Once Upon a Time by Gabriel Okara ( Summary)

"Once Upon a Time" is a poem written by Gabriel Okara_ a.seven (7) stanza free verse with a simple diction.

The poem is about human nature and their behavior_ the poem speaker explains to his son about different times or era he or she had witnessed in relation or interaction with other people_ the first part of the poem is about how people were so sincere in their relationship with other. The other part of the poem tells of human insincerity and how the poem speaker also adopted the insincere way of relating with others.

The closing pert of the poem revealed the poem persona regret and wish to turn back the hands of time.

"Believe me son,

I want to be whst 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 fang!"

Gabriel Imomotimi Okara is a renowned Nigerian poets who lived between 1921 and 2019. Besides the poem "Once Upon a Time", he also wrote "Piano and Drums" and other countless contribution to the archive of African literature.

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Inner Voice (Spoken Word Poetry) by Samueldpoetry

 

Standing in front of me right now 

Spitting in the soil right now 

Molding the soil right now 

Rubbing the soil on my blindness of upliftment 

And yes! 

My upliftment is now crystal clear

Like a glass house in a mountain town

Success is sure

Scoring them back to back

Season upon seasons 

League upon league 

Banging the goals so easy pizzy

Happily shouting 

Suuuuuuuu!

As if I'm Cristina Ronaldo

Mercy!

Mercy!

Mercy!

I command mercy!

I invoke mercy!

I call on mercy!

Global mercy!

Award winning mercy!

From Barcelona to inter Miami 

To the world entirely I have mercy

My life is filled with mercy 

And goodness

Kiss me now 

Touch me now 

Arouse me with fulfillment of my destiny 

Hahahaha 

Abracadabra 

Crux sacra sit mihi lux

Non draco sit mihi dux

Vade retro satana

Abracadabra 

Abracadabra 

Abracadabra 

I posses my possession

Yeseraye!

Copyright © Samueldpoetry 

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"80 Years of Light" _for Dolly Parton — Aug 25, 2026_

She left on a Monday.  

August 25th.  

80 years.  

Not with a scream,  

but with the kind of quiet  

a porch light leaves behind  

when the morning finally comes.

Tennessee made her from mountain and melody.  

Dust on her boots, glitter in her voice.  

She walked out of Sevier County  

with nothing but a cardboard suitcase  

and a song she wrote on the way to Nashville.  

They said she was too much.  

Too big. Too blonde. Too country.  

So she became more.  

She wrote "Jolene" at 24  

and gave the whole world permission  

to be scared of losing what they love.  

She wrote "I Will Always Love You"  

and then let it go  

so someone else could sing it to the sky.  

That’s the kind of woman she was.  

She didn’t hold songs hostage.  

She set them free.

She wore wigs like armor  

and rhinestones like prayer.  

Made herself a cartoon  

so little girls and big men  

would both have to look.  

And while they were looking,  

she was building libraries.  

1 book a month.  

For kids who didn’t have any.  

Because she remembered  

what it felt like to have nothing  

but stories.

She didn’t preach.  

She just showed up.  

Disaster relief.  

Vaccines.  

Paychecks for workers when the music stopped.  

“Coat of Many Colors” wasn’t just a song.  

It was how she lived.  

80 years.  

And not one of them wasted on bitterness.  

She laughed through the rumors.  

She worked through the pain.  

She loved through it all.  

Today the Grand Ole Opry is quieter.  

The radio will play her anyway.  

Because voices like hers don’t die.  

They just stop needing a body to carry them.

So tonight, if you miss her,  

put on a record.  

Sing off-key.  

Donate a book.  

Tip your waitress.  

And remember:  

You can be from nowhere  

and still belong to everyone.  

You can be soft  

and still be steel.  

You can be Dolly.  

Rest now, Miss Parton.  

The stage lights are off.  

But the light you left?  

That one stays on.

Au revoir.

Copyright © Samueldpoetry 

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She's Dead

 

Did you know I hate elegy?

Did you know I am not a fan of tragedy?

Did you know anytime I narrate tragedy or elegy I do it in sorrow mood?

Did you know or you did not know?

Did you know there used to a beautiful lady named Examination?

Did you know she was like a judge in a law court?

Did you know she was like a decider of fate?

Did you know or you did not know?

How come you didn't know Miss Examination is already dead?

How come you didn't know Miss Examination had been battling illnesses?

How did it all started and deteriorated only to lead to death?

When Miss Examination was wallowing in an unhygienic environment, what help did you render?

When Miss Examination was battling insomnia, what help did you render?

When Miss Examination was battling kidney failure, what help did you render?

What help exactly, tell me what help did you render?

Did you know she finally died of cancer?

