Analysis Of My Husband's Tongue Is Bitter By Okot P'Bitek

The Introduction

The wave of poetic analysis today takes us in naijapoets to the poem titled: My Husband's Tongue Is Bitter By Okot P'Bitek.

The poem reminds me of the Igbos, one among the ethnic groups in Nigeria. The Igbo people are so culturally inclined to the level that their culture reflects everywhere they find themselves. During the precolonial and the colonial era in Nigeria, the Igbo had a very different system of government which deferred from that of the Yoruba and Hausa; why? The Igbo people lived in clans.

The Summary

According to the first line of the poem "My clansmen, I cry", which gave an impression that the poem persona was an Igbo woman who wasn't happy with the ill behavior of her husband and decided to table the matter before their clansmen.

OVERVIEW OF THE POEMPoem title:- My Husband's Tongue Is Bitter 

Poem author:- Okot P'Bitek
Poet's point of view:- First Person Point Of View (The Woman's Husband) 
Category:- Marriage/Family
Major poetic device:- Repetition 
Major theme:- Comparing beauty (African style to the western style)

The Structure

This Okot P'Bitek poem consists of sixteen stanzas. The first three stanzas introduced the readers to the plight of primitive wife of a civilized African man. 

Stanza 4-6 shows that Ocol (the husband) has developed reasons to detest African ways not excluding his wife " My husband pours scorn/ On Black People" because he's now a modern, progressive, civilized man. The wife told the clansmen that she wasn't angry with her husband (a huge lie), she claimed that a true African wife is capable of competition. 

When the poem got to its fifteenth stanza, the wife dropped the bombshell on not only the clansmen but on the readers as well. In the form of advice, she reminded Ocol (her husband) of the solid importance of being an African in terms of custom and tradition which cannot be overridden by any inferior culture.

The Devices

The obvious poetic devices are repetition of phrases "the insults" "my man" "Black people" "love". Other devices are alliteration "terrible things" metaphor "the ugly coat of the hyena" imagery "glowing charcoal" simile "is like raw yams".

The Themes

Few of the themes in the poem has to do with the virtues in African customs and traditions. Through this poem, the importance of the clansmen can be felt. They served as the peacemaker within the clans.

Just as in poetic themes of many African poets, the comparison between the African culture and western culture is also evident in this poem. I can liken the poem speaker's claim at last stanza to that of Dennis Osadebay in his poem "The African Plea" where neither the African lifestyle nor the Western lifestyle was condemned; Dennis Osadebay and Okot P'Bitek were of the notion that both cultures should equally embraced rather than placing one above the other.

Quoting the stanza 15-16 where the major motive for the poem lies:- "Listen Ocol, my old friend, The ways of your ancestors Are good, Their customs are solid And not hollow They are not thin, not easily breakable They cannot be blown away. By the wind Because their roots reach deep into the soil.

I do not understand The way of foreigners But I do not despise their customs. Why should you despise yours? Listen, my husband, You are the son of the Chief. The pumpkin in the old homestead Must not be uprooted!"

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

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Analysis Of No Coffin No Grave By Jared Angira

The Summary

This poem is about the shameful murder of a tyrant. 

He was stabbed and shut in front of a night club; the poet sarcastically compared his murder shut to a gunshot representing a last respect to a warrior. 

Instead of the poem being a pure elegy, the poet created a sarcastic elegy which was beautified with irony and euphemism to show his dislike towards the wicked and selfish life led by the tyrant leader; it was so unfortunate for the dead politician who wished to have respected burial rite but ended with a belittled massacre.

The content of the poem is straightforward as a result of the simple diction maintained by the poet. Line 1-7 shows where and how the tyrant was buried, line 8-17 describes the event of his murder by comparing the murder gunshot, and state of his car, line 18-28 tells of the unwell condition of the masses and their state of no-say because they lived in a lower class, line 29-end is about the politician's empty wish for a befitting end.

The Themes

Few of the themes in the poem are uncertainty of life and living, shameful rewards for selfishness and wickedness, poverty within the masses, extravagance and embezzlement. The death of the tyrant proved that life is uncertain and whatever anyone sows, he/she will reap.

NO COFFIN, NO GRAVE

He was buried without a coffin
without a grave
the scavengers performed the
post-mortem
in the open mortuary
without sterilized knives
in front of the night club
stuttering rifles put up
the gun salute of the day
that was a state burial anyway
the car knelt
the red plate wept, wrapped
itself in blood its master’s
the diary revealed to the sea
the rain anchored there at last
isn’t our flag red, black, and
white?
so he wrapped himself well
who could signal yellow
when we had to leave politics
to the experts
and brood on books
brood on hunger
and schoolgirls
grumble under the black pot
sleep under torn mosquito net
and let lice lick our intestines
the lord of the bar, money
speaks madam
woman magnet, money speaks
madam
we only cover the stinking
darkness
of the cave of our mouths
and ask our father who is in hell
to judge him
the quick and the good
Well, his dairy, submarine of the
Third World War
showed he wished
to be buried in a gold-laden
coffin
like a VIP
under the jacaranda tree beside
his palace
a shelter for his grave
and much beer for the funeral
party
anyway one noisy pupil
suggested we bring
tractors and plough the land.
©copyright Jared Angira

The Poet

According to wikipedia article, "Jared Angira (born 21 November 1947) is a Kenyan poet. He has been called "the country's first truly significant poet.

