Tuesday 21 June 2022


Monday 20 June 2022


The Summary

This poem is about the shameful murder of a tyrant. 

He was stabbed and shut in front of a night club; the poet sarcastically compared his murder shut to a gunshot representing a last respect to a warrior. 

Instead of the poem being a pure elegy, the poet created a sarcastic elegy which was beautified with irony and euphemism to show his dislike towards the wicked and selfish life led by the tyrant leader; it was so unfortunate for the dead politician who wished to have respected burial rite but ended with a belittled massacre.

The content of the poem is straightforward as a result of the simple diction maintained by the poet. Line 1-7 shows where and how the tyrant was buried, line 8-17 describes the event of his murder by comparing the murder gunshot, and state of his car, line 18-28 tells of the unwell condition of the masses and their state of no-say because they lived in a lower class, line 29-end is about the politician's empty wish for a befitting end.

The Themes

Few of the themes in the poem are uncertainty of life and living, shameful rewards for selfishness and wickedness, poverty within the masses, extravagance and embezzlement. The death of the tyrant proved that life is uncertain and whatever anyone sows, he/she will reap.

NO COFFIN, NO GRAVE

He was buried without a coffin
without a grave
the scavengers performed the
post-mortem
in the open mortuary
without sterilized knives
in front of the night club
stuttering rifles put up
the gun salute of the day
that was a state burial anyway
the car knelt
the red plate wept, wrapped
itself in blood its master’s
the diary revealed to the sea
the rain anchored there at last
isn’t our flag red, black, and
white?
so he wrapped himself well
who could signal yellow
when we had to leave politics
to the experts
and brood on books
brood on hunger
and schoolgirls
grumble under the black pot
sleep under torn mosquito net
and let lice lick our intestines
the lord of the bar, money
speaks madam
woman magnet, money speaks
madam
we only cover the stinking
darkness
of the cave of our mouths
and ask our father who is in hell
to judge him
the quick and the good
Well, his dairy, submarine of the
Third World War
showed he wished
to be buried in a gold-laden
coffin
like a VIP
under the jacaranda tree beside
his palace
a shelter for his grave
and much beer for the funeral
party
anyway one noisy pupil
suggested we bring
tractors and plough the land.
©copyright Jared Angira

The Poet

According to wikipedia article, "Jared Angira (born 21 November 1947) is a Kenyan poet. He has been called "the country's first truly significant poet.

Angira studied commerce at the University of Nairobi from 1968 until 1971."

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







Friday 10 June 2022



Themes

Few of the themes are Colonial Oppression, Quest for Leadership Position, Betrayal and Greed, Gender Inequality.


1. Theme of Colonial Oppression: the theme of colonialism is the main motivation for the existence of the drama. The drama takes us back to the period where Africa still under the bondage of invaders. The drama portrayed the negative side of colonialism where the white masters in charge of affairs were wayward. Undermining Africa values and rulers, imposition of tax, unnecessary feudalism; are few examples of colonial oppression in the drama. King Gbanya was called a dog, he was flogged and fined to pay cattle's, where Queen Yoko (during her reign) was stripped of her landed possessions, while people of Mende Chiefdom pay taxes.


2. Theme of Leadership Quest: The pleasure attached to leadership is always glaring that it always attracts unhealthy rivalries. In the drama, Governor Rowe doest joke with his leadership position and never joked with anything that can undermine it. In order to reign as a queen, Yoko sacrificed her joy of motherhood. Lambio designed multiple evil plot in other to seat on the throne.


3. Theme of Inequality: this is evident both gender-wise and racial-wise. Gender inequality has turned to a cankerworm that has eaten deep into africa; as seen in the drama "Let Me Die Alone", the male characters are superior to the female. Ndapi beats his wife (Jilo) for delay in meal preparation, King Gbanya claims women including Yoko good for nothing than bedroom pleasure, other female characters in the drama were either dancers or mere maids. On the side of racial inequality, the actions of Rowe was crystal clear. Queen of England and Governor Samuel Rowe was superior to Africans and the African cultures.


4. Theme of Greed and Betrayal: Hardly can these be taken away from tragic drama. Greediness will lead to betrayal and betrayal will pave way for violence. Lambio was greedy by not been satisfied with the royal affiliation he enjoyed, he was hungry for the throne. In order to satisfy his greed, he betrayed Gbanya's trust and further betrayed his blood sister Queen Yoko. While Lambio remained the kingpin of atrocious act against leadership in Mende, he dragged Musa (the seer) into his partnership because Musa's secrets of evil deeds were in his fingertips.


5. Theme of Violence: characters such as Rowe, Yoko, Gbanya, Musa, Lamboi, Ndapi were violent. Rowe violent against the likes of Gbanya, Musa and Lamboi violent against the throne, Yoko violent against other chiefdoms in order to amass influence, Ndapi violent against his wife. Few evidence of violence in the drama are flogging, slapping, stabbing, murdering, etc.

READ ALSO: [3 Theme of Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole]


10 Most Trending Stories

Popular Posts