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7.3.2 The mesh

And I must either leave or come with you.

I lingered over the choice

But in the darkness of my doubts

You lifted the lamp of love

And saw in your face

The road that I should take.

3. 
   A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE THEME AND STYLE IN KWESI BREW’S
   

The above is a brief and subtle poem included in his collection of poems titled The Shadows of Laughter. The poem displays some under tones of the English Metaphysical poet John Donne. At the first reading the poem seems to be a little misleading., but a closer study of the poem reveals the title’s appropriateness. The poet speaks of the often spoken subject of love. The poet who it seems has fallen in love is not sure of his feelings. He seems to have reached the crossroads in his relationship with the one he is in love with, as he is not certain whether his love would be returned. But he soon discovers that his love is reciprocated. Though uncertain at the start, unreserved reciprocation entangles him in a mesh of naturally given and accepted love. The dawning of love between two people is given a unique expression.

3. 
   SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE :
   

2. What figures of speech can you identify in the poem.

6. 
   TOPIC: THEME AND TECHNIQUES IN DAVID RUBADIRI’S
   

8.1. INTRODUCTION - - - - - - - 28

8.2. OBJECTIVES - - - - - - - 28

8.3. IN-TEXT - - - - - - - - 28

8.3.1. DAVID RUBADIRI - - - - - - 28

8.3.2. AN AFRICAN THUNDERSTORM - - - 28

8.3.3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE POEM - - - 29

8.4. SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE - - - - - 29

The theme and techniques of a poem from the Malawian poet David Rubadiri will be critically scrutinized.

By the end of the lecture you should b e able to:

i. Write briefly on the subject matter of the poem.

ii. Discuss the various poetic devices used in the poem.

David Rubadiri, the Malawian poet was educated in Makere and Cambridge . Besides being an educationist, he was an ambassador to the United States of America. He is also considered the father of modern African poetry from East Africa. David Rubadiri is keenly interested in the promotion of arts especially literature. Besides writing poetry he has also written a novel titled No Bride Price. He has been teaching and is still teaching in many African universities.

From the west

Clouds come hurrying with wind

Turning

Here and there

Like a plague of locusts

Whirling

Tossing up things on its tail

Like a madman chasing nothing

Ride stately on its back

Gathering to perch on hills

Like dark sinister wings;

The wind whistles by

And trees bend to let it pass.

In the village

Screams of the delighted children

Toss and turn

In the din of whirling wind,

Women –

Babies clinging on their backs –

In and out

Madly

The wind whistles by

Flying off

To expose dangling breast

As jagged blinding flashes

Rumble, tremble, and crack

Amidst the smell of fired smoke

And the pelting march of the storm.
8.3.3. A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THEME AND TECHNIQUES IN DAVID RUBADIRI’S POEM

The havoc and destruction caused by an African thunderstorm is vividly captured in the above poem. The sound and fury of the thunderstorm is portrayed through apt images and onomatopoeic sounds. There is a strong local flavour both in theme and style of the poem . The poet also uses various images and rhythmic patterns like alliteration and onomatopoeia to convey a picturesque movement of the thunderstorm from when it sets in until it bursts into a heavy down pour. Though the poem seems to be a straight forward description of a natural phenomenon, there is an underlying meaning. The poet it seems wishes to remind his readers that nature can be both benevolent and benign and is in complete control of man. One cannot go against nature.

4. 
   SELF –ASSEMENT EXERCISE :
   

1. 
   Briefly describe the description of the thunderstorm.
   
2. 
   Identify the various poetic devices used in the poem.
   

6. 
   TOPIC: THEME AND TECHNIQUES IN CHRISTOPHER
   

9.1. INTRODUCTION - - - - - - - 31

9.2. OBJECTIVES - - - - - - - 31

9.3. IN-TEXT - - - - - - - - 31

9.3.1. CHRISTOPHER OKIGBO - - - - 31

9.3.2. COME THUNDER - - - - - - 31

9.3.3. THEME AND TECHNIQUE IN THE POEM - - 32

9.4. SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE - - - - - 32

Christopher Okigbo is another erudite Nigerian poet. The theme and poetic techniques used in his poem will be critically analysed.

By the end of the lecture you should b e able to : i. Discuss the theme as expressed in the poem.

ii. Enumerate and discuss briefly the use of traditional poetic devices employed.
9.3 IN-TEXT

9.3.1 Christopher Okigbo

Christopher Okigbo can be considered as one of the most enigmatic of modern African Poets. Borno in the Eastern part of Nigeria, Okigbo was greatly involved in the development of literary culture in Nigeria. His form and style influenced many younger African poets. His long sequence entitled Labyrinths has many fine pieces especially in the sequence Heavensgate and Path of Thunder. He participated fully in the Nigerian Civil War and was one of the causalities of war. There is a great deal of musicality in his poems, for Okigbo strongly believed that music is a essential ingredient of the art of poetry. The poem titled Come Thunder is contained in the sequence “Path of Thunder”

Now that the triumphant march has entered the last street corners,

Remember, O dancers, the thunder among the clouds…

Now that the laughter, broken in two, hangs tremulous between the

teeth,

Remember, O dancers, the lightning beyond the earth….

afternoon.

The death sentence lies in ambush along the corridors of power;

And a great fearful thing already tugs at the cables of the open air,

A nebula immense and immeasurable, at night of deep waters-

An iron dream unnamed and unprintable, a path of stone.

The homesteads abandoned in this century’s brush fire witness it:

The myriad eyes of deserted corn cobs in burning barns witness it:

Magic birds with the miracle of lightning flash on their feathers….

The drums of curfew pander to a dance of death;

Threatens with iron mask

The last lighted torch of the century…..