Analysis Of A Bus Ride By U I Ukwu

This poem is so real that anyone can relate it with his or her own bus ride experiences. The poem holds human characters like conversations "on every side there's animated talk" in line 7; gossip from line 1-3 of the poem "Two ample women... discussed their friends for all the world to hear" and from line 4-5, the act of strangers attempt to create connection was described "Some seats away a gallant says, 'My dear' to a strange girl who glared at him..."

Looking at the poem stanza by stanza, naijapoets.com analysis was made easy. The first stanza was so carefully written with specific metre and end rhymes patterns at heart. it was in stanza one that major mannerisms of bus passengers were uncovered: where two ladies were loudly in gossip, a man filled the hollowness of the bus ride by reading a news paper, a young man was trying to woo the lady beside him, some passengers who did enjoy the noisy atmosphere were piercing through the bus window.

Stanza two took a very different look that made it seems as if the poet was in haste to pen his ideas. It did follow the well structured pattern of stanza one:
"A bus stop now.
Sighs and farewells, legs and baskets,
jostle in greatest confusion.
The queue without stampedes and rushes
t'increase the babel within.
'Way please!' 'Get in!' 'Abi name wet in!'
'Ouch, you've hurt my toe!'"

Stanza three was the shortest of the stanzas, it revealed the concern of the
bus conductor. According to the poet's opinion, "The more the noisier, but the richer the fare!" (line 22 of the poem)

The poet Prof. U. I. Ukwu can be conferred a man of many talents. He knows the craft of poetry, he's also bestowed the gift of teaching, and he has authored and coauthored many books among other things. U. I. Ukwu graduated from the University of Ibadan, where later worked as a Lecturer in Geography.

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