Christopher Okigbo: Poems Literary Elements

Christopher Okigbo: Poems Literary Elements

Speaker or Narrator, and Point of View

The poems are related from the perspective of a first person subjective narrator.

Form and Meter

The poems are written in an iambic pentameter.

Metaphors and Similes

The thunder is the main metaphor used in the poem "Hurrah for Thunder’’. The thunder is used in this context as a metaphor for the destructive power of human kind.

Alliteration and Assonance

We find alliteration in the line "If they share the meat let them remember thunder.’’

Irony

In the poem "Love Apart’’ the narrator mentions the way young couples delude themselves. He claims many believe they are together and that their relationship will make them feel less lonely. He notes however ironically that most of the time more people feel lonelier in a relationship that they feel when they are single.

Genre

Narrative poems.

Setting

The poem "Hurrah for Thunder’’ takes place in Africa.

Tone

The tone used in the poems is a mocking one.

Protagonist and Antagonist

In the poem "Hurrah for Thunder" the protagonist is the elephant and the antagonists are the hunters.

Major Conflict

The major conflict in the poem "Hurrah for Thunder’" is between the natural world in Africa and the civilized world.

Climax

The poem "Hurrah for Thunder" reaches its climax when the elephant is defeated.

Foreshadowing

The first line in the poem "Hurrah for Thunder’’ foreshadows the fall of the elephant.

Understatement

In the poem "Hurrah for Thunder’’ the narrator mentions how the elephant was taken down by the thunder. This is however an understatement as the narrator later reveals that the hunters took down the elephant.

Allusions

The elephant’s power is alluded in the line when the narrator describes him as pulling four big trees with just a wave of his hand. This has the purpose of making the reader understand just how powerful the animal is in comparison with the other creatures.

Metonymy and Synecdoche

The term "grass’’ is used in the poem as a general term to make reference to humans and the human society.

Personification

No personification can be found.

Hyperbole

We find a personification in the line "If I don’t learn to shut my mouth I’ll soon go to hell’’.

Onomatopoeia

We find an onomatopoeia in the line "I, Okigbo, town-crier’’.

Update this section!

You can help us out by revising, improving and updating this section.

Update this section

After you claim a section you’ll have 24 hours to send in a draft. An editor will review the submission and either publish your submission or provide feedback.