Overview Of We Shall Not Sleep By Chirikure Chirikure

The Poet

Chirikure Chirikure is a Zimbabwean poet, songwriter, and writer born in the year 1962. The poet's name is relevant in African poetry circle and in 1990, Chirikure's book "Rukuvhute" received Honorable Mention in the Noma Award for Publishing in Africa.

The Style and Structure

The style adopted in crafting the poem is similar to that of Birago Diop's fondly used of refrain. The thematic message in the poem is based on oppression and opposition.

The voice in the poem sounds protesting the evil deeds of unnamed oppressor. It is shown that the victims have been pushed to the wall.

And the stanza 1 goes thus:
" No-one is going to sleep a wink this year
                till we fix this whole mess
No-one is going to close an eyelid
                till we get to the bottom of this"

In stanza 2, the speaker in the poem believes enough is enough from the oppressor's destructive actions

"That day you assaulted granny, we said nothing
The other day you sold the family milk cow, we said nothing
Only yesterday you set fire to the family granary, again we said nothing"

All the mentioned above had been condoned by the victims but they won't tolerate their water-well been defiled.

Samuel C. Enunwa aka samueldpoetry
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Analysis Of The World Is Too Much With Us By William Wordsworth

The Overview

In William Wordsworth poem "The World Is Too Much With Us", he tells of his dislike towards humans' ingratitude and lack of reverence for nature and its elements.

With the sonnet nature of the poem, Wordsworth professionally arranged his views in two parts; the first part being his complaint, the second part being his resolution. The poet says that human beings have had much of the world this era that their daily life activities blindfolded them from seeing and cherishing the beauties entombed in nature. He decides to derail into "paganism" because he sees more of nature and natural beauties in them than in anything else; deities like Proteus and Triton are his motivators.

The Structure

The poem is a sonnet with the octave (1st 8 lines) about his complains while the sestet (the remaining 6 lines) about his resolution. The first eight lines have the end rhyme pattern of ABBAABBA while the rest six lines have the end rhyme pattern of CDCDCD. 

How much I love to see similes in a poem, this poem has it in line 7 "now like sleeping flowers". There is a classical allusion in the poem making reference to two Greek gods (Proteus and Triton) and with the poet's mention of "pagan" in line 10, the poem snatched few religion. Personification in line 5-6 where the sea has blossom and the wind howling. Alliterations like "bares her bossom" "Great God", imageries also added beauty to the poem.

The Theme

The poem possesses the theme of abundant beauty in nature; which human beings refuse to recognize, ingratitude or lack of appreciation for the available things or readymade thing instead humans chase around the artificials, another the theme in the poem speaks of religion and the beautiful reflection of nature in the so-called "paganism".

William Wordsworth 7-4-1770 – 23-4-1850 was an English Romantic poet.

Samuel C. Enunwa aka samueldpoetry
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Analysis Of Monsters By Godspower Oboido

Monsters by Godspower Oboido is a poem about the bloody politics in Nigeria both in the period of elections and after elections. The politicians are so heartless and their heartlessness led to the poet symbolised them as "Monsters". Their desperate act of taking the seat of power by force lead to sleepless night in the nation not excluding the effect of such on domestic animals like goat.

"Monsters" is a poem that can be regarded as descriptive. With well chosen imageries, the experience of Godspower Oboido or preferably that of the poem speaker is butchered for the readers to see every part of it; starting from the fear to the actual bloody maiming then to the customary repetition of the bloody political tricks backed by greed and corruption. The poem speaker finalized the poem with anaphoric four lines that summarized the poet's verbatim and left the poem very open even to the literal brain: " it's the fear of the elections it's the fear of the killings it's the fear of the monsters it's the fear in Nigeria"

The poem can be placed under political category with the themes of fear, power, killing, etc. The diction is simple and few of the device employed are metaphor " there are monsters in our father land" parallelism "there's a sudden nightmare in our land/there's a sudden curfew in our land" imagery "bleating in panic" anaphora "it's the fear of the elections/ it's the fear of the killings/ it's the fear of the monsters/ it's the fear in Nigeria" repetition "monsters after monsters/ greed after greed/ corruption after corruption" and lots more. POEM:- Monsters by Godspower Oboido our mothers are awake the eyes of our fathers are still whatever it is, it's enough to keep the babies awake too— insomniacs we've become

we hear a strange sound we see awful happenings and we see the monsters they are the ones in high places

in seasons they reign,

then another—

monsters after monsters greed after greed corruption after corruption

there are monsters in our father land they are our fathers— not the husbands of our mothers but the fathers of affairs of our land

there's a sudden nightmare in our land there's a sudden curfew in our land blood in the hands of the monsters blood! blood! blood! everywhere

they have started their killings for the golden seat of politics is it not poli-tricks? yea, political tricks they play on us

now babies, to their mothers back they are clinging fathers shutting the doors goats are bleating in panic

confusion everywhere, fear every day it's the fear of the elections it's the fear of the killings it's the fear of the monsters it's the fear in Nigeria ©copyright:- Godspower Oboido

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

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Analysis Of Dust Of Snow By Robert Frost

First of all, I marvel at how Robert Frost turned a mere complex sentence to a deep thought poem; seriously, Frost was a poetry genius.

If I'm to put this poem in a sentence, I will write: "A crow showered me with snow while sadly sitting under a hemlock tree and relieved me of my sorrow."