Angira studied commerce at the University of Nairobi from 1968 until 1971."

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

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Analysis Of Young Africa's Plea By Dennis Osadebay

Are you thinking of having a clearer idea of the poem "Young Africa's Plea" by Dennis Osadebay? Here is naijapoets.com.ng review regarding to the poem.

The poet:-

Dennis Osadebay is a Nigerian author, poet, and lawyer. He received his university education in the United Kingdom, where he was called to Bar. At a certain point, Osadebay was the Premier of the Mid-West Region of Nigeria.

The surface meaning:-

As the title of the poem suggests, the poem speaker is seen begging for his freedom of choice and his freedom of association. The is culturally inclined and somewhat relates to the issue of human race and difference in colour.

The poem speaker addresses some abstract subjects (the African rulers) warning them not to push his culture aside like something out-of-date in other "to suit" an alien culture. The poem speaker further pleads for the opportunity to be allowed to live with both culture on a balanced scale; believing that in such way he will "have untrammelled growth" and his friends will not regret he did leave with both culture because he will always keep them in the best part of his mind.

The Line-By-Line Summary:-

Line 1-3, you should not throw my culture, customs and believes into the bin like something expired so as to favor the colonialists customs.

Line 4-6, because such newly imbibed colonialists culture can never be better than mine.

Line 7-9, allow me to work with both customs and ideologies by managing the new culture with my African sense of reasoning.

Line 10-13, this way I'll easily be able to mingle and level up with the whole world and be a very better human.

Line 14-16, have you ever wondered why those who look down on me in public fear my strength in private of their hearts? It's because they know I have abilities and "I am no less a man"

Line 17-20, allow me this freedoms, and I'll make sure that my friends don't regret I'm living with two different cultural ideologies.

The Style, Preoccupation and Structure:-

Young Africa's Plea by Dennis Osadebay is another beautiful cultural poem. It gives in line with poems like Piano and Drums by Gabriel Okara, Anvil and the Hammer by Kofi Awoonor; what differentiated this poem is that it begs for the opportunity to live with both cultures amicably. It has a simple style and the dictions are very easy to understand. 

Dennis Osadebay was so preoccupied with the fear of loosing the values in his African culture to the European culture and from the second person point of view, he begged to be allowed the privilege to live with both cultures than favoring one for the other. The poem is structured with no specific end rhyme pattern or rhythm. It is a straight single stanza poem of 20 lines that flow from head down to toe.

The Figures of Speech:-

It is no doubt that poetic devices are one among the flavors of any good poem and this poem has loads of beautifying figures of speech. 

"Let me" is a repetition in the poem used to emphasize the mood of the poem, there as well, there is a simile in line 2, "As some fine curios", imageries, symbolisms "white historians" which implies the European colonialists and the "black man" which implies an African, plenty of alliterations; line 7, 8, etc.

Few words in the poem to be explained are:-

1) curios in line two, they are things which serve as a reminder of the past.
2) tastes in line three, means liking.
3) talents in line thirteen, means the natural abilities.
4) untrammelled growth in line seventeen, the opportunity to develop without restraints of any kind.

The Themes:-

The theme of cultural differences, where the poets doesn't deny the usefulness of the new culture but requests the two be used together to make him a better man. 

The theme of friendship, where the poets aims his actions towards things that will gladden his friends and make them proud of him. The theme of colonialism and volatility of African leadership in such era: "Don't preserve my customs/ As some fine curios/ To suit some white historian's tastes" (line 1-3)

The Poem:-

Don't preserve my customs
As some fine curios
To suit some white historian's tastes.
There's nothing artificial
That beats the natural way,
In culture and ideals of life.
Let me play with the white man's ways,
Let me work with the black man's brains,
Let my affairs themselves sort out.
Then in sweet rebirth
I'll rise a better man,
Not ashamed to face the world.
Those who doubt my talents
In secret fear my strength;
They know I am no less a man.
Let them show their noble sides,
Let me have untrammelled growth.
My friends will never know regret
And I, never once forget.
Copyright © Dennis Osadebay, all rights reserved.

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

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Use of Imagery in Salute to the Elephant by Babalola Adeboye

About the Poem

Salute to the Elephant is an oral poem which in form can be classified as ode intended to unearth the overwhelming qualities of an elephant. The poem was translated from its original Yoruba form to English language by Babalola Adeboye

Use of Imagery in the Poem

Babalola Adeboye employed the use of imagery in "Salute to the Elephant" to deliver his message. Each of the images used in the poem describes one quality of the elephant or the other.

The poet enriched the elephant by referring to it as a possessor of a saving basket full of money and further went to paint the picture of its size as something massive "mountainous animal" in line 7.

 "Demon who snaps tree branches into many pieces and moves on to the forest farm" as seen in line 4 revealed that the elephant is unstoppable and not only that, the elephant is an animal none can dare_ according to line 18-19: "The hunter's boast at home is not repeated when he really meets the elephant/ The hunter's boast at home is not repeated before the elephant".
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Enunwa Chukwudinma S. aka samueldpoetry
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Analysis Of My Grandmother By Elizabeth Jennings

Introduction to the Analysis

From the third person point of view, Jennings painted a clear image of an aged person's way-of-life (her grandmother). 

