CHAPTER ONE

1.0

Introduction

1.1

The Poet and His Society

Poets have always played a crucial role in their societies dating back to the earliest
known beginning of poetry as a form of art in human societies (Adorno, 1991). Using
particular forms and conventions, they often evoked emotional or sensual responses
from their societies thus acting as the conscience of their societies. During periods of
revolution for example, poets have written poems on freedom, overthrowing cruel
reigns and have also influenced public conscience and opinion. In history, poetry has
always been used to reach out to the common people of the society sometimes even
recording the history of their societies (Fortune, 1972). Poets have therefore always
motivated and inspired people and societies through their verses and have always
uplifted people's feelings in times of distress and discomfort and voiced the feelings of
the downtrodden and minorities in the society. Ogungbesan state that the writer is a
member of a society and his sensibility is conditioned by the social and political
happenings around him. Also Chinua Achebe support this view when he state that
the creative writer does not avoid the big social and political issues of the
contemporary African society.
George Santayanas definition of poetry as metrical discourse in the essay The
Elements and Function of Poetry provides a useful framework for developing ones
own thinking about the role of poets in the society. Any determination of the role of
1

poets in society will, of course, be subject to interpretation and debate. Yet, poetry is
undoubtedly a distinct literary art form. As such, both the historic and current role of
poets in society is to engage, to influence, to inspire in essence to redirect societies
back to its values, its conscience and the poetry is often delivered in languages laden
with the idea and emotions necessary for achieving such.

As such, the role of poets in society is to master language in ways that inspire readers
to experience something transcendent, useful and meaningful for their lives and shape
their conscience. In researching or contemplating the role of poets in society, some
evidence might be found to support the idea that poets are the conscience of the
society. Since literature which includes poetry is the product of a society and its
culture, the poet correlates quite seamlessly with his society. This viewpoint makes
both the poet and his poetry quite able to conscientise his society. However, in order to
fully comprehend the role of poets in society, it is necessary to read poetry, to become
familiar with individual poets and their body of work and ultimately the language used
by the poet. It is on this basis that this work will critically examine Odia Ofeimuns
poetry A Feast of Return.

1.2

Background of the Study

The role of poets and their poetry in the lives of people and societies remains the
subject of an interesting wide array of debates in many circles. Because of their ability
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to awaken some form of realization and actions in the senses of people and societies,
many have termed the poets as the conscience of the society. A good example in this
regard is the Ngritude of the 1930s. It developed as a literary and ideological
movement, developed by francophone black intellectuals, writers, and politicians in
France as solidarity in a common black identity against French colonial racism. Till
date, the success of the negritude has been widely adduced to the effective use of
poetry as the vehicle for catalyzing black consciousness towards the course of the
movement. Founders of the negritude movement such as the Senegalese President
Lopold Sdar Senghor, Aim Csaire, and the Guinean Lon Damas were to later
become renowned and celebrated poets in their various societies.
The same trend was to later characterize the poetic evolution of Apartheid South
Africa. It appears that wherever the condition emerged within the society that troubles
the poet and constitutes an ill in the society, the poet responds by speaking against such
conditions and moving his society through his work to denounce and take action
against such conditions. This role of the poet has led to the black freedom struggle in
the west, the defeat of apartheid in South Africa and the political revolutions in many
societies thus earning the poet his deserved place as the conscience of the society.

1.3

Statement of the problem

In A Feast of Return, Odia Ofeimun presented a sensational story of a proud and

determined people ready to build a common morality that unites diverse nationalities
where racial and ethnic differences exists only in trance. The authors characterization
of the poetry asserts the gapping absence of conscience in a society where racial
oppression and subjugation has become a norm thus necessitating the need for unity as
a societal ideal which should resonate not just across the South African nation where
the drama is cast but across Africa as a continent. Odia Ofeimun therefore believes that
the rise of Apartheid and the eventual resolution of the problem should not be allowed
to lose their historical cut and significance.

The questions therefore to be answered are; is the Poet the Conscience of His Society?
If the Poet is indeed the conscience of his society, how then does Odia Ofeimuns
poem A Feast of Return place the poet as the conscience of his society? Any contextual
analysis of the language, text, style and structure of the poem carried out and all
associated findings of this essay must therefore be located within this context.

1.4

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this essay is to examine the role the poet as the conscience of society
using Odia Ofeimuns A Feast of Return as the basis. Using available data sources and
methodology, the essay aims to provide an understanding of how the poet plays the
4

role of conscience in his society by specifically dwelling on the Odia Ofeimun as the
poet, his work A Feast of Return as the poem and Africa as his Society.
The objective of this essay is therefore to portray aspects of the work A Feast of Return
that vividly makes the writer the conscience of his society and how that mirrors the
universal role of poets as the conscience of their societies.

1.5

Significance of the Study

The poet Odia Ofeimun is a prolific and widely publish poet. His poem A Feast of
Return signifies the struggle to retain the African pride and to protect Africa from
oppression. The poets concern was an impassioned commentary on the situation in
Apartheid South Africa and the African continent as reflected in the pulse of the
oppressed people. A Feast of Return is significant for its extensive sensitivity to the
social realities of the society where it was casted. Odia Ofeimun therefore
accomplished the work with concern of the societal ills around them which impacts on
the conscience of his society. This he did without losing sight of the aesthetic
imperative of the work. The thematic preoccupation therefore remains the desperate
situation of Africa.