Dust of Snow by Robert Frost is a short two stanza rhyme poem of 4 lines per stanza. The first stanza has an end rhyme of ABAB while the second stanza has an end rhyme pattern of CDCD. The first stanza revealed an incidence (a crow pouring snow on the poet) while the second stanza showed the impact of the incidence on the poet (the sad poet who wanted to ruminate his sorrow under the hemlock tree then came to realize that frustration is a natural thing in life; anything can bring vexation including nature's bird, tree, and snow).

The message of the poem is straight as arrow; "Sorrow is part of life". Frost, whose poetry always beautiful nature, also used some elements of nature such snow, crow, hemlock to weave his message to the poem readers by signifying that nature and natural things don't always assure happiness and peace. The poet probably went under the peaceful hemlock tree to calm himself of his sorrowful mind but the crow on the tree bartered him with snow. The poem, whose setting seemed winter has a very short and simple diction.

In terms of the poetic devices, "my heart" can be considered a synecdeche, "saved some part" is an alliteration, "dust of snow" is an imagery which is of sight. Some critics saw irony in the poem saying that crow and hemlock are symbols of evil but such evil symbols brought happiness to the poet; as far as I'm concerned, I can't refute their opinion based on the fact that poetry can be viewed with diverse eyes. Though I'm of the believe that Robert Frost used "crow" in the poem in order to fulfill his love for end rhyme scheme where "crow" in line 1 rhymes with "snow" in line 3. The line six which reads "A change of mood" truly showed the poet's switch of mood.

Considering the poem's title "Dust of Snow", the use of dust can also be viewed from a literary angle. Besides the view that "dust" in the context seemed metonymy referring to drizzle, "dust" also has a figurative meaning which is trouble or disturbance. The snow truly disturbed the poet sitting under the hemlock tree.

Samuel C. Enunwa aka samueldpoetry
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Analysis Of London By A S J Tessimond

According to information gathered from wikipedia, the poet behind the poem titled "London" began to publish in the 1920s in literary magazines; during which he published "Walls of Glass" in 1934, "Voices in a Giant City" in 1947 and "Selections" in 1958. The poem London by A. S. J. Tessimond describes London from the poet's personal perspective of the city. He personified the title with the use of "I am" as seen in 1, 6, 12. You can read the complete three stanza poem when you click here

The settings of the poem is sure citylike "…the city of two divided cities" "the city of people sitting and talking quietly" "the city whose fog will fall like a finger gently". In terms of structure, the three unequal stanzas of the poem are void of rhymes and rhythm; the 1st stanza of the poem holds 5lines, the second stanza is in 6lines while the third stanza is seven. The 1st stanza shows the social state in London as a city with two class division of the poor and the rich; the servants and the masters. The 2nd stanza pictured the living system of the
people in the city as regards the relationship and association with each other:

"I am the reticent, the private city,
The city of lovers hiding wrapped in shadows,
The city of people sitting and talking quietly
Beyond shut doors and walls as thick as a century,
People who laugh too little and too loudly,
Whose tears fall inward, flowing back to the heart."
The third stanza reflected the city's environmental and climatic manoeuvres by mentioning the gentleness of the fog, the always tactful approach of the dusk, the reflections of the city lamps at nighttimes.

A poem can be sweet, a poem with anaphora is sweeter. London by A.S.J. Tessimond has some anaphora the same as found in his poem titled "Advertising". In line 2 and 3 "Where the" commenced both lines while "The city of" commenced line 7 and 8 of the poem. It must be noted that the following line can be considered refrain (though not perfect refrain) "I am the city of two divided cities" in line 1, "I am the reticent, the private city" in line 6, "I am the city whose fog will fall like a finger gently" in line 12. There is an obvious hyperbole at the end of second stanza which goes thus "Whose tears fall inward, flowing back to the heart".

"People who laugh too little and too loudly" as seen in line 10 also caught attention. It described the social behavior of the people in London. Not only that, the line holds alliteration via the repetition of letter "L" in "laugh", "little" and "loudly". "Too little" and "too loudly" can be viewed as antithesis since the two phrases are contrasting.

Samuel C. Enunwa aka samueldpoetry
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Analysis Of Corn Grinders By Sarojini Naidu

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.

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Analysis Of When This Carnival Finally Closes By Jack Mapanje

Not all 14-line poem is a sonnet; and this one by Jack Mapanje is a good example. It is a free verse that centred on politics and leadership. The diction is quite simple and rurual-like in nature with a beach setting in terms of words like "bamboo" "dancers" "bonfire" and more.

The voice of the poem foresaw what will become of the actions of a certain leader referred to as "brother". The voice of the poem also saw how the leader's colleagues will betray and mock his reign_ line 2-4:
"...these very officers
Will burn the scripts of the praises we sang to you
And shatter the calabashes you drank from".
The voice of the poem believed the activities of the leader was unnecessary; in line 1 it was referred to as a "frothful carnival" because his officers were not faithful; they will go to the extent of burning his bamboo hut under the guise of giving him a "true traditional burial".

According to line 6 "Become the accomplices to your lie-achieved world!" proves the voice of the poem is certain that the leader's ways are not straight; he's a corrupt leader. This tells the readers that the voice of the poem is an unbiased one who sincerely hits the  nail in the head.