The poem opened with comparison; comparing the abode of the grandmother to an "antique shop". From the poem, naijapoets.com is of the opinion that old age has some stages (initial frailty, intense frailty, and death) the first stanza described the poem-speaker's grandmother as being old and lonely. She only had things than beings as companions: "Apostle spoons and Bristol glass/ The faded silks, the heavy furniture/ She watched her own reflection in the brass/ Salvers and silver bowls, as if to prove/ Polish was all, there was no need of love."

Jumping to stanza three, the grandmother was in an intense frailty and all youthful remnants surrounding the old woman (acting as her cherished company) lost their meanings and were moved aside into "Sideboards and cupboards" because she was "too frail to keep a shop, she put/ All her best things in one long narrow room/ The place smelt old, of things too long kept shut"

The Summary of Events

The poem speaker stood in state of mournfulness but pretended she didn't feel grief after the death of the old woman. She said in stanza four:

"And when she died I felt no grief at all,
Only the guilt of what I once refused.
I walked into her room among the tall
Sideboards and cupboards_ things she never used
But needed: and no finger-marks were there
Only the new dust falling through the air."

The Message of the Poem

From the message of the poem, one with deep thought will figure so many things; futility is one among. It became obvious in the final stanza of the poem that many cherished things were left behind not excluding the poem speaker. 

Based on the theme of "aging to death" loneliness is human's worst enemy but people neglect the company of their aged ones calling them out-of-date. The theme of remembering the loved-ones inspired the poem. Elizabeth Jennings couldn't stand the lost of her grandmother by so doing transposed the elegy into something close to a satire. 

She claimed no grief but narrated the lonely plight of the old woman and how she so much need human company. The poem is interesting because it brings back to readers mind the truth that "We never a good thing till is gone".

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

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Analysis Of Report To Wordsworth By Kim Boey Cheng

About the Poem

This post will explain the figures of speech and the themes in Report To Wordsworth by Kim Boey Cheng.

Report To Wordsworth is a poem believed to be addressed to William Wordsworth, the poet, whose poetic messages show affection for nature. Cheng wasn't glad with the deplorable states of natural things like rivers, animals, plants, atmosphere, etc; after he felt that the gods meant to come to the rescue of nature were silent, he had no choice than to address the poem to Wordsworth as his last resort.

The Poetic Devices

"You should be here, Nature has need of you" in line 1 is an example of epanalepsis.

"As Nature's mighty heart is lying still" in line 12 is an example of imagery.

"The flowers are mute, and the birds are few" in line 4 is an example of paradox, parallelism and personification.

"in a sky slowing like dying clock" is an example of simile.
"She has laid waste" is an example of personification; the "She" was referring to "Nature".

"The wound widening" "insatiate man moves" "sky slowing" "poetry and piety" are examples of alliteration.

"Proteus, Triton, Neptune, Wordsworth" are examples of allusion.

The Themes

(1)The effect of Nature on poetry and religion (2)The destructive nature of human (3)Hopelessness and Helplessness in Nature's recovery

It was shown in the poem that without nature, poetry and religion is nothing. Meaning that the bad shape of Nature has a lot of negative effects on poetry and religion: "Poetry and piety have begun to fail/ As Nature's mighty heart is lying still" (line 11 and 12). 

The destruction suffered by Nature is man-made (i.e. caused by the effort of human) and few of them are plants infertility which the poet described "the flowers are mute..." the unreasonable hunting and killing of animals which the poet also described "the birds are few" polution of water and atmosphere beyond control. "all hopes of Proteus rising from the sea/ has sunk; he is entombed in the waste/ we dump..." according to line 5 to 7 of the poem. Kim Cheng revealed the degree of hopelessness and helpless of Nature's recovery by inviting Wordsworth who is a mortal with less power as the immortal deities that has failed to rescue Nature from peril. 

He also made the readers to see reasons for inviting Wordsworth; "Neptune lies helpless as a beached whale/ while insatiate man moves for the kill".

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

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Analysis of In Memory of Anyone Unknown to Me by Elizabeth Jennings

About the Poet

We seem elated to be analyzing another elegy_ a mild elegy for that matter. What could be more delighting than meeting poets in their genius dens.

The poem "In Memory of Anyone Unknown to Me" proved Elizabeth Jennings' creativity was inelastic during her lifetime.

Elizabeth Jennings was an English poet born 18th July, 1926 in Boston, United Kingdom but died 26th October , 2001 in Bampton, United Kingdom.

About the Poem

The poem is about death. She wrote the poem solely because she admired the dead_ they are humans just as herself. Structurally, "In Memory of Anyone Unknown to Me" by Elizabeth Jennings is a three stanza poem of six lines each stanza with the end rhyme pattern of ABBACC DEEDFF GHHGII.

[You Can Even Listen to the Poem In Memory of Anyone Unknown to Me]

In the poem, Elizabeth Jennings treated mourning like a philanthropic act. Even when none of the poet's friends or relatives died, she still found it in her heart to practice a mournful ritual to those that are dead anywhere in the world at such time. 