Despite the significance of the work however, gaps exist in the literary sphere as to the
critique and analysis of the poets work A Feast of Return. This is obvious from the
dearth of available scholarly assessment of Odia Ofeimun role as the conscience of his
5

society on the basis of his numerous published works. A Feast of Return though have
been widely performed and the message of the poem is drumming up the unique
strength and cultural diversity of the African society which should serve as the
unifying factor in the face of racial oppression and apartheid has been widely
acclaimed, very limited works exists to assess the role of this poet in the light of the
conscience of the African society. This essay will therefore contribute to the body of
knowledge that exists in this area of study as to how poets play the essential role of
being the conscience of their societies.

1.6 Scope and Limitation of the Study

In establishing the conclusion of this essay, the scope of the essay includes:
1. Comparative examination of the position of Odia Ofeimun as the conscience of
his society using his work A Feast of Return.
2. Assessment of the language, style and structure of the poem A Feast of Return.

However, in spite of best of efforts to carry out this essay, there was very limited
secondary as well as primary data to carry out the essay. Most of the data have
therefore been sought from available publications about the author with very limited
focus on the purview of this essay. Therefore, while utmost care has been taken to

research this essay, unique opportunity for further academic research on the subject
still exist.

CHAPTER TWO
2.1 The Poet as Conscience of the Society
The role of the poet as the conscience of his society is perhaps best captured as
Kenneth Rexroth (1936) puts it that I believe that to a certain extent always, but in
modern times especially, the poet, by the very nature of his art, has been an enemy of
society, that is, of the privileged and the powerful. He has sometimes been an ally and
spokesman of the unprivileged and the weak, where such groups were articulate and
organized, otherwise he has waged an individual and unaided war.

To be seen in poets is the fact that, the poet use their voice to speak the deepest
thoughts or the thoughts never spoken by the many too personal, too hurtful, too
unaccepted, too fanciful in tones of melodic harmony or disjointed raucous cacophony.
The poet uses their eyes to see the details never seen or the visions no one dares to
open their eyes to too bright, too dark, too complex for others to see thus giving us
vision the way a few want us to see it. The poet use their ears to hear the languages
unspoken, just sounds, some whispers, or other noises heard all around the world too
soft, too indistinguishable, too foreign, too loud. The poet use their nose, to smell the
fragrant smells, scents adding twists to preferences too pungent, too sweet, too putrid,
too fleeting for descriptions fanciful or exaggerated. The poet use their hands to
write words and ideas after feeling the weight and share words that touch a chord,
giving us reasons to wake up.
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All through the ages of the evolution of the arts and in all societies, the poet bears a
heavy responsibility. Even more interesting is the fact that such responsibility is often
conferred on the poet by fortitude, a responsibility that the poet acquires on the basis of
his calling.

In the very nature of human societies, the conscience of the society is most often the
victim when there is a crisis between self interest and the conscience of the society.
The poets have therefore always proven themselves to be the dogged morals and
conscience of the society and the harbinger of everything just and humane. This is the
point in Percy Shelleys argument when she wrote in her book A Defence of Poetry
published in 1840 that "poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world". By
referring to poets as the legislators of the world, Shelley attempts to prove that poets
are philosophers; that they are the creators and protectors of moral and civil laws; and
that if it were not for poets, scientists could not have developed either their theories or
their inventions. Shelley argued that in every society, Poets introduce and maintain
morality. The morals so created shape the conscience of their societies and are codified
into laws. She argued that the social function or utility of poets is that they create and
maintain the norms and morals of a society. Since Poets are a part of the society they
live in, his sensibilities is shaped by the events happening in his society. Italian poet,
Salvatore Quasimodo (1959) asserts the role of the poet as the conscience of his

society when he wrote the politician wants men to know how to die courageously;
the poet wants men to live courageously.

There exists no doubt that the poet has a responsibility towards society, to work for
what they view as the good of society, even at the cost of passing judgment on aspects
of that society. To function in this manner, dialogue has to occur between the poet and
his society, dialogue that will only be possible if the poet acts with integrity and if the
integrity is widely respected within the society. Implicit within this role of the poet is
the freedom of society to also perceive the poet as an innate voice of conscience which
can either be heeded or ignored.

African poets have mostly fulfilled this universal role of the conscience of the society
especially when events have necessitated this. For instance, the Black Consciousness
of the 1900s in Africa was inspired by political and cultural repression of the Africa
society by colonialists. As noted by Thengani (2009) the wave of African writers that
emerged in this period such as Wole Soyinka, Oswald Mbuyiseni Mtshali, Steve Biko,
Leopold Senghor and many others appeared to shy away at first from the more explicit
medium of prose and took up poetry as a means of conscientising and with
unprecedented results.

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2.2

Poetry as a tool for conscientising the society

As John Foran (2005) noted, the critical function that generations of African poets
have fulfilled in Africa has always been the use of their art to direct the attention of
their audience to the in economic crisis, political repression or social failure of their
societies. In West Africa, for instance, the poets concern was an impassioned
commentary on the situation in the sub-region in a sense that reflected the pulse of the
oppressed people. Notable among the poets in this category in Nigeria are Odia
Ofeimun, Niyi Osundare, Tanure Ojaide, Harry Garuba, Femi Fatoba, Mamam Vatsa,
Okinba Launko, Femi Osofisan, Funso Aiyejina. In Ghana, Kofi Anyidoho, Atukwei
Okai and Kobena Acquah make the frontline. According to Niyi Osundare (1996:27):

Theirs...is the literature of social command, extremely sensitive to

the social realities around them, but without losing sight of the
aesthetic imperative of their works. This generation shocked
African literature with a combativeness and radicalism never
experienced before. The thematic preoccupation remains the
desperate situation of Africa.