There are other noted poetic devices in the poem titled "When This Carnival Finally Closes" by Jack Mapanje; and they are as follows:
(1) "scripts of the praise" in line 3 is a metaphor
(2) "drumming veins" in line 2 is a symbolism
(3) "...a God? The devil!" in line 14 is an oxymoron
(4) "bamboo hut on the beach" in line 7 is an alliteration
(5) "And at the wake new mask dancers will quickly leap" in line 11 is an imagery
(6) "What did he think he would become, a God? The devil!" in line 14 is a rhetorical question
(7) "And shatter the calabashes you drank from . Your/ Charms, these drums, and the effigies blazing will" in line 4-5 is an enjambment

The themes are betrayal, change, governance, politics, death, achievement, waste, corruption, etc. In terms of betrayal, the voice of the poem foresaw the leader's betrayal. Change in the poem is seen from line 11-13:
"And at the wake new mask dancers will quickly leap
Into the arena dancing to tighter skins, boasting
Other clans of calabashes..."
Governance and politics can be considered the motivation for crafting this poem "When This Carnival Finally Closes" by Jack Mapanje. Death was not directly mentioned in the poem but was suggested with phrases such as "drumming veins dry" "giving their hero a true traditional burial". The achievement of the leader is linked to corruption when the voice of the poem referred to it as "your lie-achieved world!"

As of this moment, whenever Malawian poets come to mind the first name to remember is David Rubadiri followed by Jack Mapanje. He was born 25 March 1944 in Mangochi District of Malawi. Jack Mapanje has made the list of African poets whose poetry landed them in prison; other African poets of the same predicament are Chris Abani, Wole Soyinka, etc. Jack Mapanje was put in prison by a ruling tyrant without charge.

Samuel C. Enunwa aka samueldpoetry
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At Fifteen I Went With The Army by Arthur Waley

THE ANALYSIS
A boy went with the army to a war at the age of fifteen but met a desolate or rather deserted home at the age of eighty .When he got to the village, he couldn’t recognize his home until a man he met in the village showed him what used to be his house (now outgrown by weeds, trees, and pheasants). According to line 9-10
“In the courtyard was growing some wild grain;
And by the well, wild mallows.”

The house was so taken by weeds to the extent that he made porridge and soup off the grains; sadly “no one to eat them with”. The unhappiness of the boy even extended till the end of the poem where he said
“I went out and looked towards the east,
While tears fell and wetted my clothes”

Probably, one may be forced to wonder why the boy looked towards the east. It might be that the only possible place his life could restart is in the east, it may also be that east is the cause of his sorrow.

“At Fifteen I Went With The Army” is a poem written by an unknown Chinese poet but translated by Arthur Waley. This’ another example of poem written about war or communal attack; (naijapoets has analyzed similar
poems such as “An Irish Airman Foresees His Death” by W. B Yeats, “The Dining Table” by Gbannabom Hallowell, “O Captain My Captain” by Walt Witman, etc) The total line of the poem is 16 which was not chopped into multiple stanzas, no end rhyme scheme and no specific rhythm. The poet expressed the negative effect of war on the returning soldier, which was shown from the boy’s point of view.

From line 1-4, is based on the departure and arrival of the boy. Line 5-13, tells condition of the boy’s home when he arrived. Line 14-16, shows the boy’s unhappiness towards his condition of loneliness. The poem has poetic devices such as imageries (rabbits had run in at the dog-hole), alliteration (by the well some wild mallows), and repetition (porridge, home, wild, mallows, soup). The themes in the poem are (1) Loneliness; which was seen in line 14-16. (2) Teenage participation in war; the opening lines of the poem tell that the boy was a teen when he joined the soldier. (3) Negative effects of war; the boy’s homecoming resulted in tears and sorrow. (4) Hopelessness; the family which the boy hoped to return were no more. (5) Time; the difference between the boy's departure and arrival is a very wide one in between which many changes have taken place.

THE POEM
At fifteen I went with the army,
At fourscore I came home.
On the way I met a man from the village,
I asked him who there was at home.
“That over there is your house,
All covered over with trees and bushes.”
Rabbits had run in at the dog-hole,
Pheasants flew down from the beams of the roof.
In the courtyard was growing some wild grain;
And by the well, some wild mallows.
I’ll boil the grain and make porridge,
I’ll pluck the mallows and make soup.
Soup and porridge are both cooked,
But there is no one to eat them with.
I went out and looked towards the east,
While tears fell and wetted my clothes.

THE POET
Arthur Waley whose birth name is Arthur David Schloss, well known for his translations of Chinese and Japanese poetry. He was born 19th of August, 1889. According to wikipedia, "Waley avoided academic posts and most often wrote for a general audience. He chose not to be a specialist but to translate a wide and personal range of classical literature." Arthur Waley died on 27th of June, 1966.
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Analysis Of The Anvil And The Hammer By Kofi Awoonor

This is another African poem that focuses its subject on the conflict of culture_ sharing the same theme with the poem titled "Piano and Drums" by Gabriel Okara.

One can hear the poem speaker's willingness to balance both culture or lifestyle by saying in line 11-12 "Sew the old days for us, our fathers/ That we can wear them under our new garment". The issue of colonialism is not out the picture in this poem "The Anvil and The Hammer" by Kofi Awoonor. The alien culture came into Africa via colonialism to mix with the ways of the Africans. The speaker in the poem found himself between the two opposite lifestyles which made him liken himself to an iron to be reshaped by the anvil and the hammer.

The poem is said to be cultural inclined with a colonial setting. Structurally, The Anvil and The Hammer by Kofi Awoonor is a free verse; a free verse is a poem that does not use consistent meter patterns, rhyme,
or any other musical pattern. "Vanity" by Birago Diop loudly spoke of African cultural degeneration and the poem is structurally a free verse and the poem titled "Piano and Drums" by Gabriel Okara loudly spoke of cultural dilemma and it's in a free verse form. The Anvil and The Hammer by Kofi Awoonor has a total of 21 lines divided into 5 unequal stanzas.

