Brief Overview of the WASSCE 2026-2030 Literature-In-English Texts

 Introduction 

This post aims at a brief overview of 2026 - 2030 WAEC, NECO, UTME Recommended Literature in English Texts; by reveal quite briefly the genres, types, contexts and themes, etc. 

It must be noted that a click can take you to the Comprehensive 15000 Words of Analyzed 2026 - 2030 Literature in English available online. 

This post will be useful to teachers, parents, students or online people searching for 2026 - 2030 literature in english syllabus, Waec 2026 - 2030 literature in english syllabus, 2026 new scheme of work – literature-in-english sss classes, WASSCE Literature syllabus pdf, Recommended Literature text for SS1 PDF free, etc. 

The Brief Overview

Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare is recommended in the 2026 - 2030 O-level Literature-In-English syllabus to be part of the excerpt literary appreciation within the objective questions (Paper 1). 

"Antony and Cleopatra" is a tragic drama about the relationship between Mark Antony (a Roman general) and Cleopatra (the Queen of Egypt) against a backdrop of politics and power struggles with the theme of detrayal, clash of culture, etc.

So the Path Does Not Die by Pede Hollist is a fictive prose to be categorized under bildunroman because it narrated the growth of a certain main character named Finaba Marah while pointing at some vital subjects such as cultural clash, gender relevance, female circumcision, etc. 

Redemption Road by Elma Shaw is under the Africa Prose section of the syllabus. The prose is about the recovery process gone through by Liberians to escape the post war traumatic experience they found themselves. 

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel that explores issues of racial injustice, tolerance, and the loss of innocence in a small Alabama town during the 1930s. The story is told through the eyes of Scout Finch, whose father, Atticus, defended a wrongly accused Black man in a deeply prejudiced community.

[READ ALSO 50 Vital Points About To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee]

Pact of Lucas: the Journey he Endured by Susanne Bellefeuille is a non-fictive biographical narration of a family trauma, trials and tribulations. 

Once Upon an Elephant by Bosede Ademilua is placed under the African Drama section of the syllabus. It is a tragic drama about greed and hunger for power. 

[ READ: Analysis of Once Upon an Elephant by Bosede Ademilua ]

The Marriage of Anansewa by Efua Sutherland is a play by Efua Sutherland that draws on Ghanaian folklore and the trickster character Ananse.The play exposed the themes of love, tradition, and social commentary within a Ghanaian cultural context.

An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley is a play that critiques social responsibility and class distinctions in a post-World War II British setting. The story revolves around the Birling family, whose secrets are revealed by a mysterious inspector, leading to a deeper exploration of morality and accountability.

A Man for All Seasons by Robert Bolt is a play about Sir Thomas More, who opposes King Henry VIII's separation from the Catholic Church. The play explores themes of integrity, loyalty, and the conflict between personal conscience and political power.

Once Upon a Time by Gabriel Okara is a poem sectioned under the African poetry in the WAEC syllabus. It used the instrument of juxtaposition to reflect on the complexities of identity, nostalgia, and the beauty of innocence or naivety. 

The poem's themes are authenticity and the search for one's true self amidst cultural shifts.

New Tongue by Elizabeth L.A. Kamara is about the abandonment of the true African culture and ways of life for modern western civilization.

[ READ: Analysis of New Tongue by Elizabeth Kamara ] 

Night by Wole Soyinka is one of the recommended 2026 WASSCE Literature-in-English syllabus. It's under the genre of poetry which could be categorized under nature and ode. 

"Night" could be referred to as a poetic work of art reflecting on the superiority of night time over human existence and its fearful effects on the poem's speaker.

Not My Business by Niyi Osundare is a poem that critiques societal indifference to injustice and oppression.The poem emphasizes the importance of taking a stand against injustices affecting others.

[READ: Analysis of Not My Business by Niyi Osundare ].

Hearty Garlands by Soh Afriye-Vidza is a poem that celebrates old age and what lies ahead. The poet used the 85th birthday as the yardstick to embodied all that had happened in terms of toils, achievement, health, etc 

A Breast of the Sea by Syl Cheney Coker is Poem that employed the use of allusion to speak about experience of slavery and sea pollution as a result of such occurrence. 

She Walks in Beauty by Lord Byron is recommended by the O-level examination board as one of the Non African poetry to by studied by candidates. 

