The Use of Juxtaposition In Once Upon A Time by Gabriel Okara

 Introduction

Let's look into the use of juxtaposition in the poem "Once Upon a Time by Gabriel Okara". This post is going to be of usefulness to anyone searching for: the central message in Once Upon a Time by Gabriel Okara, the structure of the poem Once Upon a Time by Gabriel Okara, Summary of the poem Once Upon a Time by Gabriel Okara, etc. 

The Poet

Gabriel Okara who lived between 24th of April, 1921 and 25th of March, 2019 was a Nigerian poet, novelist and a human right activist. Some scholars, among other qualities, consider him the first modernist poet of Anglophone Africa. Gabriel Okara was born in Bumoundi in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, Nigeria.

One of Gabriel Okara's poem is on this table of discussion. The poem "Once Upon a Time by Gabriel Okara" is an eight stanza free verse that centered on the negative impact of human exposure in a corrupt society. It must be noted that the poem shares similarities with Piano and Drums by Gabriel Okara in terms of juxtaposition and nostalgia. 

The Use of Juxtaposition in the Poem 

The poet employed the use of juxtaposition to channel his message to the readers. While creating a climactic flow of narration, he juxtaposed his present with his past. 

Speaking of juxtaposition, there are two types of juxtaposition I noticed in the poem "Once Upon A Time by Gabriel Okara"_ the first is behavioral juxtaposition and the second is personality juxtaposition. 

Personality refers to an individual's unique pattern of thoughts, feelings, and tendencies that influence their behavior. It's the underlying framework that shapes how a person perceives, processes, and interacts with the world. Personality is relatively stable over time and across situations.

Behavior, on the other hand, refers to the specific actions or reactions a person exhibits in response to their environment, situation, or stimuli. Behavior can be influenced by personality, but it's also shaped by external factors like context, culture, and learning.

There are many behavioral juxtaposition in the poem starting from the beginning of the poem_ the first stanza down to the third stanza.

The poet revealed some forms of insincere or corrupt behaviors such as "they shake hands without hearts" while pretending "to shake hands with their hearts". 

Below is the stanza two of the poem, backing the claim of behavioral impurity the poet was complaining about:

"There was a time indeed

they used to shake hands with their hearts:

but that’s gone, son.

Now they shake hands without hearts

while their left hands search

my empty pockets."

In terms of personality juxtaposition, the poet compared his innocence with exposure. The voice of the poem, while narrating his ordeal to his little son, revealed that the society has built in him guilt, corruption, worldliness, cynicism, depravity; unlike when he was a little boy with innocence, purity, naivety, guilelessness, sincerity, innocuoness, virtue, cleanliness, and unblemished. 

A good instance of the personality juxtaposition can be found in stanza six and seven of the poem quoted below:

"And I have learned too

to laugh with only my teeth

and shake hands without my heart.

I have also learned to say,’Goodbye’,

when I mean ‘Good-riddance’:

to say ‘Glad to meet you’,

without being glad; and to say ‘It’s been

nice talking to you’, after being bored.

But believe me, son.

I want to be what I used to be

when I was like you. I want

to unlearn all these muting things.

Most of all, I want to relearn

how to laugh, for my laugh in the mirror

shows only my teeth like a snake’s bare fangs!"

While I decide to put an halt to this discussion here, the privilege is yours to drop your comments below in the comment box. 

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Use of Imagery in the Breasts of the Sea by Syl Cheney Coker

 Introduction

I'm going to discuss the use of imagery in the Breasts of the Sea by Syl Cheney Coker. 

Breasts of the Sea by Syl Cheney Coker is a poem written by a Sierra Leonean poet and fictional writer. 

The 3 stanza poem, well polished with lots of imageries_ is based on the negative effects of pollution and exploitation. 

What is Imagery

Imagery is a literary device used to create vivid mental images or sensory experiences in the reader's mind. It involves using descriptive language to appeal to one or more of the senses, such as:

- Sight (visual imagery)

- Sound (auditory imagery)

- Smell (olfactory imagery)

- Taste (gustatory imagery)

- Touch (tactile imagery)

- Movement and action (kinesthetic imagery)

- Emotions and feelings (emotional imagery)

Imageries in the Poem

1. "our bloody century" as it appeared in line 1 of the poem, is an example of auditory imagery for evoking the sound of suffering or violence and also a tactile or emotional imagery for conveying the sense of pain and bloodshed.