Most of these poets who began to write and publish their poems in various magazines
and anthologies from the late 60s of the 20th century began to express their radicalism,
extending it ultimately to the point of individual publication of collections in the 70s
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and beyond. The disappointment of the military political class which exceeded that of
the civilian government in oppressing their subjects becomes the preoccupation of
these poets. The subtext of this is that the people have lost confidence in both forms of
leadership. In Odia Ofeimuns debut, The Poet Lied (1980), there is a directness that
shows the indictment of the leadership in the various crises into which the Nigerian
nation had been plunged, especially the three-year long internecine civil war between
1967 and 1970.

This radicalism was also to be seen in the bias of most of these poets for socialist
ideology, a consciousness which defined the problem in the region as primarily class
based. This view was to be further promoted by the Ibadan-Ife School through various
fora and conferences (Georg Gubelberger 1998: 52; Femi Osofisan 2001: 172; Titi
Adepitan 2002:66). Niyi Osundares collections, Songs of the Marketplace (1983), The
Eye of the Earth (1986), and Village Voices (1984) especially, are significant in this
direction. He, like others in this generation, clearly highlights the dissection between
the ambitions of the rich and the ruling class and the dispossession of the poor masses
in society. This is done by asserting that the lot of the poor is a direct consequence of
the ambitions and comfort of the rich and the ruling class.

It is in relation to the above that one must realize that African Poets have consistently
manifested the tendency to demystify the esoteric aura created around the art of poetry
12

hence the indirect creation of a society with a clearly visible appreciation for the Art.
The evolution of the present new generation of African Poets has been mostly adduced
to this fact. Again, Osundares Poetry is (1983:3-4) is germane here. As a
representative poetic manifesto, poetry must bear its meaning to all in society; hence,
poetry is/ man/ meaning/ to/ man Harry Garuba (2003:5). This populist tendency is
perhaps best illustrated with Odia Ofeimuns Prologue. Unlike his precursor of the
first generation who sat on an alpine altitude from which he textualized his poems,
Ofeimun illustrates the need to make the utility of his art common knowledge among
his people. This he does by descending from his esoteric height and sitting right in
their midst:
I have come down
to tell my story by the fireside
around which
my people are gathered. (The Poet Lied, 1)

In the East and Central African sub-regions, military dictatorships were relatively less,
yet the regions experienced a consolidated tradition of civilian tyranny. The continual
drift in commitment on the part of the leadership was to expectedly produce a new
poetic tradition far from the narrative and expository rhetoric of David Rubadiris
Stanley Meets Mutesa, or the succeeding post-colonial socio-cultural conflict that
pBiteks Song of Lawino and Song of Ocol dwelt upon. The selfish tendencies of this
13

ruling class were to become the focus of Kenyas Jared Angira whose talent for apt
and felicitous phrasing combine with a sense of humour (Senanu and Vincent 2003:
300), and which found complement in his scathing sarcasm as shown in his collections:
Juices (1970), Soft Corals (1974), and The Year Goes By (1980). This view is best
illustrated perhaps with No Coffin, no Grave, a poem which combines the properties
of dramatic satire to show the folly of the esurient flair of the ruling class for material
acquisition at the expense of their citizens who wallow in abject poverty.

Concerning South Africa, Lewis Nkosi (1988: p50) argues that the period of real selfdefinition for South African Poets and indeed other poets across Africa would be the
periods in her literature between the 50s to the 70s. This is because of what he
describes as our single epic theme (which then was) still apartheid. Michael
Chapman (2002: p498), however, is quick to contest this by pointing to the period of
the interregnum and in fact poets of the interregnum; that is, poets who had to take
the initiative of filling the space left behind by poets of the first generation such as the
Brutus and Kunene. For by the mid 1960s, apartheid had succeeded in banning all
publications by black writers that reflected on the injustice of the society. The situation
was worsened by the fact that most of these poets had been forced into exile or
committed to prison. As a result, between this time and the early 70s there was a
serious dearth of any form of literary creativity by black writers. It was this yearning
against a creative vacuum that produced a second generation of black poets sometimes
14

referred to as poets of Black Consciousness, or Soweto poets in South Africa. That

their poetry was employed at this point in time as a medium of liberation struggle can
hardly be denied, since the kind of poetry produced at this period was framed
essentially by the need to actualize the Steve Biko mandate of pumping black life into
the empty shell of the black man (Ritske Zuidema 2002: p12). What is more, poems
could be performed orally in front of large audiences, and because of their brevity, and
density, they could be turned into effective carriers of urgent political messages. This
development was again unique in the sense that the reemergence of poetry was almost
to the exclusion of other forms of literature. In an exposition by Nadine Gordimer
(1976:p132-133), this was because other forms, especially fiction, were considered by
the apartheid government as particularly explicit in treating matters which were at the
core of black agitation and opposition. It was this situation that inspired young black
writers to seek a less vulnerable mode of literature with which to give expression to
an ever greater pressure of grim experience. From printing in the little magazines and
journals like The Classic (Michael Chapman 2007:11), the second generation of South
African poets emerged with their individual publications. Prominent among these are
Mongane Wally Serote, Njabulo Ndebele, Oswald Mtshali, and Casey Motsis.