Did you know the virus that sped up her cancer belong to the family of Artificial Intelligent?

Did you know too much AI was forcefully injected into her, and broke her immune system?

Did you know or you did not know?

Do you agree that all breathing nostrils are to be blamed for her death?

Including you listening to me or do you want exempt yourself?

Do you not know that I know that you know that sooner or later Miss Examination won't survive?

Did you know Miss Examination is dead, she's dead, finally dead, but yet to be buried?

Did you know that anytime you see her, what you're seeing is a ghost?

Did you know we are in great danger if we choose burial rather than her resurrection?

Did you know or you did not know?

The choice now is; do we bury Miss Examination or put in the work to resurrect her?

Copyright © Samueldpoetry 

https://mynaijapoets.blogspot.com

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Pill In The Pillow Cases

They will look at you and say

My friend

You're not doing it right 

You're not wise with them

At all, at all 

Let me advice you 

They are like flies

To the wound on the leg

They'll come buzzing 

To an enticement, they're easily attracted 

When you lure her into your bed

She will be pregnant

And the marriage is set

Mr Adviser,

What a foolish advice is that? 

In this era of "prevention-is-better-than-cure"

where unwanted pregnancy is a blatant lie

Any lady pregnant is pregnant at will

To make you the father of her child 

Or the father of someone else's child in disguise

So know this and know peace 

In this life

Where contraceptive is next Jesus

They chew pills more than

They chew bubblegum 

In their tea, there is pill

In their rice, there is pill

In their fries, there is pill

They order meal, they order pill 

Pill in the drawer 

Pill in the bags

Pill in the pillow cases 

Postpill

Postinor-2

Sendinor

Chloramphenicol+lemon+Mountain-Dew+bitter-leaf

In case the condom couldn't 

Or menstrual miscalculated 

Or mestrogen became immune 

All these rat and the trap matter

Na another Wahala e go later cause

The self-induced burden of 

Nursing and nurturing in poverty and pain

And adding salt to the existing economic injury.

© Samueldpoetry 

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Our Pseudo-Gerontophiles

 

At 18: “I don’t do small boys”  

Her friends laugh and call it growing age  

She swears she won’t settle for her mate  

Wants conversations, not playground men.  

Wants wine, not soda, not chasing girls.  

Wants something serious, not instead.

  

At 23: “I can’t date my age mate.”  

The boys feel loud, the men feel instead.  

She tests the weight of older men.  

They call her wise beyond her age.  

She rolls her eyes at boys her age,  

And leaves the room of boys.

  

At 26: “I like older men.”  

No more debates with boys  

No more guessing who she is instead.  

She wants a partner, not a mate.  

She wants a story, not a girl’s  

idea of love, but a grown age.

  

At 30: “Why are you men only after younger girls?”  

“Date your mate instead”  

The irony sits heavy in this age  

She was the girl who skipped the boys

Now she’s the woman asking men

to look at women their age.

 

We trade the mirror for the mate  

Ask the market what it wants instead.  

Are we chasing men

Or running from boys?  

Who decides the rules of age?  

Who decides who gets the girls?

  

The years keep turning on their age

The question never leaves the men

Why not your mate?  

Why always instead?  

Why not the boys?  

Why always younger girls?

Maybe it’s not boys or men  

Maybe it’s age we blame instead 

Maybe we all just want a mate.

THE SPOKEN WORD VERSION OF THE POEM

Ladies and gentlemen...

Let me tell you a story.

Not about one woman.

Not about one man.

But about a cycle...

that keeps repeating itself.

At eighteen...

She says,

"I don't do small boys."

Everyone laughs.

"You'll understand when you grow older."

She says she wants conversations,

not playground arguments.

She wants wine,

not soda.

She wants maturity,

not boys still trying to become men.

She says,

"I won't date my age mate."

Fast forward...

Twenty-three.

Now she says it louder.

"I can't date my age mate."

The boys seem noisy.

The older men...

they seem calm.

Experienced.

Established.

She is told,

"You're so mature for your age."

And somehow...

that sounds like a compliment.

So she walks past the boys...

and into the waiting arms of older men.

Then comes twenty-six.

No hesitation now.

"I like older men."

No more debates.

No more explanations.

She wants a partner.

Not just someone to call "boyfriend."

She wants a story.

She wants certainty.

She wants what she believes

only older men can give.

Then...

Thirty.

Something changes.

Now the question sounds different.

"Why are men always chasing younger girls?"

"Why don't they date women their own age?"

Pause...

Isn't that interesting?

Because yesterday...

she skipped the boys

to date older men

Today...

she wonders why those same older men
are skipping women
to date younger girls.

Life has a strange way
of handing us mirrors
when we expected windows.

