Contemporary African Poetry
African poetry begins with African t
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African poetry begins with African themes, rhythms, rituals, and ideas, growing out of the culture of the continent and of different regions within that continent. The history of Africa has also been a history of colonialism, and the European powers that controlled large expanses of territory during the colonial era also left behind cultural influences which would become part of the artistic expression of African poets and other African artists. Artistic expression in any given age always develops from works, styles, and themes produced in earlier eras. The further back into history we go, the more difficult it may be to ascertain the source of a given culture and the art it produces. Contemporary African poetry, though, has roots both in ancient African expression and more recent European expression. This can be seen in the poetry of Wole Soyinka of Nigeria and Okot p'Bitek, and a key theme is the survivability of the human being in the face of forces greater than him or herself. Such a view can be linked to the way these tribes and nations survived the era of colonialism and so outlasted the European powers greater than themselves. It can be linked to the way the people have survived various nationalistic movements and civil wars which, however destructive, never completely wiped out the earning of the people for freedom and self-determination. It can be linked cosmically to the plight of man in a world buffeted about by the gods. It is a vast theme t
. . .
Wall," suggests a Judeo-Christian image, while "Wall of Mists" turns to an African image of witchcraft, again with an emphasis on death: "walls are the tomb of longing."
The wailing wall offers an image of the despair of the people, while the wall of mists is an image of sunset and night. The "Amber Wall" carries the same imagery into the daylight:
Breath of the sun crowned
In green crepes and amber beads
Children's voices at the door of Orient (37).
The sun is seen as draped in the accouterments of tribal political power, "crowned in green crepes and amber beads." This is a reference to the sun rising in the East, and the next stanza explains what happens when it does:
Raising eyelids on the sluggish earth
Dispersing sulphur fumes above the lake
Of awakening. . . (37).
The daytime imagery also involves death and decay in the form of "burning mangoes" and the "sluggish earth." The earth opening its eyes might be linked to the opening of graves as the death mentioned before pervades the land. Opposites such as life and death have been linked before, and now it is night and day that are intertwined:
Your flutes at evening, your soul-awakening
Dances fill the night with growth; I hear
The sun's sad chorus to your st
. . .
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 4097
Approximate Pages = 16 (250 words per page)
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African poetry begins with African t
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