Despite the censorship and inhibiting space they inhabited, they found a propitious
medium in poetry and, their poetry states, in varying degrees of subtlety and
explicitness, that they will remain human, alive and free in the face of whatever
15

destructive forces outside reality might be aiming at them. This is a form of

psychological self preservation and the most effective vehicle for it is poetry. (Robert
Royston 1973:7). The result of this resolution was the production of a vibrant tradition
of poetry which held sway and held the fort for other literary forms while the evil days
of apartheid lasted.

In view of the above and especially on the unifying theme of Apartheid, Odia
Ofeimuns A Feast of Return is easily tipped as a contribution in this direction.
Though, the poet himself is a West African, his African-ness is seen in his interest in
the theme of apartheid in South Africa. He is therefore considered especially in the
West African sub-region as the voice that blazed the trail for his generation especially
with his work A Feast of Return under African Skies (2000). The debates generated by
his works have significantly contributed to the shaping of the literary tradition.

2.3 Poet in pre independent era

Africa, being a continent containing 55 countries, each with a wealth of cultures and
particular histories, encompasses a wide variety of traditions and evolving trends,
within the different literary genres. Poetry in Africa is a large and complex subject, not
least "because there are literally thousands of indigenous languages spoken in Africa
and many more dialects, every African country has an official language (or 11 in the

16

case of South Africa). This official language acts as the 'lingua franca' for (at least) a
reasonably sized region."

Slavery and colonization, with its devastating impacts on the majority of these
countries, also resulted in English, Portuguese and French, as well as Creole or pidgin
versions of these European languages being spoken and written by Africans across the
continent.

According to Dr Joseph A. Ushie of the Department of English, University of Uyo,

Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria, "Modern written African poetry has a double heritage
pre-colonial and Western. As in most post-colonial situations, the tilt of our writing
should be more towards the pre-colonial African literary heritage as manifested in the
song, dirge, folktale, elegy, panegyric or riddle. Essentially, such art was meant for the
whole community rather than for a few initiates."
This perspective contextualises the historical, political and indigenous cultural
dynamics that shaped both the written and oral forms of literature (orature) of Africa
past and present. If African orature depends on community and social setting, it can be
said that orature "grows out of tradition, and keeps tradition alive". Present day spoken
word and performance poetry, with its multi-dimensional forms of expression
incorporating song, storytelling narratives, rhythm, rhyme, verse, movement/dance
plus the modern media forms of digital recording, composition and video projection,
17

can be viewed as logical evolutions of the ancient indigenous oral traditions. The
internet has also emerged over the last ten to fifteen years as a publishing channel for
the promotion of both written and performed African poetry, acceleratd by Africa's
global access.
Pre-colonial era
There are numerous examples of pre-colonial Africa literature spanning the length and
breadth of the continent, from scripts documenting the kings of Ethiopian and
Ghanaian Ghanaian empires, as wells as popular folklore in a host of native languages,
through to Malis famous manuscripts of Tumbuktu, dating from the 16th to the 18th
centuries, with the wide array subject matter including astronomy, poetry, law, history,
faith, politics, and philosophy among others. In medieval times Arabic and Swahili
Swahili literature was amassed by the universities of North Africa.[4] Poetry as an art
form has undergone several phases of evolution from pre-colonial to colonial and then
to post-colonial eras in most African countries. As an example, in the pre-colonial era
in Nigeria the most populated country in Africa and a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual
nation, poetry was unwritten. "There existed a thin line between poets and musicians,
who composed and rendered poetry in musical form. Poets then published their works
in form of renditions at funerals, marriage ceremonies, with themes focussed on
praising virtues and condemning vices in society."

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Colonial era
While the West bears record of African literature from the period of colonisation and
the slave trade, particularly of works by Africans using acquired Western languages as
their medium of expression, the thriving oral traditions of the time particularly if in
mothertongue, were not recognised for their artistic value or the richness and
significance of their content.

Generated by the Atlantic Slave Trade and its opposition, from the 1780s onward, an
astonishing and unprecedented array of texts appeared, both pro- and anti-slavery:
poems, novels, plays, histories, sermons, speeches, newspaper columns and letters,
travelogues, medical treatises, handbills, broadsides, songs, children's books. Africans
authors writing in this period, along with the abolitionists and apologists, raise
questions about the relation of British Romanticism to colonialism and slavery.[6]
Themes of liberation, independence and ngritude among Africans in Frenchcontrolled territories, began to permeate African literature in the late colonial period
between the end of World War I and independence. Lopold Sdar Senghor published
the first anthology of French-language poetry written by Africans in 1948. He was one
of the leaders of the ngritude movement and eventual President of Senegal.