We ask the market
to change its demand...

without remembering
how we shaped it ourselves.

So tell me...

Are we really chasing men?

Or are we simply running away from boys?

Who wrote these rules?

Who decided
that age equals value?

Who decided
who gets chosen...

and who gets overlooked?

Year after year...

The calendar changes.

The faces change.

But the questions remain.

Why not your age mate?

Why always someone older?

Then later...

Why always someone younger?

Maybe...

just maybe...

it was never about boys.

It was never about men.

Maybe...

it's the stories we tell ourselves
about age.

Maybe...

we've spent so much time chasing
what looks mature...

that we forgot maturity
has no birthday.

Maybe...

we've blamed age...

for what character
was supposed to answer.

And maybe...

deep down...

all of us...

are simply looking for one thing.

Not perfection.

Not status.

Not numbers.

Just...

someone to call...

our mate.

Thank you.

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The Ugly Girl

 The Ugly Girl

They said she was ugly.
Not cruelly, of course.
No one stood in the town square
and announced her defects.

No laws were written against her.
No doors were locked.

There was simply
a little more warmth
for her sister.

A little more patience.
A little more pride.
A little more love.

And what is discrimination,
if not a thousand little mores
given to someone else?

Her sister fit perfectly
inside the frame
the world had prepared.

Skin like milk.
Features soft enough
to make strangers smile.

The kind of face
people call beautiful
before learning a single thing
about the soul behind it.

The ugly girl
learned early
that beauty is the only privilege
people pretend does not exist.

In school,
teachers taught equality.
Then handed the lead role
to the prettier child.

Again.
And again.
And again.

The ugly girl knew every line
of every play.
But she always became
a tree.
A wall.
A nameless villager
standing silently
in the background.

The front row of the prayer chorus
belonged to prettier faces.
The annual photograph
placed her somewhere near the edge,
where memories fade first.

Merit mattered.

Of course it mattered.

It simply mattered less.

Classmates were not cruel either.

Not officially.

They only laughed
when she walked past.

Only compared her
to prettier girls.

Only reminded her,
every now and then,
that love was a prize
she was unlikely to win.

Children can be remarkably honest.

And honesty,
without kindness,
is merely another form of violence.

Years passed.

She learned to laugh
before others could laugh at her.

Learned to insult herself
before others had the chance.

Learned to disappear
while standing in crowded rooms.

The strange thing about loneliness
is that eventually
it begins to feel like personality.

Then came love.
Or what looked like love.

A man noticed her.
Not her face.
Not her mind.
Her availability.
Her willingness
to settle for crumbs.

People who have starved
their entire lives
often mistake scraps
for feasts.

She loved him completely.
He loved her conditionally.
She waited for messages.
He waited for better options.

One day he left.
Not because she was ugly.
That would have been easier.
He left because he could.

Some hearts are abandoned
for reasons.
Others are abandoned
for opportunities.

After that,
she became successful.
This is usually the part
where stories become inspirational.

But life is rarely interested
in neat endings.
The promotions arrived.
The money arrived.
The respect arrived.

Yet every achievement
felt like receiving flowers
at the grave
of a person who needed them years ago.

Because success cannot travel backward.
It cannot sit beside
the little girl in the school auditorium.

It cannot place her
in the front row.
It cannot silence
the laughter.

It cannot teach her
how to see herself
through kinder eyes.

And so she grew older.
The world grew kinder too.
People called her strong.
Resilient.
Independent.

They admired the armor
without noticing
the wounds that required it.

One evening,
standing before a mirror,
she finally understood something.

The tragedy of her life
was never that she was ugly.

The tragedy was that
she spent decades
looking at herself
through borrowed eyes.

Eyes belonging to teachers,
classmates,
strangers,
lovers,
advertisements,
and impossible standards.

Eyes that had never loved her.
Beauty standards change
every century.
Sometimes every decade.

But the damage they leave behind
outlives them all.

The ugly girl was never ugly.

She was merely born
on the wrong side
of a collective hallucination.

And perhaps that is
the most frightening thing
about being human.

A mirror can only reflect a face.

Yet somehow,
we allow it
to determine a soul...

© Copyright The Poet's Sanctuary via telegram.com

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The Frozen Eggs

 

(243) ______ THE FROZEN EGGS _____

Women with frozen eggs 

Are the Warren Buffett of fertility investment 

For future dividend.

Even in their forties, 

In their mid-fifties,

Il n'y a pas de quoi s'inquiéter

(There's nothing to worry about)

They can give birth anytime 

Young lady

A stitch in time saves nine

Consultation and testing 

The steps towards your secured fertility. 