Besides mourning, she also emphasized life's achievements or earthly accomplishments as seen in the second stanza of the poem below:
"How they lived, or died, is quite unknown,
And, by that fact gives my grief purity--
An important person quite apart from me
Or one obscure who drifted down alone.
Both or all I remember, have a place.
For these I never encountered face to face".

The reason she didn't mourn any status under the grip of bias was because the famous which she referred to as "An important person quite apart from me" and the commoner which she referred to as "...one obscure who drifted down alone" are both victims of death which she was yet to witness though indebted to it.

She did imagine whatever burial rites could be going on at that particular time_ digging of grave or cremation. 

And being an abstract mourner also took away any form of sentiment in as much as she wouldn't have to worry about their epitaph, or taking roses to their graves or wondering whether they were good persons who deserved not to die or bad persons who truly deserved the cold stings of death.

Enunwa Chukwudinma S. aka samueldpoetry
(the Leo with wings flying)

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Analysis of A Poem of Changgan by Li Po

The Poet and Summary

Li Po is a Chinese poet born 19th of May, 701 AD. Some people also refer to him as LI Bai, Li Bo and so on. His poetic contribution keeps adding strength to Chinese poetry decades in decades out. other interesting poems "Exile's Letter", "Goodfellowship", "The Long War".Li Po died 30th of November, 762 AD.

The Stanzaic Summary

A Poem of Changgan by Li Po is a love poem that buttresses the effects of a rigid distance between two lovers. As observed in the context of the poem, many factors such as weather, loneliness and fear of lost do cumulate to cause such distresses to lovers.



The first stanza of the poem quoted below shows that the voice of the poem and his traveled lover had been in love since tender age:
"My hair had hardly covered my forehead.
I was picking flowers, playing by my door,
When you, my lover, on a bamboo horse,
Came trotting in circles and throwing green plums.
We lived near together on a lane in Ch’ang-kan,
Both of us young and happy-hearted."

In the second stanza, both lovers got married at age 14 but it doesn't take long before the husband turned monster maltreating the wife. The wife respected the culture and the strong love she had for the husband thereby endured the cruelty of her husband.

In the third stanza quoted below, the bad turned to worse as her worst nightmare unfolded. Her husband went on travel by sea when she was 16 years of age living her with agonizing celibacy to contend. As she suffered loneliness while waiting through hot and wet nights, seasons began to roll upon seasons and his recognized footprints were overridden by growing grasses and mosses_ making her to fear how fast her beauty would fade:

"...Then when I was sixteen, you left on a long journey
Through the Gorges of Ch’u-t’ang, of rock and whirling water.
And then came the Fifth-month, more than I could bear,
And I tried to hear the monkeys in your lofty far-off sky.
Your footprints by our door, where I had watched you go,
Were hidden, every one of them, under green moss,
Hidden under moss too deep to sweep away.
And the first autumn wind added fallen leaves.
And now, in the Eighth-month, yellowing butterflies
Hover, two by two, in our west-garden grasses
And, because of all this, my heart is breaking
And I fear for my bright cheeks, lest they fade."

In the forth stanza which concluded the poem, the voice of the poem noted that she wouldn't mind the distance between where she resided and the place called "Chang-feng Sha" where his lover would arrive at via "Pa District"; so as to live with her husband again.

The Structural Overview

As said earlier, the poem is about love from the feminist perspective. The expressions of the poem are more of first person suggesting that women are more vulnerable in marriages. 

They are the ones who mostly get drunk in love to bear the pain of love departure. The diction is simple and the flow is climactic starting from the origin of the love to the hope of reuniting. Many imageries in the poem reckoned with nature such as "rock and whirling water", "lofty far-off sky", "first autumn wind added fallen leaves", etc.

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

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Analysis Of I Think It Rains By Wole Soyinka

About The Poem

I Think It Rains by Wole Soyinka is a poem of difference; it differs in every form both structure, diction and message. The poem looks into the practice of smoking though one cannot predict the author's stand (whether of likeness or dislike).

About The Poet

The poet was born 13th of July in the 1934 with the name Akinwande Oluwole Soyinka. To spare you of the known, a comprehensive profile of Wole Soyinka can be found everywhere on the internet.

The Use Of Imagery

The poem is built on metaphor since the puffing, smoking is liken to a rainfall and every other imageries are in support of the raining, the dryness before the rain, the descriptive picture of the smoke being a Rain-Reeds and circling spirit, etc.

Soyinka, in the last stanza of the poem claimed that the act of smoking had no reasonable effect but done for the fun of its routine outcome:

"Rain-reeds, practised in
The grace of yielding, yet unbending
From afar"

"this, your conjugation with my earth
Bares crounching rocks"
There is ambiguity in the line above with the poet's use of "this, your" which created an address either to the smoker or the puffed smoke. If to the puffed smoke, then it should be considered an apostrophe. "your conjugation with my earth/ Bare crounching rocks" means your mingling with the early space, causes the smoker's teeth to be exposed in tightened as if in grinding.

Another ambiguity is in "circling spirit" which might mean the smoke coming out in a circular motion or the odour of smoking always circulating.

Metaphor in "a ring of grey" "The circling spirit" "Rain-Reeds" Asyndeton in "Uncleave roof-tops of the mouth, hang heavy with knowledge” Alliteration "Rain-Reeds" Symbolism "crounching rocks"

One of the themes to derive from this poem is the futility in the act of smoking which requires more action than its derived wasteful result.