Stanza 1 shows the poem speaker standing between African and European culture. Stanza 2 explains how the past has suddenly been redesigned in the present with "paved streets" "jargon of a new dialectic". Stanza 3 calls for balance between African and European culture by sustaining the African culture while living the European way of life. Stanza 4, the poem speaker considered the believed inferiority of African culture as a mere rumour instead he lifted the African norms and believes in presence of civilization. Stanza 5 say and I quote:
"And listen to the reverberation of our songs
In the splash and moan of the sea"

Also Read: What Are The Themes In The Anvil And The Hammer By Kofi Awoonor

Few among the figures of speech in the poem are:-

(1) Repetition; we see words like "new" "songs" "washed" (2) Personification; seen in line 21 "the splash and moan of the sea" (3) Symbolism; where the title of the poem symbolizes African and European. "The Anvil" represent the African culture while "The Hammer" represent the European culture. (4) Imagery; both sight and sound instances are "listen to the reverberation of our songs" which is in line 20, "The trapping of the past, tender and tenuous" in line 5, "we lift high the banner of the land" in line 19. (5) Metaphor;

• 8 Metaphors in the Anvil and the Hammer by Kofi Awoonor

• Compare And Contrast Piano And Drums With The Anvil And The Hammer

Kofi Awoonor Williams will never be forgotten among the passionate voices for African literature. His collection of poems are widely read not only among Africans but all lovers of literature in the whole wide world. He was born in Wheta, Ghana. Attended Achimota School, the University of Ghana and the University College in London. Few of his works are The House By The Sea (1978), Rediscovery And Other Poems (1964), etc.

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A Raisin In The Sun By Lorraine Hansberry (Difference Between Mama AndWalter)

It is the story of a poor black American family that suddenly got the opportunity to transform its state of living with a $10,000 insurance cheque issued the family as their deceased father's life insurance policy. Different ideas surfaced towards the use of the money which almost led to huge disagreement in the family.

In a tabular form, let's examine the difference between Mama and Walter.

Mama	Walter
(1) Mama is Walter's mother	(1) Walter is a son to Mama
(2) Mama is moral and ambitious	(2) Walter is desperate and ambitious
(3) Mama's strong belief in Christianity belief is revealed in the play	(3) Walter's religious belief is not noted
(4) Mama is a very compassionate woman even when Walter lost part of the insurance money to his doomed investment, Mama treated him like a prodigal son	(4) Walter is a character so adamant and sticks to his own believe alone
(5) Mama's passion is to give her family a better life by providing them a conducive place to live	(5) Walter's passion is to give his family a better life by investing the insurance money

Mama and Walter
are so passionate about differed dreams of making their family better because of the eagerness to escape the racial inequality and poverty haunting them. Walter's intended liquor investment became unsuccessful but Mama's dream of new home became a success.

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Detail Analysis Of My Parents Kept Me From Children Who Were Rough ByStephen Spender

"My Parents Kept Me From Children Who Were Rough" is a poem written by Stephen Spender; an English poet born 28-02-1909 in Kensington but died at the age of 86 year old on 16-07-1995.

Stephen Spender was a huge fan of literature and art. He was very friendly and his friendship aligned with the proverb that says "Birds of the same feathers fly together".

Wikipedia says and I quote: "Spender was acquainted with fellow Auden Group members Louis MacNeice, Edward Upward and Cecil Day-Lewis. He was friendly with David Jones and later came to know W. B. Yeats, Allen Ginsberg, Ted Hughes, Joseph Brodsky, Isaiah Berlin, Mary McCarthy, Roy Campbell, Raymond Chandler, Dylan Thomas, Jean-Paul Sartre, F. T. Prince and T. S. Eliot, as well as members of the Bloomsbury Group, in particular Virginia Woolf."

"My Parents Kept Me From Children Who Were Rough" talks about the poet's childhood experience with bullies. The twelve line poem which is divided into three stanzas of equal lines per stanza, explained how the poet was bullies by a group of superior but inferior. It further explained that bitter words and muscular strength are their bullying tools. It concluded the poem with one of the everlasting effects on a bully victim; which is lack of forgiveness.

According to stanza one, his parents kept him from those bully boys because the harshly mismanaged the spoken words, they were poor wearing "rags", and "They ran the street" "And climbed cliffs and stripped by country streams".

Second stanza, the poet feared the bullies because of their strength and many times they'd beaten him.

In stanza three, they really tormented him; haunted him like by appearing when he least expected. They even threw mud at him.

The poem is categorized under youthful recollection and it has a well planned structure, simple dictions, and physical human setting with the use of "street" "climbed cliffs" "country streams" "on the road" "behind hedges" "mud" etc.

The central theme in the poem is bullying but other themes of note are lack of forgiveness, fear, superiority, inferiority and poverty.
The poet was
afraid of those boys because they were bullies meanwhile inferiority and poverty led the boys to bully the poet because they saw him as superior in status.

Let's speak of the figurative in the poem. Simile surfaced in the poem more than twice as a result of Spender's love for comparison. In line 2, he compared the word usage of the boys to thrown stones "Who threw words like stones". In line 5, he compared the boys strength to tigers and their muscles to iron "I feared more than tigers their muscles like iron". In line 10, he compared their aggressive behavior to that of a barking dog "Like dogs to bark at my world".

"Their jerking hands and their knees tight on my arms" as seen in line 6 is an indirect description of how the bullies beat him.

"Like dogs to bark at my world" as seen in line 10 contains more than simile. The line is an offspring of enjambment from the preceding line. And "my world" is a metonymy for "my presence".