2. "somewhere between breasts and anus" is found in line 2. The anatomical description evoked a visual imagery for the reader's of the poem.

3. In line 6 of the poem the Breasts of the Sea by Syl Cheney Coker, the poet wrote "Noah's monologue, the Middle Passage's cargoes". Such allusive imagery is a historical reference to the biblical story of Noah and the historical trauma of the Middle Passage.

4. "Darwin's examination of the turtle's shit" [line 7] conveyed an olfactory image of disgust or frivolity.

5. "a fractured chela" is a visual imagery painting the image of something broken which could be a fractured claw or pincer; [Found in line 10].

6. "clean of our century's blight" in line 12 has an emotional imagery pointing at a sense of relief or purification.

7. "Throbbing, the sea's breasts will console some exiles" in the line 13 of the poem can be considered rich in sensory imagery including:Tactile (throbbing), Visual (the sea's breasts) and Emotional (consoling exiles). 

8. Another emotional imagery in the poem titled the Breasts of the Sea by Syl Cheney Coker is in line 14 "drifters on a tired moon". The phrase offered the ability to sense and see mentally the tiredness and melancholy of some characters in the poem.

9. "a raped woman's cry" is an auditory image portraying the sound of cry and the emotional image for the sense of distress and trauma. 

10. "the shredded garment"; this phrase in the poem evoked visual and tactile imagery (the image of torn fabric).

11. "horror of red corals" in the poem is another instance of both visual and emotional imagery in the poem titled the Breasts of the Sea by Syl Cheney Coker.

Conclusively, I have examined the use of imageries in the poem to the best of my knowledge at this moment. Any addition or subtraction can be pointed out in the comment box below. 

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Background of Not My Business by Nìyí Osundare

Introduction:

This post aims to drive into the the background of Not My Business by Nìyí Osundare in order to further give readers the clarity of the poem. Without further delay, let's set sail. 

Background of the Poem

Not My Business by Niyi Osundare has a Nigerian political economic background, judging by the poet's background and the name of characters in the poem. 

It reminds the reader of the era of military dictatorship in Nigeria (which spanned between 1966 and 1983). The era full of power hijacking via coup d'état. 

During such era, free speech was very poisonous, the mass media was in a cage of timidity. 

Many authors, musicians, activists were terrorized in the country. People like Ken Saro Wiwa lost their lives, the likes of Fela Anikulapo Kuti tasted imprisonment, authors such as Wole Soyinka embraced the act of elopement. 

About The Poem

Not My Business by Niyi Osundare exposed the negative result of maintaining non-challancy in face of unjust acts meted out to people around.

The multiple stanza poem narrated how the voice of the poem refused to stand for the victims been oppressed by the agents of military dictatorship, which were symbolized with the word "They".

Judging by human and environmental sentiment, the voice of the poem adhered to a care-free attitude because he or she share nothing in common with the victims (in terms of occupation, religion or ethnicity).

The victims in the poem all varied in few way except being neigbours; Akanni (probably a male Yoruba name), Danladi (a male Hausa name), Chinwe (a female Igbo name).

As seen in line 1, stanza 1 of the poem; Akanni was victimized in the morning "They picked Akanni up one morning". Danladi witnessed his own share of brutality at night time. "They came one night/Booted the whole house awake/And dragged him out..." [stanza 3]. Chinwe was sacked from work without explanation in broad daylight.

"And then one evening 
As I sat down to eat my yam 
A knock on the door froze my hungry hand.

The jeep was waiting on my bewildered lawn 
Waiting, waiting in its usual silence."

The concluding stanzas of the poem as shown above, revealed that what had been going around eventually got to the non-chalant narrator. 

About the Poets. 

Niyi Osundare, the poet behind the poem Not My Business, is a Nigerian poet and writer. He was born in 1947 in Ikere-Ekiti, Nigeria. 

His poetry combines Yoruba traditions with influences from around the world not excluding some themes such as corruption, oppression, pollution, etc.

Few of his other poems are "The Leader and the Led", "They Too Are The Earth", etc. We have also taken time to analyze or discuss the two mentioned poems _ therefore, you might find those topics below or you click the search box in this website to find topic you wish to read and digest. 

Hopefully, one or more knowledge has been acquired by reading this article. Before you exit this website, do share your thoughts in the comment section and also share the article with others via various social media platforms. 

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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 POEM

Poem 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`    1 (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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