Culture in Piano and Drums by Gabriel Okara Essay -- Culture Symbolism

Culture in flabby and Drums by Gabriel OkaraIn the poem Piano and Drums the poet Gabriel Okara depicts andcontrasts two different cultures through symbolism of pianos anddrums.The Poem is divided into four stanzas. The first two stanzas representthe drum culture and the second two stanzas evince the pianoculture.The description of the drums is in two stanzas, but is one sentencelong. The first line of the first stanzaWhen at break of day at a riversideUses trochees to emphasize the deliberate broken rung. The stanzahas savage words, bleeding flesh, urgent raw, leopard snarling,spears poised, to show that this is a primitive culture, one whichhas dependency on the environment, as is correspond by the hunterscrouch with spears poised. The environment in this culture isphysically solemn, surrounded by wild animals. Drums here are a wayof communication, and jungle drums telegraphing the inscrutable rhythm,urgent, raw shows the way of life in this culture. This is lifewhich is simpl e, near the beginnings of man. The stanza usesalliteration, consonances and similes to give a rhythm that is likethat of a drum.Threatening imagery is also utilise to give the image of danger and showphysical hazards.The first stanza mainly describes the way of life and sets the scene.It shows how the drums are associated with the jungle and a primitiveway of life.In the second stanza the persona says how when he hears the drums, hegoes back to his youth, my blood ripples, turns torrent, topples theyears... reminiscent of his childhood to when things were simpler andcarefree, in my mothers lap a suckling. The repetition of the tsound in turns, torrent and top... ... shows how he is lost between the two societies-between his background and upbringing and what he is aspired to be.Wandering in the mystic rhythm of jungle drums and the concerto.The poem follows a logical format with each stanza beginning withWhen, And, Then and And. The connotations of each instrumentcontrast with one another, with Drums illustrating primitivebehaviour, and a savage, dangerous culture. The connotations of thepiano are complex and technical. The piano uses significantlydifferent word sounds, showing that it is learnt, westernized andintricate compared to the drums which is instinctive and naturallyacquired, and simple.The poem uses no set rime pattern which suits the poem as it has anundecided effect, emphasizing the confusion of the persona over hisfuture. There is some iambic use as well as the use of trochees.