19

2.4 Liberation Struggle and Independence Era

It is the political, economic, social and cultural events of a society that shape its
literature. In his essay "Homecoming" (1972), Kenyan writer Ngg wa Thiong'o
makes this stance very clear when he says:
Literature does not grow or develop in a vacuum; it is given impetus, shape, direction
and even area of concern by the social, political and economic forces in a particular
society. The relationship between creative literature and other forces cannot be ignored
especially in Africa, where modern literature has grown against the gory background of
European imperialism and its changing manifestations: slavery, colonialism and neocolonialism. Our culture over the last hundred years has developed against the same
stunting, dwarfing background.
Many African poets suffered greatly and were compelled to cast aside their artistic
vocations in order to be involved in the liberation struggles of their peoples.
Christopher Okigbo was killed in the 1960s' civil war in Nigeria; Mongane Wally
Serote was detained under South Africa's Terrorism Act No 83 of 1967; his
countryman Arthur Norje committed suicide in London in 1970; Malawi's Jack
Mapanje was incarcerated with neither charge nor trial; and in 1995, Ken Saro-Wiwa
died by the gallows of the Nigerian junta.

20

According to Sam Awa of University of Lagos' Department of English "Moreover,

African literature is protest in nature. It comes as a reaction to various forms of
injustices meted out on Africans by the colonial masters and later, post-colonial
masters."
Postcolonial African literature
To have any sense of evolving African poetics, one must be aware of the sociopolitical significance of literary expression and the ideological character of literary
theory.
Most African nations gained their independence in the 1950s and 1960s and with
liberation and increased literacy, African literature written in English, French and
Portuguese and traditional African languages, has grown dramatically in quantity and
in global recognition of this work. Ali A. Mazrui and others mention seven conflicts as
themes: the clash between Africa's past and present, between tradition and modernity,
between indigenous and foreign, between individualism and community, between
socialism and capitalism, between development and self-reliance and between
Africanity and humanity. Other themes in this period include social problems such as
corruption, the economic disparities in newly independent countries, and the rights and
roles of women. Female writers are today far better represented in published African
literature than they were prior to independence.

21

Donna Seaman writes:

The editors of this haunting anthology of poetry, both African-born poets themselves,
have selected work by women poets from 18 African countries, from Algeria to
Senegal, Mauritius and Zimbabwe. A historical note is struck by the anthology's oldest
poem, an obelisk inscription composed by Queen Hatshepsut of Egypt, while a modern
Egyptian poet, Andre Chedid, epitomizes the dignity of the collection with her
powerfully spare and provocative mediations. Unlike Queen Hatshepsut, most African
women suffer tyranny, sexism and poverty and toil in silence and anonymity. Chedid
writes, "Often from a point without place / I stifle my story / From past to future / I
conjugate the horizon." For many of these poets, the world is unrelentingly cruel, and
they belie their vulnerability with stoicism.
In 1986 Nigerian writer, poet and playwright, Wole Soyinka became the first postindependence African writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.
African poetry today
Since the 1960s, political, economic, and cultural events have begun to shape African
poetry. Gone are the days when the shades of colonialism were an unending
preoccupation of African poets. In modern African poetry, works that focus on the
healing and purging of the country and families have dominated African poetry. Poets
in Africa have faced issues in ways that not only explain how indigenous cultures are
absorbed by western standards but also how limiting in vision their leaders have been.

22

In January 2000, Against All Odds: African Languages and Literatures into the 21st
Century,[13] the first conference on African languages and literatures ever to be held
on African soil took place, with participants from east, west, north, southern Africa and
from the diaspora and by writers and scholars from around the world. Delegates
examined the state of African languages in literature, scholarship, publishing,
education and administration in Africa and throughout the world, celebrating the
vitality of African languages and literatures and affirming their potential.
Publication
Over the last two decades, aside from individual collections of poetry by African
writers, established literary reviews and journals featuring these poets, a significant
number of anthologies of African poetry have been published, predominantly by
university presses around the world and increasingly by African scholars based or
associated with these institutions. In his article "The Critical Reception of Modern
African Poetry" Oyeniyi Okunoye of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria,
criticises publications such as Modern Poetry from Africa, co-edited by Gerald Moore
and Ulli Beier (1963), and A Book of African Verse by John Reed and Clive Wake
(1969), "for operating within a tradition that is pretentious in claiming the African
identity for works that do not truly project diverse African experiences".
In contrast recent anthologies not only document the evolution of African poetry in
more recent times with greater objectivity and insight, but they are bringing to light
and ever-expanding range of African voices. They reflect greater cultural, gender,
23

generational diversity and a widening scope of themes, styles, and ideologies, as well
as alternative framing of these works by virtue of their editorial approaches. A few
notable recently published anthologies of this kind are The New African Poetry: An
Anthology which launched its 5th edition in 2007, The New Century of South African
Poetry (ed. Michael Chapman), New Poets of West Africa (ed. Tuan Sallah), The
Trickster's Tongue: An Anthology of Poetry in Translation from Africa and the African
Diaspora by Mark de Brito. Works of literary criticism and academic investigation are
equally important in understanding and appreciating African poetry and Ideology and
Form in African Poetry: Implications for Communication and Coming Home: Poems
of Africa, the works of Emmanuel Ngara are particularly useful in the regard.

Also significantly contributing to this worldwide exposure of African poets, are online
platforms and networks showcasing African poetry, such as Poetry Web International,
Badilisha Poetry Radio and International Pen all of which give spotlight to both the
written and spoken word forms, established and emerging voices from the African
continent.

