lines of the poem exemplified it. The made it known with the use of following words like “swallows”, “cries”, “snatch”, “tribulations”, “disaster” and created dreadful agents of death like “a giant whale”, “a sabre-toothed tiger”, “a giant hawk” to carry out fear and danger.

Conclusively, Gbemisola Adeoti used AMBUSH as a metaphor of the societal evils by painting such pictures with the use of giant whales, giant hawks, saber-toothed tigers, etc.

READ MORE POETIC ANALYSIS>>>


Samuel C. Enunwa aka samueldpoetry
(the Leo with wings soaring)

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