Probably people's addiction to smoking must have motivated the poet into crafting this poem. Even the structure looked imbalance, unable to hold, and wavery like a puffed smoke.

MUST NOT MISS:-
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Samuel C. Enunwa aka samueldpoetry
(the Leo with wings flying)

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Analysis Of My Busconductor By Roger McGough

The Line-by-Line Summary

This thirty three line poem begins with an abstract voice telling the readers about his busconductor who soon will depart this heart as a result of kidney failure. 

From line 5-18, the poem speaker tells that all the things that used to amount to nothing in the eyes of the busconductor became important while those cherished things became uninteresting to the busconductor:-

"Each busticket
takes on now a different shape
and texture.
He holds a ninepenny single
as if it were a rose
and puts the shilling in his bag
as a child into a gasmeter.
His thin lips
have no quips
for fat factorygirls
and he ignores
the drunk who snores
and the oldman who talks to himself
and gets off at the wrong stop."

The further narration show the dying busconductor walk slow toward the back of the bus as if he won't be able to get to the back of the back of the bus next time; he watches the "familiar shops" and "sameold streets" with different view and question if the sky was ever so blue?

The concluding lines of the poem reveals the thought of the busconductor thus (line 29-33):-

"And all the time
deepdown in the deserted busshelter of his mind
he thinks about his journey nearly done.
One day he'll clock on and never clock off
or clock off and never clock on."

"My busconductor" is a free verse that teaches the important of life and living. From the context of the poem knowing when death will come upon a soul is better than knowing that death is at hand. 

The poem's category fall under life and living and the tone is mild with a sympathetic mood through the third person point of view, the voice of the poem painted the clear picture of scenes in the poem.

About the Poet

By the way, who is Roger McGough? Roger McGough is an English poet and broadcaster born on the 9th of November 1937 in Lancashire, England.

The setting of the poem is crystal clear; the bus. There, the busconductor displayed his love for human existence. Within the bus, the dying busconductor reflected on his life journey that is nearly done.

The Message of the Poem

The themes of the poem are 

(1) Negative effect of overworking the body. The busconductor believes that his death is due to overwork of his single kidney. 

(2) Negative impact of dying. When a person realizes that the things he or she has been taking for granted will soon exist no more, such case is the dying busconductor who feels unhappy because death will soon claim his life. 

(3) Life and the sweetness within it. From the poem, the list of sweet things in life are the blue sky, fat factorygirls, shops, pubs, etc.

The Poetic Recipes

The poetic devices in the poem are assonance in line 2 "he only has one kidney". Alliteration in line 3 "may soon go on strike". Simile in line 9 "as if it were a rose". 

Antithesis in line 32-33 "One day he'll clock on and never clock off/ or clock off and never clock on". Personification in line 22 "and watch familiar shops and pubs pass by" Metaphor in line 30 "deepdown in the deserted busshelter of his mind".

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

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Analyzed Poem: Desiderata by Max Ehrmann

The Introduction

At the moment,

• If you're not happy with yourself.
• If you're not in harmony with whatever you regard as your own God.
• If you're yet to find peace in this lousy world that looks so shapeless like amoeba.

Then you need to download and listen to Desiderata by Max Ehrmann.

It is what I regard as the modern ecclesiastic; so direct and simplified.

Without the right knowledge and wisdom, most people live through life like a ship navigated by sailor with a lost compass because nothing seems to be justifiable_ not even what some people fanatically portray to be a sin.

The Motive

The poem Desiderata by Max Ehrmann is an eight stanza free verse that is capable of assisting any human to narrow his/her mind in this broad universe. It emphasizes the pursuit of peace, prudence, tolerance, growth, love, uncertainty, adaptability, godliness and the undiluted happiness. Ehrmann is an American poet who live between September 28, 1872 and September 9, 1945.

The Paraphrase

Now, let me paraphrase the poem as follows:
Silence is very peaceful and it best never to hold grudges against people. Humbly express your opinions give ear to others because everyone has a story.

Stay away as far as possible from loud and aggressive people because they will corrupt your inner being. Don't forget that it is very painful comparing yourself with others (you will always be better than some and some better than you); therefore enjoy whatever you have acquired.

Remember, whatever career you chose, it is worthwhile. Heroism is never a bad thing but be careful of fraudsters in your career path.

Do not walk in someone else's shadow; be yourself. Don't pretend to love when you hate or hate when you're actually in love "for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass".

As time grows, grow with it. Misfortunes will come and be courageous to handle them wise well, don't bury yourself in charm or magical powers. Be careful and be calm because "many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness".

"You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should."

Be at peace with whatever you regard as your own God and do not let worldly aspirations deprive you rest of mind.

And no matter what the case may be, this world is a very beautiful world, therefore inner happiness is the most important thing you should pursue.

Enunwwa Chukwudinma S.
aka samueldpoetry
(the Leo with wings flying)

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Mama Ruth and Beneatha in A Raisin in Sun

Question;- How are Mama, Ruth and Beneatha portrayed in the play [WAEC May June 2017]

Answer;- 

In 1957, Lorraine Hansberry crafted a drama that will forever remind generations of African-Americans of their ancestral hunger for higher social status in the midst of poverty; the drama being A Raisin in the Sun.