Ovarian stimulation, egg retrieval, and vitrification 

Twenty mature eggs kept 

Would make them a mom whenever needed

Their destiny's in their hands

Ignorance is not an excuse 

To be more enlightened 

Go read the book:

"When Time Runs Out" (Adeola Olunloyo).

Samuel C Enunwa aka samueldpoetry.

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Young Africa's Please by Dennis Osadebay

 

____ Young Africa's Plea ____

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 

About the Poet:-

This poet is a Nigerian classic author and a philanthropist. He was, at a point in his life, the Premier of the Mid-West Region of Nigeria. Osadebay was called to Bar after receiving his university education in the United Kingdom.

About the Poem:-

This is a 19 line poem with a very simple diction. 

The voice of the poem clamored for authenticity as an African while synergizing with the western adopted culture.

The line 13 and 14 revealed the power and strength hidden in being authentic: "Those who doubt my talents/ In secret fear my strength"

One of the dominant poetic devices in the poem is the use of refrain. Few instance is the use of "Let me..." in multiple lines in the poem.

The background of the poem relates to the early post-independent era in Nigeria.

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Analysis of New Tongue by Elizabeth Kamara

Introduction 

Based on those messages sent to me through the Tutor-Me link, inquiring about the poem titled "New Tongue by Elizabeth L. A. Kamara", this post will discuss the poem, the background, the theme, the settings, the structure, the poetic devices, the mood, the tone, etc. 

This post will be very useful for students, teachers, and anyone who seek following questions such as "what are the themes of New Tongue by Elizabeth Kamara", "summary of New Tongue by Elizabeth L. A. Kamara", "lesson note for New Tongue by Elizabeth L. A. Kamara", "can I get the pdf review of New Tongue by Elizabeth Kamara", etc. 

Elizabeth L. A. Kamara

She is an author, poet and teacher of English language literature. Born and bred in Sierra Leone. 

New Tongue 

The poem titled "New Tongue" by Elizabeth L. A. Kamara is poem that indirectly decried Africans foolishness for neglecting their own culture and norms for borrowed modernisation; the poem also examined few of the flaws associated with the new culture or lifestyle adopted. 

Tone and Mood

The tone of the poem is worrisome and lamentation in order to create the mood for awareness and reflection.

Diction

The choice of words by the poet, aligns with a layman's understanding. Therefore, making the message easy to comprehend.

Third Person Point of View 

New Tongue by Elizabeth LA kamara has a third person plural narrative technique. By employing words, "they", "their", "family", "bonds", "minds"; it gave the readers a sense of general phenomenon in term of the change accepted. 

Stanza

The poem is of 5 stanza of uneven count of lines per stanza. (Stanza 1) they have adopted a new culture and language they so much cherished to the extent that the old is now a mere dream_ which has affected the ties that used to exist between family and friends. (Stanza 2) the new generation doesn't give a damn about the bond that comes from sticking to the norms of family, traditions, and heritage. (Stanza 3) they are now against gerontocracy_ or simply the principle of elders first. (Stanza 4) they glorify their new way of life which prioritizes the boring self-centered attitude. (Stanza 5) they hung on to the borrowed culture and decided to never look back. 

Lines

New Tongue by Elizabeth L. A. Kamara is poem with the total of 46 lines void of planned rythmns_ which makes poem a free verse. 

Flow

The poet hit on her concern in the first stanza, then expressed the negative impacts or effects of her concern in stanza two, three, four while she noted in the final stanza that there might never be any solution to the damage already done. In a nutshell, New Tongue by Elizabeth L. A. Kamara possessed a downward or climactic flow. 

Change

The theme of change is obvious if we consider the title of the poem and the context of the poem as well. "New Tongue" denotes transformation or change while the repetition of the word "new" and "borrowed" tell the readers that were once old and unborrowed lifestyle. 

Clash of Culture

Let's quickly shed a floodlight on  the theme of cultural clash in the poem. Besides the fact that the poem gave the readers literal and societal sense of the clash between African culture and westernisation or perhaps modernisation or synonymously called civilisation , the poet sends a message of clash between the old and the new; the past, the present and the future, not excluding the clash between the heritage and the borrowed, the loss and the found, 

Take a look at line 1 - 7 quoted below and you see the evidence of cultural clash I have explained: 

"They speak in a new tongue 

And dance new dances 

Minds battered into new modes and shapes 

Their eyes revel in the wonder of the new 

Embraced and bound to hearts with impregnable chains 

The old songs as disregarded dreams 

Remnants of a past."

