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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