Ode To African Child

Oh! African child, the temple A redient beauty of nature Thou are the cradle capital Of humanity and creatures The founder of patriarchal Oh! African child, The coy the toy of the wife Beauty of nature and life The belike of Bowie knife To war at still life rife strife The child of joy the best of hymns We beseech thee in betimes Thy streamlet in our dreams Screaming in daydreams Like a storm in the Midstreams African child, maker of BC From AD back the AC The brain of agony and glossy The married the plea and mercy Oh child of my fathers, prostrate Crowns at thy feet for thy odelet To sublime prime respect When thy pen upon d sky soar-th 1925 your maiden calleth Upon a round table thought The earth ornates thou as great Oh! rejoice thou art great For the kingdom belongeth (By Opurum Precious poet, writer and critic Nigeria) copyright © odiboyp 27/07/2016 POETIC ANALYSIS OF THE POEM ODE TO AFRICAN CHILD BY OPURUM PRECIOUS (odiboyp) The poem "ODE TO AFRICAN CHILD" by Precious odiboy is a poem that praises African children. The poet praises African children to a certain height In stanza one, he presents the beauty and uniqueness of African children. He sees the African children as the returning of nature and the beginning of human race as well as creatures. Thus: "A redient beauty of nature Thou are the cradle capital Of humanity and creatures" Here , the poet maintains that African children are distinct from other children in the world. In stanza two, the poet presents the African child asthe beauty of nature and the joy of motherhood as well as the Sharp sword to fight against conflicts. In stanza three, he compares to beautiful songs as he praises them to come at the right time. He also compares the loneliness childlessness can cause to a woman and the emotional discomfort. Thus: 'The child of joy the best of hymns We beseech thee in betimes Thy streamlet in our dreams Screaming in daydreams Like a storm in the Midstreams' In stanza four, the poet sees the child as the maker of history from the past to the present. That is, before and after the time of Christ. In stanza five, the poet declares that kings and great men bow for children in praise and respect due to their value in heaven and earth. In the last stanza, the poet references the first World Conference held about children issues in 1925 which results to Children's Day today. He maintains that everything on earth honours children. Finally, he concludes that children should rejoice because the kingdom of God belongs to them as the bible says. POETIC DEVICES Diction: the language of the poem is very simple and straight forward to understand. The poet used some archaic words like 'beseech, betimes, belike, calleth, belongeth soar-th etc to foreground the figurative meaning of the poem. Metaphor: the whole of stanza one is built of metaphor. Examples: Oh African child, the temple. The cradle of capital etc Apostrophe: this is seen in stanza three, thus: We beseech thee in betimes. Simile: Like a storm in the Midstreams Allusion: Examples: maker of BC from AD back the AC: your maiden calleth (historical allusion). For the kingdom belongeth (biblical allusion) Metonym: Examples Crowns at thy feet for thy odelet: When thy pen upon d sky soar-th (stanza five). Upon a round table thought (stanza six) Imagery: brain of agony (stanza four), the crown (stanza five), round table (last stanza) etc Alliteration: still-life-rife-strife ( stanza two) Rhyme scheme ababa, cdddd, eeeee, ffff, gggg, ggggg Mood: happiness, hope Tone: praise