The drama saw the poor Younger family witnessed competing dreams from every member of the family in anticipation for the $10,000 insurance check.

In examining Mama, Ruth and Beneatha, despite their contrasting traits and characters, the one biding similarity is that they were all dreamers.

Mama [Mrs Lena Younger] is Ruth’s mother-in-law, Beneatha’s and Walter’s blood mother and grandmother to Travis. After the death of her husband, she assumed the right as the head and breadwinner of the Younger family. The paramount thought in her heart was to give the family a better life which motivated her plan of buying a new home with the insurance money.

Ruth [Mrs Ruth Walter Younger] is a wife to Walter and a mother to Travis. She was portrayed as intelligent, religious and open-minded. Ruth was also a very hardworking character handling domesticities. She supported the dream of moving to a better apartment.

Beneatha [Miss Beneatha Younger] was a fun loving lady and someone with high ambitions. As a college student, she dreams of becoming a doctor and hoped to use the $10,000 insurance check for the quest.

Samuel C. Enunwa aka samueldpoetry

[the Leo with wings flying]

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Analysis Of Agbor Dancer By John Pepper Clark

Let's together look at this great poem of John Pepper Clark titled: AGBOR DANCER.

Summary

The poem holds a description of Agbor girl doing a traditional dance, moving in response to rhythm of the drums in a very dazzling and magestic way.

The poem speaker made known his own interest in the values represented by this dance by expressing his desire to join the dance that involves earth, sky and flesh or entire life of the people.

Structure

Agbor Dancer is a poem written in 4 stanzas with 5 lines each. 

The first stanza described the dancing girl and the drum that produced the music she dances to, stressing the way her whole person was absorbed in the dance while the second and third stanza looked at the body movement of the dancer while dancing and then move on to the unity between the two (dancer, drummer and song).

The last stanza of thr poem showed how the poem speaker viewed his distance from his early life.

Theme

The theme of the poem could be considered to be the values for culture and the regret for cultural separation. 

The poem speaker took the Agbor dancer as an element to prove how beautiful and valuable culture is; the exception found in such dance could not be compared with any other cultural dance. 

The fact culture places a great role in the life and living of human was felt in the poem and whenever any part of culture is found missing in a human, it brings regret.

Samuel C. Enunwa aka samueldpoetry
(the winged Leo of the west wind)

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3 Themes In The Blood Of A Stranger By Dele Charley

Introduction

Common components in a tragic drama are greed, deceit, betrayal, crime, etc. and another universally known drama to support this claim is “Othello” written by William Shakespeare. In the drama "Othello" we see the greedy Iago with all sorts of betrayal attempts on Othello, Cassio, Montano, etc.

“The Blood of a Stranger” by Dele Charley is sure a tragedy in the sense that all the evildoers in Mandoland reaped the reward of their evil accordingly; where Kindo killed Parker as a way of avenging Soko’s death; the same Kindo also beheaded Whithead (the corrupt and greedy white man who came to Mando with the aim of exploiting their diamond).

3 Among the Themes in The Blood of a Stranger are:

1. Corruption and the aftermath of corruption: Virtually all the trusted leaders in Mandoland are corrupt. 

Their corrupt spirits are ignited by greed and the need to amass the wealth even at the expense of the villagers. Whitehead, whom the villagers_ at first, rebuked his arrival_ became a glorified figure in Mandoland, after falsely informing the people he came to create a tobacco farm in Mandoland. 

Maligu also capitalized on Santigi's reliance of his wisdom, as a sure tool to mastermind the corruption in the village. Soko, the trusted priest of the people, was also lured with ambition of becoming rich; Maligu convinced him against his well-known tradition of the land.

He who was the true voice of he people became the lying tongue of Whitehead and his advocates.

2. Clash of Culture: The issue of two conflicting cultural ideologies have been so reoccurring in African literature. 

Here in "The Blood of a Stranger" by Dele Charley, African culture is seen to compete with the western culture. Though the western culture was seen to be supreme at first but the people of Mando at the end of the drama came to their senses and threw away the embraced foreign culture like eggshells. 

With the use of symbolism, Whitehead symbolized Western culture and colonialists while Mandoland symbolized Africans and African culture

3. Greed: This fortified The Blood of a Stranger by Dele Charley. As a tragic drama, all perpetrated crimes in the book are as a result of greed; all the guilty characters want to get rich quick. Whitehead, Maligu, and Soko; they lied to the villagers in their own different ways.

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

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Plot And Themes Of Night Rain By John Pepper Clark

Plot:-

The poem talks about rain falling in the night and the effects of it on a small boy, the other brothers, the mother and the small improverished abode.

The boy wakes up not knowing the time as "no cock crow"

The rain starts falling hard. He takes into consideration the effects of this on his brothers who are advised to sleep on; on his mother who continuously shifts "her bins, bags and vats" so that the rain does not fall on them; on their roomlet which has a roofing leak. 

The boy, in his sleep befudged mind, is also able to imagine the world outside in terms of the owl, the iroko and the bats. Feeling safe, he turns back to sleep.