Disunity and Disrespect 

The theme of disunity and disrespect exposed in the poem are addressed as part of the negative effects of the borrowed culture as opposed to the African culture and beliefs. All over the poem, there are complaints about how the new generation now lack family unity because they have disunited or disconnected with their tradition and their cultural heritage. An instance is shown below from stanza 2 of the poem:

"A new generation 

Careless of bonds 

Of family 

Of tradition 

Of heritage 

They care not 

Nor revere the old 

Their minds turn inwards 

Only inwards 

Like the insides of clothes 

That marry the bodies of mankind" 

Even the stanza 3 further complained about the disrespect the new generation bestow elders and the position that should be reserved for elders in their scheme of activities. 

Allusion 

In line 43 of the poem, there is a biblical allusion "their borrowed minds parted the red sea long time ago", which alluded to the fact that among the borrowed culture in terms of religion is Christianity. The allusion reminds the readers of the Moses and the Israelite's captivity story in the Bible. 

Symbolism 

Let's point out some symbolism in the poem are "minds" in line 3 and 43 which symbolizes a belief system or lifestyle. "dances" in line 2 and "shoes" in line 42 both symbolize mode of entertainment. "tongue" in line 1 and 30 symbolizes language. 

Alliteration 

Some glaring alliteration in the poem are "and dance new dances" [line 2], "last lock"[line 44], "coldness descending like snow covered mountain"[line 35], "bathing at the back of the house"[line 36], etc. 

Simile

Elizabeth injected like three similes in the Poem, as seen in line 6 [the old songs as disregarded dreams], seen in line 35 [a strange coldness descending like snow covered mountain], and also in line 36 [or like bathing at the back of the house]. 

Imagery 

Here are some imageries in the poem_ "new tongue", "new dances", "new modes and shapes", "impreganable chains", "the old songs as disregarded dreams", "a strange coldness descending like snow covered mountain", "on a rainy July day", "last lock on their culture", "without a backward glance", etc. 

Metaphor 

Few metaphor existed in line 25 "Not even on the edge of their minds" and "Ties of family and friendship/ Loosened, broken, burnt/ The ashes strewn into the bottomless sea" seen in lines 8 and 9 is a metaphor or maybe an extented metaphor at that.

Closing the Curtain 

I feel like drawing the post to a close at this juncture. Hopefully, you should find it easier to comprehend the poem as regards the connotation, denotation and the figuratives.

You can as well contribute to the discussion via the comment box and be kind enough to share this post to social media platforms. 

Feel free to motivate the writer of this post by clicking on BuyMeACoffee

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I Still See Your Eyes

 

I STILL SEE YOUR EYES

I still see your eyes

Through teddies, through birdies, through butterflies

I still see your eyes

Through thirteen ladies that said to me hi!

I still your eyes

Through their eyes that wish me wooed them and then be their guy

I still see your eyes

Through the streamings of many streams so nigh

I still see your eyes

Like night and the break of a daylight

I still see your eyes

Through the stars of the sky of your eyes

I still see your eyes

Through the seed of love you sowed in me's why

I still see your eyes

Through our peace and our tears we cry,

I still see your eyes

Through the towns we've passed by

I still see your eyes

I still see your eyes every night I lie

And your seed of love growing in me's why

I still see your eyes.

               Copyright ©  Samuel C. Enunwa Oct. 14, 2011.

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Is This The Life You Wish For

 

Is This The Life You Wish For?

"Good things will come to you in ways you could never anticipate or expect. Yet if you're constantly placing judgment, conditions and restrictions on your life, you'll miss out on most of those good things."_ Ralph Marston.

Imagine if the bell refuses to suffer the pain
To be caused by its dangling scrotum
How will it ring for ritual to start?

Is this the life you wish for or not?
Reschedule your life
The life of muteness you must quit
And start making your desire show
To grow out of your hole
And quit lay low
For success is yours if you do so

The crickets are singing always by day
Do you notice?
The crickets knew they were not heard by day
They rescheduled it
So to be sang aloud and heard at night
And the tick tock of the wall clock
Is always a sweet song at night

So if still
You're still not living the life you wish for
You need still
To start reschedule your life adventure.

Samuel C. Enunwa aka samueldpoetry

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Gone Are The Days

 Gone are the days when you were kids.

Gone are the days when you were schooling.

Gone are the days when you were single.

Gone are the days when you were ruling.

Gone are the days when you were rocking the parties.

Gone are the days when you were loving and dating.

Gone are the days when you were living your best life, high class, in Greece.

Gone are the days when you were nursing your babies, craving their bright future, caged in parenthood dealing.

Gone are the days when you were a married infidel, nailing every Dick and Harry with hole to poke with endurance pills.

Gone are the days when you were still living on earth (walking with staff or not, rich or poor, healthy or frail, known or hard to be noticed you existed among the living).