2.5

Other notable poets of conscience

All across societies, Africa and beyond, the emergence of poets whose incorrigible
conscience have served to redirect their societies to the good of all is to be seen.
These poets are very aptly referred to as Poets of Conscience and Odia Ofeimun
24

ranks among this lot. In West Africa, notable among the poets include Niyi Osundare,
Tanure Ojaide, Harry Garuba, Femi Fatoba, Mamam Vatsa, Okinba Launko, Femi
Osofisan, Funso Aiyejina, Kofi Anyidoho, Atukwei Okai, Kobena Acquah. Others
include Leopold Sedar Senghor, Wole Soyinka, Christopher Okigbo, Agostinho Neto,
to mention an arbitrarily representative few. Africa to the West, East, North and South
is replete with them which will be too numerous to mention. Similar to this are also
poets from Europe, the Americas, Middle East and Asia who have played the critical
role of conscientising their societies in times when the conscience of man has been
called to question. Some of the early names include Leipoldt and Langenhoven, who
wrote the national anthem ("Die Stem"). Early poetry often deal with the Anglo-Boer
War, and it is only in the 1930s that poetry reaches a significant literary standard. N. P.
van Wyk Louw is the vanguard of the new movement, called Dertigers, along with his
brother WEG Louw, and Elisabeth Eybers, although they were all to write in future
literary periods. Olivier notes Van Wyk Louw's predominance: "It was only in the
Thirties that a fully developed theory about Afrikaans as a national literature was
launched by the erudite poet, N. P. van Wyk Louw, in his two collections of essays
Lojale verset (1939) and Berigte te velde (1939)". Van Wyk Louw introduced
international literary theories and movements into the South African literary scene on a
much larger scale than any of his predecessors, and his "theory provided the
intellectual and philosophical space within which poets and novelists could exercise
their craft without fear of transgression; in short, it became the paradigm for Afrikaans
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literature" (Olivier). DJ Opperman started writing in the 1940s, and was to have a
particularly prominent role with his anthology, Groot Verseboek. The next major
paradigm shift came in the 1960s, with T. T. Cloete and Ingrid Jonker, who, after her
death, attained cult status. Cloete et al. discuss this literary watershed in Rondom
Sestig. T. T. Cloete is further noteworthy for his compilation, Literre Terme en
Teorie (1992), which is one of the most encompassing works on literary theory
available on the global market, although written in Afrikaans. Some modern poets of
note include Joan Hambidge, Hennie Aucamp, Ernst van Heerden, Antjie Krog and
Gert Vlok Nel. Breyten Breytenbach is regarded by many as one of the best, if not the
best, Afrikaans poet. He spent a number of years in prison for his political beliefs
during apartheid and later lived in France. Breytenbach's latest work, "Die
windvanger" was published in 2007. The major poetry anthologies are DJ Opperman's
Groot Verseboek, Foster and Viljoen's Poskaarte, Gerrit Komrij's controversial Die
Afrikaanse posie in 1000 en enkele gedigte, and Andr P. Brink's Groot Verseboek, a
remake or reworking of Opperman's anthology

2.6 The man Odia Ofeimun

ODIA OFEIMUN was born in Iruekpen-Ekuma, Edo state, Nigeria, in 1950. He
worked as a news reporter, factory labourer and civil servant before studying Political
Science at the University of Ibadan in 1975. Ofeimun has worked as an administrative
officer in the Federal Public Service Commission, as a teacher, as Private (Political)

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Secretary to Chief Obafemi Awolowo, leader of the Unity Party of Nigeria, and as a
member of the editorial board of The Guardian Newspapers.
During the locust years of General Sani Abachas regime. He has been publicity
secretary (1982-84), general secretary (1984-88) and president (1993-97) of the
Association of Nigerian Authors.
Ofeimuns published collections of poetry include The Poet Lied (1980), A Handle For
The Flutist (1986), Dreams At Work and London Letter And Other Poems (2000) and
his poems for dance drama, A Feast of Return Under the African Skies (1992) which
engage themes across African and South African history.
Odia Ofeimuns A Feast of Return was aptly billed as A showpiece Dance Drama.
The poem is, metaphorically, a performance which replicates the traditional Bantu
ceremony where the dead return to the communal village square to relive significant
experiences in their lives in an epic narrative ritual format that takes the audience
through a kaleidoscopic travesty of the different phases of their existential journey, as
exiles, ex-prisoners, guerrilla fighters and the other sequences which navigates the
riddles of universal existence and the changing fortunes of King, Commoner, Warrior,
pacifist, migrant worker and nationalist in the history of South Africa, from the time of
King Dingiswayo and Shaka Zulu through the period of anti-apartheid struggle to the
period that gave South Africa its Rainbow Coalition in the last decade of the 20th
century and beyond. Odia Ofeimun is one of Nigerias leading literary giants.

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Now, Ofeimun was rehearsing a dance piece that gives affirmation to that historical
fiat some 100 years ago when the woman who saw some affinity between his son and
that white man joined her ancestors. As Ofeimun himself put the coincidence of his
mother's passing, "It suggested a poetic conjuncture requiring a second look at my
personal mythology in relation to national history.
"As it happened, I was named after Frederick Lord Lugard, the thug of the Royal Niger
Company transformed into a statesman by his amalgamation... The poems being
rehearsed for dance drama on the day she died turned out to have a lot to do with
Frederick Lugard and the amalgamation. Evidently, she had something for the
amalgamator, which made her return to the ancestors on that day virtually a matter of
fate. Whether it was wish, will or accident, she had cornered the dance drama for the
celebration of her life... In my personal mythology, Lugard has always featured as an
indelible notation of origins".
Indeed, Ofeimun's mother, Onomonresoa, an Esan word, which means 'daughters who
will be, or are, outlived by, and celebrated, that is, taken home, by their own children'
became a focal point of poetic celebration at her death, with the gathering together
some Nigerian poets at her graveside. And so she was taken home by her many 'poet
children', who serenaded a poet's mother home.