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Deep Analysis Of Lullaby By W H Auden

Lullaby is a soothing song intended to lull a child to sleep. In the poem "Lullaby" by W. H. Auden, two crucial subjects were placed side-by-side; love and lullaby.

With the notion of the poem, lullaby is the best way to love which surpassed outward appreciation, nighttime sensual moments and cohabitational responsibilities. Auden saw no certainty in other things than lullaby.

He believed that time and sickness destroy youthfulness and its accompanied hopefulness through aging and dying; that's why the night his lover lie on his arms was worth everything to him.

Auden accepted the strong emotionality within romantic ecstasy but failed to attach importance to such ecstasy because it was gravy. Such ecstasy leads to other things like parenting:

"Soul and body have no bounds:
To lovers as they lie upon
Her tolerant enchanted slope
In their ordinary swoon,
Grave the vision Venus sends
Of supernatural sympathy,
Universal love and hope;
While abstract insight wakes
Among the glaciers and the rocks
The hermit's sensual ecstasy."

In stanza 3, Auden explained that although lovemaking as a means of quenching the cry of boredom, only last a very short period of time "like vibrations
of a bell" but nothing will deny him such moment with his lover; not even the scary future.

In the last stanza of the poem, Auden re-ascertained that "Beauty, midnight, vision dies" but that night spent together with his lover will serve as substitution for other things:

"Let the winds of dawn that blow
Softly round your dreaming head
Such a day of sweetness show
Eye and knocking heart may bless,
Find your mortal world enough;
Noons of dryness see you fed
By the involuntary powers,
Nights of insult let you pass
Watched by every human love."

"Lullaby" is a 40 line poem divided into 10 lines per stanza. The setting of poem is nighttime and the poem can be categorized under love and life. Love is the central theme of the poem but other themes such as death, growth, beauty, surfaced.

There are no planned end rhyme scheme though the title suggested  a song. The tone is sweet and wooing with the multiple use of images of sight. Other poetic devices in the poem are alliteration in line 15 and 16 respectively "vision Venus sends" and "supernatural sympathy" then simile in line 23 "Like vibrations of a bell" then metonymy in line "fevers" which was used to replace sicknesses then litotes in line "swoon" which was used by Auden to undermine love.

"All the dreaded cards foretell" even though Auden mentioned "faithless" in line 2, this show that the poet related with soothsayers to a certain extent.

Wystan Hugh Auden commonly called W. H. Auden was an English poet born 21th February, 1907. He later nationalized to an American citizen but departed earth on 29th September, 1973 at the age of 66.

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Analysis of Katerina: An Angel In The Flesh by Femi Fani Kayode

THE ANALYSIS:-

"Katerina: An Angel In The Flesh" is a descriptive love poem that embraced the instrument of praise and prayer.

The most part of the poem described Femi Fani Kayode's Katerina as an extraordinary beauty; using the same hyperbolical language of William Shakespeare's craftiness. The ending part of the poem carry some hope words that are tabled in form of prayer.

Few of the poetic devices in the poem are enjambment (as ideas or expressions flow beyond a single line), simile (many comparisons are made in the poem using "like" for instance "Your
words, like the Balm of Gilead" and "blazing red hair like a Royal Princess"), allusion in the poem "the Game of Thrones", alliteration in the poem "deep dimples" and "poor and less privileged", metaphor in the poem "thirst and quest for knowledge and understanding" and "wisdom oozes", the imageries in the poem a mostly of sight.

The major theme of the poem is love, beauty, and the excitement in pleasant human qualities. From the context of the poem, human achievement can also be considered as part of the themes in the poem.

THE POEM:-

Emerald-green eyes and blazing red hair, like a Royal Princess of Westeroth from the Game of Thrones. Beautiful deep dimples and a lovely warm smile. Pale, silk-like skin and waifer-thin lips. Such natural beauty. Your crown glistens and your glory is self-evident.

Most captivating of all is the power of your soul, the beauty and strength of your inner man and the profundity of your learned tongue: wisdom oozes. Your words, like the Balm of Gilead, bring hope: they soothe and heal.
Your compassion for the poor and less privileged and your empathy for the persecuted, the oppressed, the misunderstood and the downtrodden is self-evident and compelling. Your thirst and quest for knowledge and understanding is insatiable and never-ending.
Your love of the Living God is inexplicable, indescribable, unfathomable, profound, deep and utterly moving. You are a woman of substance, an angel in the flesh, a handmaiden of Jerusalem, a speaker of divine truths, a Daughter of Zion.
You are the stuff of which great Queens are made. May you live long and prosper and may you be a blessing to your generation and to generations unborn.

THE POET:-

Chief Femi Fani-Kayode is a Nigerian poet, a lawyer, and a politician born in Lagos, Nigeria on 16th October 1960 to Chief Remilekun Adetokunbo Fani-Kayode and to Chief (Mrs) Adia Adunni Fani-Kayode.He was christened David Oluwafemi (meaning “the beloved of the Lord”) Adewunmi Fani-Kayode. He was the Special Assistant (Public Affairs) to President Olusegun Obasanjo from July 2003 until June 2006.

Samuel C. Enunwa aka samueldpoetry
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Analysis Of Ozymandias By Percy Bysshe Shelley

The image was a shattered statue remaining only the face of the Greek king. Where beneath the stone image was written:
'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!'

The poem titled "Ozymandias" is a sonnet, written in loose iambic pentameter, where the first stanza has eight lines and six lines for the second stanza. Most sonnets end in a rhyming couplet but this is an exception. Both stanzas are dedicated to the description of the stone image. In stanza one, readers are given a clear picture of how the statue was found, the damage that had befallen the statue, the pride and arrogance portrayed by the statue, etc.

