Songs of Sorrow - An African Lamentation

byIBody-Lawson

57 followers

1 year ago

Hello Folks,

Did you know that around certain communities in equatorial Africa when a prominent person [Defined either in industry, business, politics or traditional] dies the event is often referred to others as an 'Iroko Tree' has fallen?

I got up this morning with the news that such a prominent personality domiciled not too far from my humble abode passed on to eternity. May his gentle soul rest in perfect peace.

Having a solemn undertone, I remembered my school-days when I used to embrace poetry as a favorite pastime. One of the poems came to mind, found in the Poems of Black Africa collection, which was curated by renown Nigerian Author, Poet and Literally Critic Wole Soyinka.

This poem was written by Kofi Awoonor. Who is Kofi Awoonor?

Kofi Awoonor, [Born George Kofi Nyidevu Awoonor-Williams] was born in Wheta in the then Upper Volta Region of present-day Ghana on March 13th 1935.

He was educated in Achimota School followed by the University of Ghana where he graduated in 1966.

After graduation, he gained employment at the Ghana Film Corporation where he earned the foundation to be able to Pioneer the development of the Theater and Drama sector in the country.

Other 'red feathers' added to his cap includes being a diplomat and a Poet. He has many Literary works attached to his name and one of which we are going to recite in the next section of this blog.

The dark and solemn element revisits our post again. Unfortunately, Kofi Awoonor was killed in the 21st of September 2013 attack at the West Gate Shopping Mall in Nairobi Kenya

Below is one of his works to honor his legacy and the life of 'The Iroko Tree' who passed on to eternity earlier today.

By Kofi Awoonor,

Dzobese Lisa has treated me thus.

It has led me among the sharps of the forest

Returning is not possible

And going forward is a great difficulty

The affairs of this world are like the chameleon feces

Into which I have stepped

When I clean it cannot go.

I am on the world's extreme corner,

I am not sitting in the row with the eminent

But those who are lucky

Sit in the middle and forget

I am on the world's extreme corner

I can only go beyond and forget

My people, I have been somewhere

If I turn here, the rain beats me

If I turn there, the sun burns me

The firewood of this world

Is for only those who can take heart

That is why not all can gather it

The world is not good for anybody

But you are so happy with your fate

Alas! the travelers are back

All covered with debt

Something has happened to me

The things so great that I cannot weep

I have no sons to fire the gun when I die

And no daughter to wail when I close my mouth

I have wandered on the wilderness

The great wilderness men call life

The rain has beaten me

And the sharp stumps cut as keen as knives

I shall go beyond and rest

I have no kin and no brother

Death has made war upon our house

And Kpeti's great household is no more,

Only the broken fence stands;

And those who dared not look in his face

Have come out as men.

How well their pride is with them.

Let those gone before take note

They have treated their offspring badly.

What is the wailing for?

Somebody is dead. Agosu himself

Alas! a snake has bitten me

My right arm is broken

And the tree on which I lean no longer stands

Agosu if you go tell them,

Tell Nyidevu, Kpeti and Kove

That they have done us evil;

Tell them their house is falling

And the trees in the fence

Have been eaten by termites;

That the martels curse them.

Ask them why they idle there

While we suffer, and eat sand.

And the crow and the vulture

Hover always above our broken fences

And strangers walk over our portion.

This poem is a lamentation of a man who has faced so many adversities in his life.

Kofi uses the theme of hopelessness to paint a picture of a man whose cry to his ancestors have gone unanswered for so long that he now sees them as the root cause of the negativity surrounding himself and his entire household.

The poem portrays how the human mind can easily move from a cradle of positive thoughts to negativity when plagued persistently with adversity without a proportional source of motivation and support network.

Apart from showing the richness of the African culture and their belief in the relevance of consulting their ancestors to guarantee success in their endeavors towards becoming successful members of society [See how the protagonist refers to his ancestors Kpeti, Nyidevu and Kove as being the cause for his adversities] Songs of Sorrow gives a strong indication that in most African cultures, the dead carries a message directly to the land of the ancestors to intercede for them.

Taking a philosophical analysis into perspective, Songs of Sorrow may have been a literary ploy by the author to communicate his frustration to the outside world in 1971 when Ghana was under military dictatorship marred by a dwindling economy.

RIP the fallen 'Iroko Tree'

RIP Kofi Awoonor

Thank you for reading my post. Drop a line in the comment section. It will be exciting to read from you.