So do the right things today,

For sooner or later

Everything you have done shall become

"Gone-Are-The-Days".

Samuel C. Enunwa

http://twitter.com/Naija345

is where I Follow Back and retweet my followers.

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The Secrets Known To Two Eyes

I know you have ears
listen attentively
I'm revealing
the secret known to
two eyes
two legs
two ears
one mouth
one mind
one head
one me and myself
and at the end
you'll applaud this verse
with thy mind
what is it? Cunning is
what I brought to thy hearing

Many men say: tortoise is most cunning

What about hare?

Let me weave you this yarn,
in the days of yore
animal land was famine
hunger and thinning
all animals were bony
tortoise in company of birds
went to feast in heaven
only hare was fresh
fresher than the skin of kings
eating and wining daily
has been selling fellow animals
in exchange for food

"My food reserve is down.
Only few food left,
what am I to do?"

The hare journeyed
40 days and 40 nights
visited goddess of vegetables.

"O! Goddess!
Here I come to strike you a deal.
Give me bag of food and
I shall give you a fellow animal
with whom melody in his roar
will make you swerve and swing all day"

While the goddess waited by the border land
Mr. Hare visited Mr. Leopard
and said:

"Hello! My good friend.
You are cannibal
I am not but
at the border of the land
I found seven motherless puppies
crying with no care
kindly make this a secret"

The leopard followed the hare
whistling as they went
while he whistled through the path
other leopard followed quietly
through the bush
suddenly at the target spot
ropes of vegetables entwined
Mr. Leopard to make him a slave

At the rescue of other Leopards
there was a battle of rage
Mr. Hare took to race
32 leopards behind
he was angrily chased
ran under a rock and
digged into the soil
till this moment
there he lives.

Samuel C. Enunwa aka samueldpoetry 

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Comment On The Use Of Pun In The Pulley By George Herbert

"Comment on the use of pun in the pulley" WAEC May/June 2017.

One of the reasons why the examination council has added this classic metaphysical poem to the list of recommended poetry for the 2016-2020 Literature-in-English syllabus is to ensure that the candidates sitting for the examination are able to comprehend the the poet's use of language, style and symbolism.

The question here is about the use of pun in The Pulley by George Herbert. It is true that George Herbert wrote the poem to show God's high level of supremacy over humankind. 

The poet channeled his thoughts straight into the hearts of readers by employing some elements of pun.

A pun can be defined as a joke or kind of wordplay in which sounds, or words, or ideas are used to represent its primary meaning.

George Herbert, in the poem created a title that downplayed the serious matter of humans' mortality as he compared humans' habitual dependency on God to a pulley that draws human beings back to the creator; as seen in the poem, the insatiable wants of humans keep pulling them back to God.

Besides the title and the message of the poem, the chosen words of the poet are playful; particularly the way the poet placed "man" "cup of blessing" "span" "weariness" "toss" within the context of the poem to prove that without God, human beings are nothing.

Few prove of playfulness in the poet's lines are:-
When God at first made man,
Having a glass of blessings standing by,
“Let us,” said he, “pour on him all we can.
Let the world’s riches, which dispersèd lie,
Contract into a span.”

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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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Find it necessary to share this post to social media platforms via the available social media buttons. 

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The Use Of Poetic Devices In Mending Wall By Robert Frost

Introduction

 This post here is about one of the finest classic poem of Robert Frost titled "Mending Wall" ; here we'll refresh our memories with the Use of Poetic Devices in Mending Wall By Robert Frost.

We'll be figuring out figures of speech such as symbolism, alliteration, repetition, simile, hyperbole not excluding the style and language employed by the poet.

Poetic Devices 

Symbolism :- This is a device where symbols are used to represent real things and feelings. 

"And set the wall between us once again" as seen in line 14 of the poem.

The wall stood as a symbol of limitation people set around themselves.

Another symbolism in the poem "Mending Wall" by Robert Frost is found in line 40 "like an old-Stone savage armed". Such line represented the level of mind of the poem persona neighbor who was conservative in deals and thoughts.

Hyperbole :- This is a literary device for the deliberate use of excessive notion or overstatement by a writer for the purpose of impression, laughter or humour. 

Take line 18-22: "We have to use a spell to make them balance/"Stay where you are until our backs are turned"/We wear our fingers rough with handling them/One on a side, it comes to little more/There where it is we do not need the wall"

Those lines portrayed a humorous message and within was elements of hyperbole, satire and irony as the whole process was turned into a thing of game. The hyperbole also extended to lines between 35-37.

Simile:- It involves a direct comparison between two unlike things, with words such as "like", "as", "as if", etc. 

When you take a keen look into the lines 38-40 "He said it for himself, I see him there/Bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top/In each hand, like an old-stone savage armed".