"She Walks in Beauty" is a poem by Lord Byron that describes a woman's beauty in a serene and admiring tone by exploring the themes such as beauty, contrast.

[READ: Analysis of She Walks in Beauty by Lord Byron ].

 

The Nun's Priest's Tale by Geoffrey Chaucer is one of the Canterbury Tales in the 1390s. It's an epic poem based on the lengthy number of over 600 lines written in form of fable to teach a moral lesson urging the reader to be careful of flattery. 

Digging by Seamus Heaney is a poem about how a sudden feeling of reminiscing struck the poet to recollect his family legacy of farming which he didn't follow. 

It explored the themes of identity, heritage, and the connection to land through the act of digging.

Still I Rise by Maya Angelou is one of the Non African poetry recommended by WAEC. It focuses on triumphant and resilience admist oppression. 

The voice of the poem exhorts his or her ability to rise above adversity, embodying themes of strength and empowerment.

The Telephone Call by Fleur Adcock; this poem is a 6 stanza dramatic monologue. It examined the matters relating to the emotional feeling attached with receiving news of a sudden fortune. 

The Stone by Wilfrid Wilson Gibson is 89 lines narrative poem about a lady who died few days after the death of her lover due to the emotional pain and shock she suffered for receiving the quary work accident that happened to her lover. 

Conclusion

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Analysis of She Walks in Beauty by Lord Byron

Introduction

I'm writing to discuss the poem titled "She Walks in Beauty by Lord Byron" for easy understanding_ this post will touch on the background of the poem, the structure, the themes, the poetic devices, etc.

I believe students and teachers of literature would find this post very resourceful, most especially those searching or asking "what is the moral of the story She Walks in Beauty?", "what is the summary of She Walks in Beauty?", "what is the theme in the poem She Walks in Beauty?", etc.

Background of the Poem 

In accordance with the information gathered from Wikipedia website, I have discovered that the poem titled "She Walks in Beauty by Lord Byron" is a lyrical love poem inspired by the beautiful outlook and personality of a woman named Anne Beatrix Wilmot-Horton, a lady the botanist community named a plant (Hortonia) after her.

Wikipedia revealed to me that Lord Byron became inspired to craft the poem after attending a certain party on the 11th of June, 1814 in London_ the party which also had in attendance the wife of Sir Robert Wilmot (Anne Beatrix Wilmot-Horton), a woman with unusual mesmerizing beauty. It was also noted that Sir Robert Wilmot and Lord Byron were cousins. 

About the Poem 

She Walks in Beauty by Lord Byron is a love poem about the voice of the poem praising the beauty of a certain feminine figure which he might possibly be in love with or merely crushing upon. The poem shares similarities with "Sonnet 18" by William Shakespeare. 

The beautiful nature of the feminine gender in question was compared to a cloudless night. The writer also described his fondness by taking into cognizance her beautiful face, her eyes, her smiles, and other behavioral attributes such as her innocence. 

The Stanzas

(Stanza 1) She walks in beauty like night without a cloudy sky; with the mixture of darkness and light in every part of her eyes, creating an extravagant brightness of a daylight. (Stanza 2) The shades of light over her face are namelessly gracious enough to portray sweet thoughts of love and purity. (Stanza 3) Her cheek, her brow are so soft, and calm, and eloquent with smiles that reveal  her glowing face is full of endless happiness, peaceful humility and innocence of heart.

The Structure 

Structurally, the poem titled She Walks in Beauty by Lord Byron is a 3 stanza lyrical poem in form of iambic tetrametre_ though the poem can also be considered an ode for its eulogizing context. 

It has a third person point of view, with an end rhythm scheme of ABABAB CDCDCD EFEFEF to create a melodies flow. The diction is simple, the arrangement is climactic and the descriptive tone conveys affection and fondness strong enough to put one in the mood for appreciation, acceptance and delight. 

The Themes

Few of the themes embedded in the poem are human beauty, innocence and humility, beauty of nature, contrast between light and darkness, etc.

The theme of human beauty is expressed by the passionate speaker in the Poem. The woman's beauty was likened to a cloudless night between line 1 and 2. 

