Welcome, Guest: Register On Nairaland / LOGIN! / Trending / Recent / NewStats: 3,194,770 members, 7,955,939 topics. Date: Sunday, 22 September 2024 at 07:09 PM |
Nairaland Forum / Entertainment / Literature / Analysis Of Vanity By Virago Diop (4976 Views)
Dear Nigerian Authors, Beware Of "Vanity Publishers" / The Vultures By David Diop / Analysis Of Lonely Days Written By Bayo Adebowale (2) (3) (4)
(1) (Reply)
Analysis Of Vanity By Virago Diop by Kaybest01: 11:44am On Dec 12, 2017 |
Analysis of the poem "Vanity" by Birago Diop Vanity If we tell, gently, gently All that we shall one day have to tell, Who then will hear our voices without laughter, Sad complaining voices of beggars Who indeed will hear them without laughter? If we cry roughly of our torments Ever increasing from the start of things What eyes will watch our large mouths Shaped by the laughter of big children What eyes will watch our large mouth? What hearts will listen to our clamoring? What ear to our pitiful anger Which grows in us like a tumor In the black depth of our plaintive throats? When our Dead comes with their Dead When they have spoken to us in their clumsy voices; Just as our ears were deaf To their cries, to their wild appeals Just as our ears were deaf They have left on the earth their cries, In the air, on the water, where they have traced their signs for us blind deaf and unworthy Sons Who see nothing of what they have made In the air, on the water, where they have traced their signs And since we did not understand the dead Since we have never listened to their cries If we weep, gently, gently If we cry roughly to our torments What heart will listen to our clamoring, What ear to our sobbing hearts Preview We all have that African friend who sort of neglects nativity, roots and ties with this continent. Such people have their closet filled with designers (non African), their playlist of bereft of the afro pop sound, their dishes are 'from abroad', they would never be caught dead in their natural hair, it has to be straightened.... And many more 'I ain't feeling Africa' attitude. These are the set of people the poet throws (or threw) caution in the wind for. Though written as far back as the colonial era, when Africa was still regarded as the dark continent, it's relevance in today's day to day living can not be over emphasised. The poetic voice takes on that of a prophet, predicting the downfall of the African culture if the citizens decide to neglect it's roots and embrace another. Especially that culture that makes mockrey of who they are. Settings The physical setting of this poem cannot be determined from the poem itself, but it is very safe for us to just say Africa, considering the situational and time setting of the poem and of course the poet. The poem was written during the colonial period when Africa was still under the tight shackles of the colonial masters. For the areas colonized by the French mas ters, they were under the system of assimilation. The high and low of this system was; the French were after making a Frenchman out of the people under their colonies. It was a sort of rebirth: they were to learn the French language and follow the French principles of life. It was like trying to turn an orange into a tangerine. This was the situation when this poem was written. The time, obviously was the colonial period, but we can see for ourselves the relevance of this poem several decades after it was written. Structure The poem is written in 30 lines, which are further divided into 5 unequal stanzas. Each with its own message. 1st stanza has 5 lines 2nd stanza also has 5 lines 3rd stanza has 4 lines 4th stanza which is the longest has 10 lines The last stanza has 6 line.. The summary of each stanza is quite significant if the whole message is to be fully captured. As we all know that poets have a way of making you want to rack your brain like you are a victim of quantum physics. This poem does not distinctively point at preservation of culture as the message, but as you delve deeper into the lines you begin to note certain indications of what the poet tries to communicate. The first three stanzas are clear warnings of things that might happen in future. The poem at this stanzas is replete with rhetorical questions and if's, if you are an African child you would know well enough the significance of rhetorical questions in a parent's tirade. Thus we can compare this poem to a sort of tirade by a statesman, who as an elderly, sees that which a child cannot see while standing, on his seat, over a piece of paper and a dancing pen. A closer attention should be drawn to the second stanza where the poet makes mention of 'big children' Check out complete analysis on http://greatscribbles..com.ng/2017/12/vanity-by-birago-diop.html?m=1 |
Re: Analysis Of Vanity By Virago Diop by Kaybest01: 10:47pm On Dec 15, 2017 |
Check the poem and the analysis |
Re: Analysis Of Vanity By Virago Diop by Kaybest01: 10:47pm On Dec 15, 2017 |
WAEC NECO JAMB SYLLABUS |
(1) (Reply)
I Wanna Win (A Us-based Story) / Obsessed / How Do We Revive Our Dying Reading Culture?
(Go Up)
Sections: politics (1) business autos (1) jobs (1) career education (1) romance computers phones travel sports fashion health religion celebs tv-movies music-radio literature webmasters programming techmarket Links: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) Nairaland - Copyright © 2005 - 2024 Oluwaseun Osewa. All rights reserved. See How To Advertise. 20 |