My assignment is on these 3 poems by Gabriel Okara.
1) Once Upon A Time :
Once Upon a Time
Once upon a time, son,
they used to laugh with their hearts
and laugh with their eyes:
but now they only laugh with their teeth,
while their ice-block-cold eyes
search behind my shadow.
There was a time indeed
they used to shake hands with their hearts:
but that’s gone, son.
Now they shake hands without hearts
while their left hands search
my empty pockets.
‘Feel at home!’ ‘Come again’:
they say, and when I come
again and feel
at home, once, twice,
there will be no thrice-
for then I find doors shut on me.
So I have learned many things, son.
I have learned to wear many faces
like dresses – homeface,
officeface, streetface, hostface,
cocktailface, with all their conforming smiles
like a fixed portrait smile.
And I have learned too
to laugh with only my teeth
and shake hands without my heart.
I have also learned to say,’Goodbye’,
when I mean ‘Good-riddance’:
to say ‘Glad to meet you’,
without being glad; and to say ‘It’s been
nice talking to you’, after being bored.
But believe me, son.
I want to be what I used to be
when I was like you. I want
to unlearn all these muting things.
Most of all, I want to relearn
how to laugh, for my laugh in the mirror
shows only my teeth like a snake’s bare fangs!
So show me, son,
how to laugh; show me how
I used to laugh and smile
once upon a time when I was like you.
Summery of the poem:
The poem was written by the African poet Gabriel Ocara. In this poem we learn that the conversation between father and son. The poet deals with the influence of globalization, the so-called culture. Human life becomes mechanical and robotic life. Everyone runs after money. And in this race man becomes a robot. Here in this poem the poet discusses that this relationship remains a formal formality, a lake of trust and a feeling of emotion. Smiles also become plastic smiles or artificial smiles. Humans do all these things just to do hospitality, charity and other things, not from their heart. People become formal formalities Some words are just to say like good bye, I enjoyed your company, enjoyed meeting you, come back and many other things are called for formal formality, not heart. People use to wear masks, we can call a human being a known face than we got this kind of dueling face. They change their clothes like changing emotion. The poetic man tells his son about his glorious past and present. The poet tries so that the past and the present connect, but also the life distance of father and son life. "At one point I was lying to you," says the father. The child is innocent and happy, his smile is original and he has enjoyed his life, while the father cannot do all these things from the heart. In the past even the father used to smile with his heart, but now he can’t smile with his heart, he smiles with his teeth. All these things have happened because of money and civility. The poetic man asked his son to teach me how to smile. He longs for real and real life but can't. In this poem we have seen the influence of culture.
2) Were I to Choose :
“When Adam broke the stone
and red streams reged down to
gather in the womb,
an angel calmed the storm”,
“And I, the breath mewed
in Cain, unbliniking gaze
at the world without
from the brink of an age”.
"And O of this dark halo
were the tired head free.
And when the harmattan
of days has parched the throat
and skin, and sucked the fever
of the head away".
Then the massive dark descends, and flesh
and bone are razed.
And I’d cheat the worms
and silence seek in stone”.
Summery of the poem :
Gabriel Ocara's "I had to choose" is reminiscent of the Yates. Adam's diligence in the land can be compared to the negroes working in the land. They broke the stone themselves which was their very foundation. The red currents are symbolic of the interlingual diversity that reaches the uterus of Africa. Ken figuratively represents the next pay represents. ‘I’ usually refers to a tribe in Okara’s poems. The poet suggests that he is trapped in the current pay generation and his identity crisis. The gaze of the previous pay generation does not move forward; But hers does and for her, the world is watching from the edge. Written in the 1950s, the period of Nigerian independence, the poet mutes his ancestors તેમની their slavery, their developed lips and breasts with heart-wrenching anguish. His vision goes outwards and backwards. Smriti is like a thread going through her ears.
The poem "I had to choose" is reminiscent of a fermented poem called "Adam's Curse". The poet has tried to compare Adam's labor in the soil with the negroes working in the soil. They broke the stone themselves which was their very foundation. The red currents symbolize the interlingual diversity that the uterus reaches in Africa.