Themes:-

The following are the themes of Night Rain by John Pepper Clark that naijapoets.com.ng was able to fetch through research and findings:

(1) Man and Nature: He discusses the forces of nature through a natural phenomenon and that man is not to run away from the latter but face it and become unified with it.

(2) Solidarity of Humanity: Under the unrelenting forces of nature man should stick together as the family did.

(3) Poverty: The family becomes an epitome of the general level of poverty prevalent among humans even in the face of something so powerful as a natural phenomenon.

The poet examines man in interdependence with rain_ a natural phenomenon. Man is seen as depending on the environment, suppressed by it but also fighting and getting united in the face of its onslaught.

The poet sees all the actions in the poem through the eyes of a small boy whose innocence can be contrasted to the stark, naked and vicious force of nature. 

We see the attack of the rain in the night on the small household which is poverty-ridden. Notwithstanding this, the family is able to overcome and stay united against the vicious night attack as they are able to go back to sleep, so innocent and free.

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

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Poetic Figures And Forms In Piano And Drums By Gabriel Okara

As we've already known that Piano And Drums by Gabriel Okara is a culturally oriented poem comparing the poet's past and present experiences. In looking at the figures and form of the poem, will it be perfect to refer to the poem as a non metered free verse? Yes.

Judging from the definition of free verse ("vers libre" in French language), any poem with no particular rhythm or metre and without a rhyme scheme can be referred to as a free verse. 

It is vivid how Gabriel Okara with this poem imitated Walt Whitman in creating impossible effects far beyond the boundaries that even blank verses can cross.

Gabriel Okara employed beautiful imageries an
d symbolisms in collaboration with some state-of-the-art poetic devices to balance his 4 stanzas poem of unequal lines.

[naijapoets.com suggest you read: How Do I Love Thee? by Elizabeth Barrett Browning]

Assonance, alliteration, imagery, personification, simile, symbolism are few of the poetic devices dwelling within the poem: Piano And Drums. Alliterations in the poem are "the panther ready to pounce" in line 6, "leopard snarling about to leap" in line 7, "turn torrent" in line 9, "solo speaking" in line 18.

Assonances are located in line 3 (jungle drums), in line 4 (mystic rhythm), in line 5 (bleeding flesh, speaking), in line 8 (hunters crouch). 

Imageries in virtually all the lines of the poem; examples are "naked/ warmth of hurrying feet and groping hearts/ in green leaves..." "wailing piano/ solo speaking of complex ways/ in tear-furrowed concerto/ of far away lands"

There are personifications in line 15 (groping heart/ in green leaves) and in line 18 (piano/ solo speaking of complex ways). 

Simile in line 4 "like bleeding flesh" and symbolisms like piano symbolizing future, drums symbolizing past.

Samuel C. Enunwa aka samueldpoetry
(the poetic Leo in the sky flying)

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Analysis of Ibadan by John Pepper Clark

Photo is from tukool.com

The Poet and Summary

The poet, John Pepper Clark wrote the poem title "Ibadan". He was born in Delta, Nigeria on the 6th of April, 1935.

This' a descriptive poem. Clark painted an image of Ibadan, the largest city in Nigeria as of the time of this post. He saw rustiness and muddiness deposited haphazardly amidst the hill-city but the simplicity of the poem, made it hard to determine whether he was disgusted or marveled at the sight he described.

The Message and Paraphrase

Actually, the message of the poem is that Ibadan is an ancient city where the huge effort of modernization seemed hard to erode its ancestral landmark.

To paraphrase the poem, it will flow thus: As I drove by the city of Ibadan, I saw mud buildings with rusty roofing so much like a water splash. They seemed scattered around the seven hills like broken China.

The Use of Imagery

The five line poem (Quintain) is dominated with imagery yet there are enjambment, simile, assonance, etc. According to thepoetsgarret, "there are many great poems that use a five line stanza, often called a Quintain. It can be any five line stanza poem of any meter or line length and is often misused because of it's alleged simplicity." 

Let's further shed light on the imageries: 

• "Running" in line 2 indicates movement and because a city can't be mobile led to the conclusion that the poem speaker described what he saw while in a moving vehicle.
• "splash of rust" refers to the large numbers of rust roofing that are always obvious to those traveling through the city.
• "Gold-flung" describes the yellowish mud which most ancient Ibadan buildings are made of.
• "Among seven hills" in line 4 enlightens that there are seven hills in the city of Ibadan.
• "broken/ China in the sun" is another image of sight which John Pepper Clark employed in the poem to indicate the uniformity of architectural age in the city.

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

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3 Major Poetic Devices In Vanity By Birago Diop

3 MAJOR POETIC DEVICES IN VANITY BY BIRAGO DIOP

[feel free to read Breath By Birago Diop]

In the poem Vanity by Birago Diop, there are three major poetic devices that gave the poem her grandeur. These are (1) Imagery (2) Repetition (3) Rhetorical Question.

Other Poetic Devices

Before we examine the great impact these three poetic devices have on the poem, naijapoets.com.ng takes a look at the several poetic devices in the poem.



(1) Alliteration: The repetition of consonants at the beginning of two or more words immediately succeeding, or at a short interval. In line 1 "gently gently"in line 8 "what eyes will watch" in line 15 "Dead came with their Dead" in line 25 "Did not understand our dead".