The following are the themes of the poem:-
(1) Futility of wealth and status: With the little that is left to remind the
readers about a kingdom and its  once upon a time powerful king; human wealth and status is truly a futile acquisition.

(2) Leadership and its inevitable trait of pride: The facial description of Ozymandias' stone image in lines 4-5 proves that pride is an inevitable trait of all rulers:
"Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command" (lines 4-5)

[Also Readable:- Comment On The Use Of Pun In The Pulley By George ... ]

(3) The immortal quality of things surpass the mortality in human: This theme reminds me of "Ode to a Grecian Urn" by John Keats where the beauty of the lady drawn on the Grecian urn lasted very longer than the beauty of any living lady. In this poem titled "Ozymandias" by Percy Bysshe Shelley, it is shown that immortality is better that mortality because after the king in question has long lived the earth and vanished, his sculpted image still survived damage and wreck and unspeakable circumstances of life.

The mood is mild and the tone revealing. The voice of the poem is in first person singular point of view, according to the opening line of the poem:
"I met a traveller from an antique land"
The setting is an undisclosed place which might on the road or anywhere. Another setting of note, is the desert which the poet referred to as "antique land" in line 1; the antique land is described to be a
"...colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away." (According to lines 13-14)

[ Don't Miss:- Castle Of Otranto By Horace Walpole (Brief Overview) ]

Assonance in line 1 "an antique" Alliteration in line 2 "two vast and trunkless" Imagery in line 4 "Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown"
Irony between lines 10-11 'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!'

"The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed" in line 8 of the poem refers to the attitude of Ozymandias towards those he ruled. Figuratively, with the way the words in line 8 is arranged, it can be considered a synecdoche where "the hand" and "the heart" are used to represent the king. There is also an inversion in the line_ in terms of word order. The normal arrangement is supposed to be "The hand that fed them and the heart that mocked".

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Samuel C. Enunwa aka samueldpoetry
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Analysis Of O Captain My Captain By Walt Whitman

Structurally, this twenty four line poem is divided into three equal stanza of eight lines per stanza. For the record, Walt Whitman is known for his unpredictable rhythm and rhyme scheme. 

Though the poem has some evidence of end rhyme scheme,  word arrangement looks wobbling and irregular like the current of the ocean. It is no surprise that the poem took such arrangement since the poem has a sea setting with the use of words such as "shore" "ship" "Captain" "vessel" "voyage" "deck".

This poem falls under the category of war poem but the fact that it is an elegy cannot be denied. The poem speakers indirectly mourns the death of his captain who has fallen in battle. 

Speaking with ignorance, the poet calls on his dead captain as he was sleeping, asking him to rise up; after which he tells the readers through his contrasting refrain that "...my Captain lies/ Fallen cold and dead".

In stanza 1, the speaker notifies his captain that the battle is over and won. Stanza 2 tells the captain of the crowd at shore happily ready to celebrate with him. Stanza 3 is where the speaker of the poem hit the nail in the head by coming into reality:
"My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still
My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will;
The ship is anchor'd safe and sound, its voyage closed and done,
From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with
object won;
Exult, O shores! and ring, O bells!
But I, with silent tread,
Walk the spot my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead."

The refrain in the poem makes the poem lyrical even though the message is mournful with exclamatory phrases. Imageries are "fearful trip" "the people all exulting" "For you bouquets and ribbon'd wreaths" "his lips are pale and still". 

 

alliterations are "weathered every wrack" "flag is flung" "dream that on the deck". Assonance in line 3 "near the bells I hear" "fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won". Anaphora in stanza one with the use of "The ship" "the prize" "The port" "the people" then in stanza two with the use of "for you the flag" "for you the bugle" "For you bouquet" "for you the shore" "For you they call".

O Captain! My Captain! by Walt Whitman is a poem about a captain who lost his life as a result of a war. The poem shows that there are two sides to the outcome of battle; where some people soberly mourn and cry, others gladly sing and celebrate victory. Even amidst the winners of a certain battle, those alive rejoice with their loved ones while family of those dead mourn.

In searching for the motive of the poem, Wikipedia reveals that Whitman composed the poem after the death of Abraham Lincoln. It became one of the most recognized elegy among American and poetry lovers in general.

Who is Walt Whitman? Walter "Walt" Whitman was an American poet, essayist, and journalist born on May 31, 1819 in West Hills, United States of America but died on March 26, 1892, in Camden, USA.

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Samuel C. Enunwa aka samueldpoetry
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Analysis Of Advertising By A S J Tessimond

Literature is the mirror of life and poetry is a vital element for its reflections. A. S. J. Tessimond in the poem "Advertising" showcased what the motive behind advertisements in a poetic way. The poet prove that advert is conversion (it shows the seller has better knowledge than the consumer in terms of the products that will be of usefulness to the consumer)

The use of punctuation marks in the poem signifies a lot. Question mark used in line 10 is basically to clear the buyers' doubt on the hyperbole seen between lines 9-10 (Who tells you that ten million men have long/ Called a stone bread_ and can ten million men be wrong?) Exclamation mark used in lines 3-4 is to command the actions, to compel the emotions, to further push the desires of the buyer.