Besides the beautiful description of the lady's eyes and smiles, the stanza 2 of the poem quoted below further epitomized the facial beauty of the lady the was compose for:

 "One shade the more, one ray the less,

Had half impaired the nameless grace

Which waves in every raven tress,

Or softly lightens o’er her face;

Where thoughts serenely sweet express,

How pure, how dear their dwelling-place." 

The theme of innocence and humility. The concluding stanza of the poem "She Walks in Beauty" pointed out the lady's humility and innocence through the smiles on the lady's face_ (the smiles that win, the tints that glow/ but tell of days in goodness spent/ a mind at peace with all below/ a heart whose love is innocent).

The theme of nature's beauty. Through a symbolic lens, the poet examined the beauty in nighttime, sky, heaven, day, etc. The readers could see how such soft and calm time could influence the beauty of someone_ the ray, the shade, all influenced the beauty of the lady based on the poet's opinion. 

Poetic Devices

Few of the poetic devices in the poem are simile, imagery, alliteration, antithesis, synedoche, repetition, oxymoron, enjambement, etc. 

There is a simile in line 1 "she walks in beauty like night" likewise the use of so many imageries such as "cloudless climes and starry skies" in line 2, "tender light" in line 5, "half impaired the nameless grace" in line 8, "dwelling-place" in line 12, etc. 

There are instances of other figure of speech such as alliteration in line 2 (cloudless climes and starry skies), in line 6 (gaudy day denies), in line 8 (had half impaired), in line 11 (serenely sweet). Antithesis is found in line 7 (one shade the more, one ray the less). Synecdoche in lines 17 and 18 (a mind at peace with all below/ a heart whose love is innocent). 

Repetition in the Poem are "how pure, how dear" seen in line 12 and "so soft, so calm" seen in line 14. "of dark and bright" in line 3 seems oxymoron. Enjambements also existed in the poem. 

About the Poet

Lord Byron with full name Lord George Gordon Byron, the 6th Baron is an English poet born in London, England who lived between 1788 and 1824.

In Conclusion 

The poem was influenced by the beauty of Anne Beatrix Wilmot and therefore "She Walks in Beauty" is a love poem with lyrical rhyming and stanza. The theme has been discussed as well as the poetic devices.

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Similes In Night by Wole Soyinka

Introduction 

This post aims at revealing some of the similes in the poem titled "Night" by Wole Soyinka. The similes pointed out will be explained for ease of understanding by readers of this post. 

About the Poet

Wole Soyinka is a Nobel Laureate for literature. A Nigerian activists, scholar, poet, novelist, playwright, actor, musician, etc. 

Akinwade Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka, popularly known as Wole Soyinka  was born 13th July of the year 1934. He was born in Aké, Abẹ́òkúta, Ogun State, Nigeria. 

About the Poem

As a poet, one of the poem crafted by him is "Night". A poem that could be considered an ode, based on the fact that he revealed the strengths of night time and its effects on both humans and nature in general. 

Similes in the Poem

"I bear no heart mercuric like the clouds" (line 2). This use of simile was chosen by the poet to create a direct comparison between the poem-speaker and the clouds, most especially when it comes to radiation ability.

By employing the phrase "heart mercuric", Soyinka revealed that human hearts wasn't luminous while the heart of the clouds possessed such ability. A mercuric heart would have given the poem-speaker the ability to contend the oppressive darkness nighttime placed upon him. 

In line 4, with the expression that went thus "Woman as a clam, on the sea's cresent." The poem-speaker compared his vulnerability to that of a woman while creating a direct comparison woman and a clam. 

Clams are bivalve molusc, known to be willingly sitting at the shores or beds of rivers or seas. Similarly, women are also known to be willingly sitting with chores in the house. In a nutshell, women and clams are both submissive beings. 

 

"Submitting like the sand, blood and brine" can be found in line 8 of the poem titled Night by Wole Soyinka to express the poet's helplessness and unquestionable inferiority towards nighttime. 

Soyinka directly compared his state of submissiveness to those of sand, blood, and brine. They are substances that can acquired by anyone and made use of. 

"Sensations pained me, faceless, silent as night thieves" [line 12]. The line striked comparison between the effects of nighttime on the poem-speaker and night thieves. 

Thieves at night wore masks and moved in silence. So also so the nighttime hid the face of the poem-speaker and also kept him in a state of sad silence. 

Conclusion 

Anyone who has read this post keenly, from beginning to end, would have acquired some orientation regarding the poet, the poem and the similes embedded in the poem. 