From the behavior and thought of the neighbor were compared to that of a savage without a mind and brain of their own. 

Repetition:- A figure of speech in which a word, phrase or idea is expressed more than once in a piece of written work of art. 

"Something there is that doesn't love a wall" happened to be one of the lines repeated multiple times in the poem_ repeated in line 1 and 35.

"the wall between us" also had repetition in line 14 and 15.

Style and Language:- In terms of the style of the poem "Mending Wall" by Robert Frost, surely a narrative poem of one long stanza which flowed climactic because of the simplicity and informal tone of language used. It is satire-filled, humorous ganished with irony. I have the feeling that the poem can be considered a blank verse.

If in any way you found this post helpful, kindly share to family and friends _ maybe even foes. Yeah, funny.

Samuel Enunwa aka samueldpoetry

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Analysis Of Freetown By Sly Cheney Coker

This article is the analysis of freetown by Sly Cheney Coker as understood by naija poets.

Cheney-Coker picked his pen and paper to write about how Africans are trying, in every form, to change their African color and race to something else. 

As a wise African poet, he began his poetry by showering praises on Africa while accepting the fact that he had been far away from home like the biblical prodigal son by comparing himself to a wandering Fulani cow:
"Africa I have long away from you
wandering like a Fulani cow
but every night
amidst the horrors of highway deaths
and the menace of neon-eyed gods
I feel the warmth of your arms
centrifugal mother reaching out to
your sons
but all calling you mother womb of
the earth" (from line 1-8).

From line 9, Sly Cheney-Coker generalized that Africans were living with differences_ not excluding himself. Though he didn't condemn civilisation but he felt it was part of the sins, Africans had committed. 

Part of the things he complained about were that he had been fond of travelling out of Africa, African ladies and women were bleaching their black skins to white, black African men were not living the African way; he put it like this "and I think of my brothers with ”black skin and white masks” ( I myself am one heh heh heh)". The poet's heart was so heavy because he could not describe Africa, the African way:
" my heart becomes a citadel of disgust
and I am unable to write the poem of your life
my creation haunts me behind the mythical dream
my river dammed by the poisonous weeds in its bed".

If you do not understand the structure of this poem "Freetown" by Sly Cheney-Coker, then let me try and table it based on my own understanding. The poem is not broken into stanzas, it has simple dictions with more of enjambments, the setting is Freetown, as suggested by the title of the poem and the context.

 

Figuratively in the poem; the phrase "Black Englishman" is a sarcastic oxymoron, African is personification and metaphor in the poem: "I feel the warmth of your arms/ centrifugal mother reaching out to your sons/ but all calling you mother womb of the earth", "this third anniversary of my flight" symbolized travelling in airplane, "citadel of disgust" is a metaphor used by the poet to compare the feeling in his heart, "shadow of Freetown" is a metaphor as well, ( I myself am one heh heh heh) "heh heh heh" is an onomatopoeia which means laughter.

Looking at the poem, the following themes are evident:
(1) Africans and civilisation
(2) Devaluation of the African black skin

In many African poetry, the issue of Africanism and Civilisation is very common and it is no surprise that such exist in this poem. Sly Coker was so concerned with the way Africans are embracing civilisation far more than their own culture. He also stated in the poem that they were not satisfied with having a black skin.

Syl Cheney-Coker is a poet, novelist, and journalist from Freetown, Sierra Leone; he was born on 28 June 1945. He spent much of his life in exile from his native country, and wrote extensively (in poetry, fiction, and non-fiction) about the condition of exile and the view of Africa from an African abroad.

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

#civilisation #poetry #africa #poet

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Analysis of Katerina: An Angel In The Flesh by Femi Fani Kayode

THE ANALYSIS:-

"Katerina: An Angel In The Flesh" is a descriptive love poem that embraced the instrument of praise and prayer.

The most part of the poem described Femi Fani Kayode's Katerina as an extraordinary beauty; using the same hyperbolical language of William Shakespeare's craftiness. The ending part of the poem carry some hope words that are tabled in form of prayer.

Few of the poetic devices in the poem are enjambment (as ideas or expressions flow beyond a single line), simile (many comparisons are made in the poem using "like" for instance "Your
words, like the Balm of Gilead" and "blazing red hair like a Royal Princess"), allusion in the poem "the Game of Thrones", alliteration in the poem "deep dimples" and "poor and less privileged", metaphor in the poem "thirst and quest for knowledge and understanding" and "wisdom oozes", the imageries in the poem a mostly of sight.

The major theme of the poem is love, beauty, and the excitement in pleasant human qualities. From the context of the poem, human achievement can also be considered as part of the themes in the poem.