In accordance with the voice of the poem speaker, the poem has an affirming, commanding, and assuring tone. Like a soothsayer, the voice of the poem shows that the seller or advertiser knows the buyer or consumer better than himself or herself. With the use of metaphors the speaker placed himself or herself higher than the buyer by saying:
"I am your wish and I its answer.
I am the drum and you the dancer.
I am the trumpet-voice, the Stentor.
I am temptation, I the Mentor"

The quoted lines above also carry some anaphora. There are instances of word repetition; words like "voice" "men" "save" "spend" "turning". Alliterations in the poem are "gleam or glint" in line 1. "the almost-gems
that glisten' in line 4. "I am the drum and you the dancer" in line 6. "ten million men" in line 9. Metonymy in line 14 "cradle to grave". Antithesis in line 11 "you spend to save and save to spend".

The themes evident in the poem are Advertising as a vital tool for selling. This is the central theme of the poem which doesn't only show as the title of the poem but also in the words of the persona. Another theme of note is the inevitability of buying and selling among humans. In the ending part of the poem, the words of the poet emphasized that buying and selling makes the world go round and everlasting:
But always spend that wheels may never end
Their turning and by turning let you spend to save
And save to spend, world without end, cradle to grave." (lines 12-14)

A. S. J. Tessimond is an English poet with the full name Arthur Seymour John Tessimond. He lived between 1902 to 1962.

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Samuel C. Enunwa aka samueldpoetry
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Analysis Of Ode To The West Wind By Percy Bysshe Shelley

Percy B. Shelley was an English Romantic poet born on the 4th of August 1792 at West Sussex, England. He died at the tender age of 29 years old on the 8th of July 1822 in Italy.

Ode to the West Wind by Percy Bysshe Shelley is a praise poem written to portray the sweetness of influence and power possession though many poetry analysts have suggested all sorts of motives. Some have claimed it's an elegy others have claimed otherwise; amidst diverse claims, what if Wikipedia has things to say?

Which brings us to the question: what does wikipedia has to say about the motive of Shelley in the poem "Ode to the West Wind"? The knowledge archive stood on the fact that the poet's previous poems (The Masque of Anarchy, Prometheus Unbound, and England in 1819) share the same subject opinion with the one on discussion
table. Wikipedia opines that_ since most of Shelley's poems have the themes of political change and role of the poet_ is of the believe that every poet should be the voice for societal change.

Are you hoping to find your favorite poetic devices in the poem? Yes, you can find many instances of metaphor, repetition, simile ("like flocks" in line 11), alliteration ("wide West Wind" in line 1), and personification ("the blue Mediterranean where he lay" in line 30), allusion ("Beside a pumice isle in Baiae's bay" in line 32), and many more in the poem.

In the poem, cloud, death, cold, dead, leaf, wave, autumn, etc are found multiple times in the poem. She desired to be part of the West Wind's instrument of change by saying "Oh lift me as a wave, a leaf, a cloud". Another thing of note is Shelley's inspiration which remains temporary awaiting rebirth and renewal. "The sense of renewal is captured in the image of the lyre. He calls on the West Wind to make him a lyre so he can recapture his poetic creativity. Other images in the poem are from spring and summer which prefigure the removal of the poet's inspiration and affirm in university."

Structurally, this nature ode is divided into five parts with each part having 14 lines (i.e. fourteen lines in five places make a total of seventy lines) the fourteen lines are in five stanzas where first, second, third, fourth stanzas consist of three lines each but the fifth stanzas are two lines. Not only that the end tone of the lines rhyme with each other, the lines are mostly pentameter.

Just the same way, John Keats chose inanimate over animate in his poem "Ode to the Grecian Urn". In terms of beauty, the Grecian urn is everlasting while human beauty is limited to time, aging and death. Percy Shelley also followed the same footstep. Beside the theme of nature and its powerful influence in the poem "Ode to the West Wind", the poem also shows that nature is better than human in terms of strength. Shelley so much envied the strength of the West Wind to the extent that he longed to be servant of the West Wind_ knowing quite well that he couldn't measure up in strength.

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Samuel C. Enunwa aka samueldpoetry
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Compare And Contrast Birches By Robert Frost And The Schoolboy byWilliam Blake

Differences:-
(1) Background. The poets share differences in territorial background; William Blake was an English poet born in Broadwick St. Soho, London. While Robert Frost was an American poet born in San Francisco, California.

(2) Plot. Both poems go different direction in terms of narration. The Schoolboy by William Blake talks about child who preferred informal education to the mandatory formal education enforced on him by his parents; while Birches by Robert Frost speaks of his delightful childhood experience of swinging birches

when he happened to find a bent birch tree in passing.

(3) Structure. Another difference can be seen in the craft of both poems. The Schoolboy is a 30 line rhyming poem of six stanzas (with end rhyme scheme of ABABB ACACC) while Birches is a 60 line blank verse with no stanza division.

Similarities:-
(1) Nature. They are romantic poets which makes the theme of nature so inevitable. Both persona found an undeniable delight in natural elements; "So was I once myself a swinger of birches/ And so I dream of going back to be" (says Birches by Robert Frost) "I love to rise in a summer morn/ When the birds sing on every tree" (say The Schoolboy by William Blake)

(2) Youthfulness. This is also found in both poems while the youthful schoolboy worried what his adult memories of youth would be if his childhood joy is caged like a bird, on the other hand, the speaker in Birches reminisced his youth at the sight of a bent birch tree.

(3) Freedom. The theme of youthful freedom and the importance of freedom to humankind cannot go unnoticed in the two poems. With the repeated use of rhetorical questions in stanzas 4-6, the schoolboy called for his freedom while Robert Frost in Birches did not only point out the freedom derived in swinging the birches, he also demand his freedom to act without imposition or criticism; "May no fate willfully misunderstand me/ And half grant what I wish and snatch me away/ Not to return. Earth's the right place for love" (says lines 51-53) he closed the poem by saying "One could do worse than be a swinger of birches".