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On Thursday, at Edo State University, Ekpoma, near Ofeimun's Iruekpen town, the
performance of Because of 1914 was held, which, according to its writer, is a drama
that enables a people "to reason out their space in the enigma of history, how a people
reason out their space in order to have a good life - no matter how defined; it's the
dance drama which I have given poetic accreditation", as it seeks to come to terms with
the logic of the coming together a disparate peoples. Like his other dance dramas Under African Skies, A Feast of Return, Nigeria the Beautiful and Itoya: A Dance for
Africa - Because of 1914 is couched in high optimism and celebratory of the fated
union of the North and South and what needs to be made out of it for generations to
come.
But the dance drama became an inkling of what poetic gesture was to come in
celebrating a mother. A collection of poems, Onomonressoa, also in honour of
Ofeimun's mother, was put together by fellow poet and teacher, Dr. Obari Gomba of
English and Literary Studies, University of Port Harcourt, who was longlisted for The
Nigerian Prize for Literature 2013. It's an anthology of Nigerian poets on mothers and
motherhood and features a fine blend of old and young poets alike.
Even the dedication of the collection is telling in its mastery of the subject, "This is to
you/Mama

Elizabeth

Onomonresoa

Ofeimun/Mother

of

Poet,

Odia

the

Owanlen/Mother of minstrels and minstrelsy/We have gathered our songs/To take you
home". According to its editor, Gomba, Onomonresoa "is the first in a series

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examining the triumphs and travails of our times within a venturous pursuit of a
thematic approach to the appreciation of poetry. Although only Nigerian poets are
represented here, the evident ambition is a comprehensive coverage of a theme - in this
case, the theme of mothers and motherhood - in the spirit of an international festival of
creativity that proudly gives centrality to poetry.
"The suasion is simple: to celebrate one mother in the context of other mothers and
motherhood in general. The result is this wide-bodied, rambling and supremely selfengrossed anthology, dutifully and artfully put together".
After the internment of Onomonresoa in the house her son named after her, poets
gathered again in the evening to properly serenade her home in a festival of songs and
poems. Although her only son, Ofeimun couldn't complete the house he built for
Onomonresoa nor take her to see it before her passing, it nonetheless became a
symbolic place of songs for mothers, who have been, who are, and who will be
remembered by poets ever-after.
The role call was modest but impressive - Prof. Kole Omotoso, Canada-based Prof.
Onookome Okome, House of Representatives aspirant, Dr. Ogaga Ifowodo, Dr. Obari
Gomba, Deinbofa Ere, Iquo Diana-Abasi Eke, Monday Michael, the all-girl musical
group, Topsticks and, of course, Odia Ofeimun among others.
There were indeed moments of explosive poetic performances that had the audience
immensely thrilled. Although he read '60 lines by the Lagoon', it was Ifowodo's recital
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of Wole Soyinka's classic poem, 'Abiku' from memory, with some audience members
mouthing the famous lines alongside, that further gave that poem its undimming shine.
As always, the poem evoked a mother's pains, especially for a woman like
Onomonresoa, who had to bear repeated miscarriages in her search for another son
after her first; it resonated poignantly.
Also explosive was Iquo Eke's love piece, 'Say my name', a pillowy love poem that
evokes the urgency of a love being extracted from a man at his most vulnerable point
when he has no choice but to succumb to the woman's unrelenting coquetry and
assault.
Topsticks, as always, also gave a good account, and showed why it's a group to look
our for in the years to come. Even when the instruments were only rudimentary, and
not plugged onto speakers or amplifiers, they were undeterred. With the active
participation of the audience, which rose and danced to the highlife tunes the allfemale band pelted out, it became a ball. These poets, known for their constant
ruminations, slid off their poet togas and seats and danced roundly to the music. It was
a wonder and even Okome had to acknowledge it for the poets!
For Ofeimun, the Onomonresoa's House will be a place for poets and the arts
generally. It was one of the promises he made to his mother as a boy, to build her a
house. Although it came late it would still fulfill a bigger role than he'd envisaged it!