In this poem Cain metaphorically represents the coming pay generation. ‘I’ usually refers to a tribe in Okara’s poems. The poet implies that he is imprisoned in the present pay generation and the crisis of pay generation identity. Previous pay generations will not strike; But it does and is seen from the edge of the world. The poem is written in 1950, the period of Nigeria's independence, the poet looks at his ancestors - their slavery, their smoking lips, melting breasts with heart-wrenching anguish. The poet’s vision goes out and into the background. Smriti is like a thread going through her ears.
The poet compares Cain to a modern man, Cain was a conqueror and would surely die if he was caught by someone. The same is true of the modern illiterate man who does not achieve any goal. The poet, at the age of 31, is multilingual and thinks about the medium of his instruction. The Tower of Babel is a symbol of unity. When the 'Tower of Babel' was built, God cursed the people concerned. People wanted to build a great tower showing unity and people stood around it in unity. They wanted to speak the same language, but God hated this fact. There is no proper foundation or constitution left. His world has turned to the 'world of bones'.
The poet now seeks to free himself from this dark ‘halo’ prison that is generally considered ‘blessed’; But it feels dark. Its conflict is not able to choose from different languages. It is torn in the middle of the world. The poet speculates on his idea of mixing with dust during the months of December to February in Nigeria. The throat is dry and he is unable to speak. He is dismayed that the flames of torture are burning his existence. The colonial period has made the poet a blend of European and African cultures, and now he finds himself in the land of a man. He has relieved the idea of reconciling the crisis by taking refuge in the silence of the grave. He would then deceive the worms as he would enjoy the situation.
3) The Mystic Drum
The mystic drum beat in my inside
and fishes danced in the rivers a
nd men and women danced on land
to the rhythm of my drum
But standing behind a tree
with leaves around her waist
she only smiled with a shake of her head.
Still my drum continued to beat,
rippling the air with quickened
tempo compelling the quick
and the dead to dance and sing
with their shadows —
But standing behind a tree
with leaves around her waist
she only smiled with a shake of her head.
Then the drum beat with the rhythm
of the things of the ground
and invoked the eye of the sky
the sun and the moon and the river gods —
and the trees began to dance,
the fishes turned men
and men turned fishes
and things stopped to grow —
But standing behind a tree
with leaves around her waist
she only smiled with a shake of her head.
And then the mystic drum in my
inside stopped to beat —
and men became men,
fishes became fishes
and trees, the sun and the moon
found their places, and the dead
went to the ground and things began to grow.
And behind the tree
she stood with roots sprouting from her
feet and leaves growing on her head
and smoke issuing from her nose
and her lips parted in her smile
turned cavity belching darkness.
Then, then I packed my mystic drum
and turned away; never to beat so loud any more.
Summery of the poem:
This poem is written by Okra. The drum represents African culture. We can say that it connects with the heartbeat of the poetic personality. The lady who smiles is behind the tree and hints at a lot of things. He is an outsider. The lady thinks she has a richer culture, but in a real sense the immigrants do not have their own Culture. In this poem we see men, women and fish dancing to the beat of a drum. It shows the connection between nature and man, that they are dancing together. It also shows how powerful the mystic drum. African culture is connected to nature, mystical drums have begun to dance the sun, moon, river, gods and trees. The lady in the poem is also outsider and colonial. It is also behind the tree; It shows that trees and forests are being cut down due to the industrial revolution. The poetic man says that the mystic drum is no longer beaten loudly. Due to industrial industrialization, African culture is slowly disappearing. That means other Westerners began to rule over Africans. We can say that woman is the embodiment of industrialization. This is the gift of colonialism and imperialism. Industrial industrialization began by sucking the soil through their roots. The smoker from his lips indicates how much pollution is caused by industrial industrialization. In the poem we see that when the drums are beaten I become fish and the fish become men. But, when the mystic stops beating the drums, the males become males and the fish become fish. It reflects that life becomes dry and mechanical.
Conclusion :