(4) Diction. Another noted similarity is in the chosen words which are very simple to comprehend. Both persona spoke from the first person perspective "I".

[attitude of poet towards nature in birches]

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Samuel C. Enunwa aka samueldpoetry
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Analysis Of Vanity By Birago Diop

Birago Diop is one among the poets of culture. The following poems of his_ Vanity, Breath, etc. are prove of his love for African customs and norms. He was a Senegalese poet of African folktales and folklores who lived between 11 December 1906 and 25 November 1989. Till this day, his name has never been undermined when mentioning the pioneer figures of the Négritude literary movement.

As a faithful steward of African tutelage, Birago Diop understood the implications of paying deaf ears and lip services to the deep rooted ways of the forefathers. In the poem vanity, Birago Diop cried out his regrets for himself and the contemporary Africans who have belittled the African tradition by cherishing and glorifying the alien cultural lifestyle. He didn't forget to mention that those who had downgraded their African root suffered it; leaving the signs of their punishment everywhere:
"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 the water, where they have traced their signs
For us blind deaf and unworthy Sons"

This thirty line poem, chopped into multiple stanzas, has an unhappy tone and candidly
speaking, the reoccurring rhetorical questions and repetitions of lines reflect the poet's mood of admonition. With the use of words such as "air" "water" "earth" the poem can be partly considered a poem of nature; but what can be said about the setting? The setting of the poem seems communal (truly really humanlike).

Let's now focus on the themes of Vanity by Birago Diop.
(1) We have the theme of African cultural decadence. The message of the poet shows that African are no longer following the valuable paths of their ancestral living which happens to be the only way African culture can remain intact.

(2) The theme of irreversibility: The title and the chosen words of the poet through his pessimist tone, show that the deed is done and will never be undone. He claimed that even his lamentation will go in vain because their "ears were deaf" and they were also "blind deaf and unworthy Sons".

(3) The theme of death and punishment: In the poem Vanity by Birago Diop, the word "Dead" appeared more than once and in the forth stanza it was used as a symbol to symbolise the ancestors. It shows the importance of ancestral believe in Africa. Dead in the poem, if keenly examined symbolized punishment. Other signs of punishment in the poem are the mentioned act of crying and clamouring seen in the poem which shows the unwholesomeness that exists within the African society.

"If we cry roughly of our torment"
It is very crucial to note that the word "cry" in the above quote is a metonymy used to replace the word "rage".

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• What Literary Devices Are In Sad Complaining Voices Of Beggars From Vanity By Birago Diop

• Breaths by Birago Diop

The similarities between Vanity by Birago Diop and Piano and Drums by Gabriel Okara
To still mention that Birago Diop and Gabriel Okara are both well recognized African poets will amount to tautology but it cannot be left unsaid that their poems in question, share the same cultural theme which is simply the gradual neglect of African cultural believes and traditions.

Diop put his message across to readers through clamouring and admonition with a pessimistic mood while Okara tabled his own message via comparison by comparing his simple past African background to his complex present European lifestyle.

Another similarities are in terms of structure and style. Both poems are of multiple stanzas, both poems are in free verse, both poems are fortified with imageries (sight and sound), both poems carry symbolisms among other similarities.

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Samuel C. Enunwa aka samueldpoetry
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The Panic Of Growing Older By Lenrie Peters

The Panic of Growing Older is a poem that can be categorized under growth and living. Its context is partly scientific and mainly biological since biology is the study of all life or living matters.

This poem is a creative effort of Lenrie Peters (1932 - 2009), a multi talented Gambian citizen who was widely known to be an author, a singer, a broadcaster, and to crown it all; a medical doctor.

The poem tabled the human sequences of aging and its accompanied fear. An adult in his twenties_ uses his one sided view of life, to occupy himself with sweet simple fantasized gigantic expectations until he clocks thirty and then reality begins to set in. All the simple expectations and hopes seem hard to attain while aging approach quicker than blinks.

With the sincere tone of the poem, a sober mood of realization is created through the 32 lines of the poem; in which the 8 stanzas are quatrains mostly linked by enjambments.

Stanzaic summary:-
Stanza 1 means that the fear of aging increases by year. Stanza 2 implies that one will be filled with sweet hope at twenty. Stanza 3 says the expectations began to wane. Stanza 4 adds more implication of growing older where one has long hours

of working. Stanza 5, little or no result for those hard works. Stanza 6; except have children which is not even a big deal at all. Stanza 7 speaks of the uncertainty of having a long life. Stanza 8 says that the uncertainty further makes humans highly unsatisfied in comparison between all that has been achieved and those yet to be achieved.

• Preoccupation Of Lenrie Peters In The Panic Of Growing Older

• Relate The Panic Of Growing Older By Lenrie Peters To A Stitch In Time Saves Nine

The Panic of Growing Older in Relationship to Religion:-
If we allude to the bible, procreation according to Genesis 1:28 which says "be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth and subdue it" can be seen from line 21-23 "Three children perhaps/ the world expects/ it of you". Hard labour and life struggles according to Genesis 3:19 which says "in the sweat of thy face shall thou eat bread till thou return into the ground" instance of such can be seen in lines 13-16 "Legs cribbed/ in domesticity allow/ no sudden leaps/ at the moon". Mortality and death according to Ecclesiastes 9:5 which says "for the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten" such Bible verse can also be related to lines 25-28 in the poem "But science gives hope/ of twice three score/ and ten. Hope/ is not a grain of sand", etc.

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>>>Homecoming by Lenrie Peters

Samuel C. Enunwa aka samueldpoetry
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