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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