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CHAPTER THREE
3.0 Introduction
3.1 Theme and style of the poem.
Odia Ofeimuns A feast of Return focus his theme on pre-colonial self assertion,
colonial disquiet and Africas struggle for independence, unity and democracy. Odia
use the south Africa fabula as a means of telling the African story.
At the start of the poem LIBATION
Stanza three:
Where the past heckles the
bones of divination
and fear stirs the horns of doubt
to defeat our pathfinders
we speak the idioms of libation
to reach the unborn. (page 2)
The poem tells us about the worries of the ancestors how they fight for the future
generation not to experience what they have experienced. The second poem which is
the Bantu poem raises question about the future.
When shall we arrive?
That is, when are we going to arrive at where and how we were as blacks. In the third
poem: Dingiswayo
that shot began the wrench of psyche
That turned our world upside down
Surely, this was a new age of iron
Not a time to be a nomad.
Whatever the chalk of grace that marked
It was no time to be far from home
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Therefore, this poem was able to established the fact that it is the white seduction that
brought us were we are now, the age of iron.
Moreover, the poem emphasizes Odia Ofeimuns thematic focus. Which is assaults,
deprivation and Africa struggle for independence.
In stanza eleven of the Apartheid: Mother And Child
Woman:
Now I remember his words. He used to say:
Keep the assegais in your heart, my girl
Never fear people who try
To destroy what you are
Anger, he said, is better than fear
Contempt is better response than shame
When evil lies in ambush on the streets
In lines three, we see revolutionary voice, here Odia shows that revolution is better
than protest, and that we should not be ashamed of been blacks. Odias style is seen in
his figurative use of language, elevated diction and imagery to teach moral lessons in
the bid to uplift the society and make life better than what it is.
Odias language use is accessible, it is simple and not complicated. Odia uses familiar
figures and images that do not perplex the reader. For example in the poem Apartheid:
Demolition Day
bulldozers droning like monstrous insect
ready to pound our hovels down to dust
in the stanza he used imagery and simile. And also in Apartheid: Mother and Child
We have figurative expression like:
When evil lies in ambush on the streets

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Here he uses apostrophe. Most of Odias poem are written in free verse. The tradition
of rigid lines and rhyming Patterns is almost completely not used by him. He also uses
repetition to create emphasis for instance in: A COMMONERS CHANT
Who does not want the rain of peace
To make the millet grow?
Who does not want the rain of peace?
To make the corn grow?
Consequently, Odia Ofeimun employs this techniques to drive home the message of his
poems. He is totally committed to the cause of the African society.
3.2 The Structure Of The poem
Odias structure of A feast of Return shows his commitment to the African society.
If we look at the poem SHAKA:
We must build a strong nation
express the poets revolutionary ideas in his quest for change in the African continent.
Odia in the poem A COMMONERS CHANT
After war and after the poet of combat
Has sold his lyrics to the god of absolute power
The poem depicts Odias passionate commitment to public issues and social causes. He
structured the poem as a strategy to effect revolutionary change in the African society.
Also in the poem LIBERATION STRUGGLE in lines one to six (1-6)
You do not have to see to believe it
That we did not have to choose
We have been chosen by an age of struggle
To testify, to testify, to testify.
We have leant to join voice to voice
To stop our hearts from weakening.

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Here Odia structure ze the poem to depict the struggle for emancipation or freedom. He
therefore conscientize the society by showing our leaders resistance because of their
corrupt attitude. The masses or the ruled are the sufferers who are affected by their
leaders corruptness.
All these structures are used for him (Odia) to express the societal ills of his society,
thereby showing him as the conscience and voice of the masses.
3.3. Characterization in A Feast of Return
The priestess of memory in the poem in not a historical but a fictional personage, a
respect worthy narrator and setter of scenes who is sometimes a participant in the feast
of return and the history that is unfolding on stage. Her role belongs to a determinate
character whose appearance should evoke spiritual dimensions that are peculiar to
traditional African worship, she must be loveable, awe - inducing.
At the heart of the libation scene , the dancers are literally for her and around her. She
represents the principles.
Dingiswayo is the founding ancestors. He had gone into exile, encountered the
incursion of the white swallows, foreseen the dangerous world about to unfold. He
hastens home to prepare his people for the dance that heralds his emergence on stage
should have characters dressed for and performing the stones that he narrates. A visual
narrative should accompany his verbal exposition of his time. In the received history,
he was a man of peace, in the age of the long spear, who loved wine and women. In the
end, he was seduced and lured away by, women from a neighbouring Kingdom who
got him drunk and then tortured him to death.
He needs to be seen in a dance while sinister - looking warriors are prowling about to
strike. His death signals the beginning of the troubles: with rise of Shaka of Zululand.
Shaka comes into the pictures. Of commanding physiques, a royal bearing with
evident bias for a military get-up. He is still however the generalissimo on the make.
The Difaquane, Lobengula, the Apartheid is for the ordinary sufferer under the racist
regime in South Africa.
The liberation struggle is avante gardist who is faithful to the South African situation.

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3.4 Effect On the conscience of the authors society.

Odias poem has inspired Africa to get out of our dependency. His message urge the
younger generation to take the battle forward.
The societies expressions shows how impressed or thrilled they are about the African
liberation and the imperative for a greater tomorrow, that is shown in Odias A Feast of
Return.
A Feast of Return reveals the need for the awakening of the African mind, the poem
creates existential awareness in the African society.
Moreover, there is self orientation of the African revolutionary ideas. Odia is indeed
the conscience of his society.
We can see the effect of a feast of return from the comment of other poet like Harry
Garuba who discusses Odia to be a passionate poet that is commented to public issues.
Also patience Iziengbe was motivated when she dwells on the mobilizing power of
Odia Ofeimums poetry.
These strategies Odia uses to show that revolutionary change can be achieved, is
effected in the African, especially, the Nigerian society. And these are defiance,
resistance as well as physical destruction. These has help the society to see that it is the
common people that bear the brunt or better still suffer the brunt. The author has really
used the poem to conscientize the society.

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