Over to you the reader of this post. The comment box is yours to drop your thoughts regarding this post. Share to all social media platforms as well. 

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Analysis Of Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night By Dylan Thomas

The title of the poem make people think at first that the poem is a love romantic one but the poem is said to be written about the poet's dying father, who die in the year 1952.

"Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light."
The first stanza advises the abstract aged one possibly listening not to go gentle into their night (their death). He believes that old age is supposed to be full of fun. So he suggests they should rage and rage against their dying light (their liveliness)

"Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night."
Looking at the second stanza, it means to say that the wise ones have realized that death is inevitable so they pleasured all they could from their aging than solitude in past memories.

"Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light"
Stanza three says that even the virtuous of been who has died wished they had lived their old age better than they did.

"Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieve it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night."
Stanza four says that the "wild men" who found out in their late hours burst into sorrow of not realizing earlier, so he warns the readers not to make the same mistake.

"Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light."
The stanza says that those very old, "near death" can still be very pl
easant and lively if they so wish.

"And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light."
The last stanza of the poem, in a pleading tone, speaks to the poet's father who has grown old with eyes rarely seeing, to cease his sadness and worries but rage against the dying of his light (his pleasant life)

Dylan Thomas born 1914 was a British poet and the poem: "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" happened to be his most read poem. The poem is about old age and death that the following themes are so crystal clearly seen in the poem (1) the theme of death (2) the theme of aging (3) the theme of pleasure

The can be called a mild elegy. It's written in form of villanelle with a second person point of view. The tone of the poem speak is larger than plea so it should be considered a warning.

Sometimes I feel the poem relates with the famous poem of Thomas Gray "Elegy Written In A Country Churchyard" [view the analysis] in term of their themes but not too related though.

The dominant poetic device, according to naijapoets.com.ng, observation is repetition (both of lines and of words). "frail deeds" "fierce tears" "dying of the light" are examples of few imageries in the poem. Alliterations are "sang the sun" "Blind eyes blaze". "Good night" is an euphemism used in the poem to mean "Death".

In a nutshell, the idea and the form of the poem made it stood the test of time and worth being one among the great classics.

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

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Analysis Of Do Not Go Violent Into That Night By Remi Raji

Professor Remi Raji wrote this poem in marking of World AIDS day which is on the 1st December. The whole five unequal stanza poem aims to warm or caution against unsafe and unprotected love making which "night" in the poem symbolizes. The first stanza of the poem describes how someone can become a victim of AIDS through kiss and switching off the light to engage in an unsafe intercourse. The second stanza speaks of where someone can become a victim of unsafe love making. In stanza three, Prof. Remi Raji used few rhetorical questions to describe the negative effects of unsafe lusty intercourse which are death and orphanage. The stanza four reveals who the victim can be; the person without doesn't place regards to all AIDS orientation and the person who doesn't have self control over lusting and the person who is an absurd infidel. The stanza five is a two line repetition, telling the readers of the poem that it is a very strong warning.

Judging by the title of the poem, naijapoets.com believes that structure of the poem is motivated by the famous poem of Dylan Thomas (1914-1953) titled: "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night". If you so wish, you can view the naijapoets Analysis Of Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night By Dylan Thomas

Remi Raji wrote this poem with a tone of admonition through a second person point of view. The diction is very easy except for the many use of metaphors and similes. Few of the poetic devices found in the poem are repetition "Do not go..." Similes in lines 4, 20, 26. Allusion in line 18. Allitera
tion in line 11, personification in lines 19-21, oxymoron in line 4, symbolism in line 2. Ejambment, metaphors, imageries, etc.

<b>The Poem:-</b>
Do not go
violent into that night
do not kiss the winds
of grave pleasures
like rabid moths
do not smother the lanterns
of fatal desires.

Do not go
where alphabets of death wait
to sign
sentences of sorrow
do not go violent
into that tunnel of passions.

Do you hear the chorus
of orphans bereaved by the blood
do you hear them cry
about the hurricane
and the Passover in the dark?
Do not...
the mark of the virus slits the streets
like defiant swords
the virus is eager

the virus is eager
waiting upon the wings
of lyrical groins
the worm wastes like tender toxins.

do not go violent like the fever
do not go violent into that night.

Copyright © by Prof. Remi Raji.

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

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