(2) Imagery: This is the use of word in giving vivid picture of an occasion or object or person. In line four "sad complaining voices of beggars" it describes how the voices of the people in the poem look like. 

"Just as our fears were deaf" is a simile and imagery telling the readers how oblivion the people in the poem were. In line 14 "the black depths of our plaintive throats?" is also an imagery among many that exist in the poem.

[The poem, Ambush By Gbemisola Adeoti also has huge imageries]

(3) Metaphor: This' an indirect comparison which opposes simile that uses "like" and "as" to create its own comparison. In line 4 of the poem "voices of beggars" in line 14 "plaintive throats" in line 9 "the laughter of big children".


(4) Repetition: In the poem, there are repetin tioof words, phrases and lines. "Gengly" "what" "our" "laughter" "mouth" are few words repeated in the poem. 

There are partial repetition of lines, for instance: line 3 and 5 repeat "who... will hear... without laughter" in line 8 and 10 "what eyes will watch our ... mouths" in line 17 and 19 "just as our ears were deaf" in line 21 and 24 "in the air, in the water, where they have traced their signs".


(5) Rhetorical Question: This' a question posed by a character in a poem which will have no response at all. "Who indeed will hear them without laughter?" line 5, "What eyes will watch our bad mouths?" Other rhetorical questions are in line 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 29.

The 3 Major Poetic Devices

As said earlier, imagery, repetition and rhetorical questions are the three major poetic devices that aided the sweetness of the poem, the rest devices pillared the three. 

A vivid look at the simile, metaphor, and personification within the poem, one will see that they all assisted the use of imageries and the cases of alliterations and assonances that existed in the poem; they helped in making the words and lines repetition more accommodating to the readers hearing. 

The imageries and the repetition also helped in the usage of rhetorical questions.

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

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How WordPress Helps My Blogger Blog To Grow

Image Source:- makeuseof.com

The Motive

In this article, I will be sharing the secret of how I grow Naijapoets blog hosted on blogger by simply using the advantage of having a WordPress.

I'm a believer and whatever my mind imagines, I seek it. Part of such imaginations is the ability to use blogger as if I'm using WordPress. Blogger own by Google is a very good content management system (CMS) and WordPress own by Automattic is also a very good CMS but merging both tools is much better than best.

The Definition

Blogger is a blogging platform Google has acquired since 2003 and it gives anyone who wants to try blogging path almost everything needed to own a blog.
On the other hand, WordPress is also very handy and attractive more than blogger in terms of appearance. I still cannot conclude which is the most used but most people always come out to claim wordpress is the most used; well, whatever.

Shhh! This' The Secret

WordPress has two things for anyone who decides to use it. (1) Readymade Audience (2) Automation.

When you sign up to wordpress.com, 1000s of readers are going to welcome you (but the content you offer them will determine whether your audience will then grow into millions or will decease to zero). As of the time of writing this article, I have close to 5000 readers on WordPress_ I'm still ruminating how to triple the number though.

In terms of automation that is free and hassle-free, WordPress has it. Some people might think its unnecessary to remind people of the blessings automation has bestowed bloggers; I can't help myself preaching such gospel. With the power of automation, things happen on your behalf even when you're fast asleep snoring. WordPress automation shares your recent article instantly to all your social media platforms on your behalf.

When you're using blogger.com, the only readymade reader is on g+ (Google's own social network) but it takes time to build readership on google+ and on top of that, google+ is the only automation readily available from blogger.

Now you can see clearly why everyone using blogger needs wordpress to triple their blog traffic and simply the hassle of blogging. The truth is that I starting blogging on WordPress.com when I realized that anyone who doesn't upgrade their membership will not be able to monetize his/her blogging effort so I decided to host my blog with cheap WordPress.org via namecheap.com but each year my hosting cost kept increasing so moved to blogger where blog hosting is free and blogging efforts can still be monetized.

In other to use blogger and still enjoy the goodies of wordpress, you need ifttt.com. With ifttt, you can link blogger to WordPress and whenever you create an article on blogger, ifttt posts it to WordPress and WordPress automatically shares the contents to all your social media platforms as simple as that; and that's the magic.
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Enunwa Chukwudinma S.
aka samueldpoetry
(the Leo with wings flying)

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Q and A: Kongi's Harvest by Wole Soyinka

Question

Wole Soyinka dramatized _____ in the play Kongi's Harvest

Answer

The growth and development of political tyranny (option D)

Explanation

Kongi in the drama "Kongi's Harvest" was a wicked and selfish ruler. "There is a heavy, somber and pessimistic mood as the play begins. The king is endangered. 

The omniscience in the narration depicts that nothing good will come out of Kongi's leadership over the land of Isma. According to the Superintendent, one of Kongi's right-hand men, Danlola's supporters have been gathering to desecrate the national anthem of the land. 

Consequently, Sarumi and Danlola are in detention" [Click Here to Read The Whole Summary of Kongi's Harvest by Wole Soyinka]

The Author

Professor Wole Soyinka is more than a global icon but an immortal living among the mortals. This Abeokuta man is everything anyone wants to achieve via literature. 

Wole Soyinka (the author of The Lion and the Jewel plus plenty other books) was born 13th of July in the year 1934. In 1986, he received the Nobel Prize in Literature.

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

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