THE POEM:-

Emerald-green eyes and blazing red hair, like a Royal Princess of Westeroth from the Game of Thrones. Beautiful deep dimples and a lovely warm smile. Pale, silk-like skin and waifer-thin lips. Such natural beauty. Your crown glistens and your glory is self-evident.

Most captivating of all is the power of your soul, the beauty and strength of your inner man and the profundity of your learned tongue: wisdom oozes. Your words, like the Balm of Gilead, bring hope: they soothe and heal.
Your compassion for the poor and less privileged and your empathy for the persecuted, the oppressed, the misunderstood and the downtrodden is self-evident and compelling. Your thirst and quest for knowledge and understanding is insatiable and never-ending.
Your love of the Living God is inexplicable, indescribable, unfathomable, profound, deep and utterly moving. You are a woman of substance, an angel in the flesh, a handmaiden of Jerusalem, a speaker of divine truths, a Daughter of Zion.
You are the stuff of which great Queens are made. May you live long and prosper and may you be a blessing to your generation and to generations unborn.

THE POET:-

Chief Femi Fani-Kayode is a Nigerian poet, a lawyer, and a politician born in Lagos, Nigeria on 16th October 1960 to Chief Remilekun Adetokunbo Fani-Kayode and to Chief (Mrs) Adia Adunni Fani-Kayode.He was christened David Oluwafemi (meaning “the beloved of the Lord”) Adewunmi Fani-Kayode. He was the Special Assistant (Public Affairs) to President Olusegun Obasanjo from July 2003 until June 2006.

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

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Analysis Of Is My Team Ploughing By A E Housman

Analysis of "Is My Team Ploughing" by A. E. Housman from the naijapoets.com.ng perspective. According to wikipedia, "Alfred Edward Housman 26 March 1859 – 30 April 1936 was an English classical scholar and poet, best known to the general public for his cycle of poems A Shropshire Lad." The poem "Is My Team Ploughing" touched the following aspects of human lives which are friendship, career, leisure, and love. The poem through its questions and answers took the form of a dialogue between the dead man and his friend (the poem speak). Few among the ways a dialogue of this nature can happen are through imagination, vision or dream. The context of the poem didn't give the readers the exact clue of where the dialogue took place between the living friend and his dead friend.

The m has 8 interesting stanzas of 4 lines per sta
nza where the end rhymes between the second and the fourth lines of each stanza.

Okay, let's look at "Is My Team Ploughing" stanza by stanza:-

Stanza 1
"Is my team ploughing,
That I was used to drive
And hear the harness jingle
When I was man alive?"
The dead man asked his living friend whether the people used to work on the farm with when he was alive were still working; this aspect of the poem is about career.

Stanza 2
"Aye, the horses trample,
The harness jingle now;
No change though you lie under
The land you used to plaugh."
This is the reply to the stanza 1 question. The friend told the dead man that farm operations had not ceased because of his death; this part of the poem is about leisure.

Stanza 3
"Is football playing
Along the river shore,
"With lads to chase the leather,
Now I stand up no more?"
This showed that the dead friend was young and loved to play football before he died. He wanted to know if people young groups still play football along the river shore like they used to do when he was alive. This aspect is about leisure.

Stanza 4
"Aye, the ball is flying,
The lads play heart and soul;
The goal stands up, the keeper
Stands up to keep the goal."
The living friend's reply was an assertion that nothing had changed since his death.

Stanza 5
"Is my girl happy,
That I thought hard to leave,
And has she tired of weeping
As she lies down at eve?"
This stanza about love. The dead friend wanted to know whether his girlfriend still mourned him and couldn't fall in love with someone else because her love for him was so strong when he was alive.

Stanza 6
"Aye, she lies down lightly,
She lies not down to weep:
Your girl is well contented.
Be still, my lad, and sleep."
The friend replied his dead friend to stop worries because his girlfriend still lived her normal life.

Stanza 7
"Is my friend hearty,
Now I am thin and pine;
And he has found to sleep in
A better bed than mine?"
He requested to know how his living friend was fairing after his death; whether his living friend cherished his bas he slept in a thin grave

Stanza 8
"Yes, lad i lie easy,
I lie as lads would choose;
I cheer a dead man's sweetheart,
Never ask me whose."
This stanza reminds of the common Yoruba proverb that says that when a man dies because of a woman, thousands of women will trample his grave. The living friend replied his dead friend that his love life is very easy and cool; in fact, he was now dating a dead man's sweetheart and concluded by telling the dead friend not to ask him which of the dead man which implied that his dead friend's girlfriend is now his own girlfriend.

The major idea in this poem is that life goes on irrespective of whether someone dies or someone lives.

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

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