An analysis of ‘’An African Elegy’’ by Ben

Okri
Introduction to poet
Ben Okri is a Nigerian poet and novelist. Okri is considered one of the foremost African authors in the
post-modern and post-colonial traditions and has been compared favorably with authors such as Salman
Rushdie and Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
He was born on March 15 1959 in Minna, Nigeria, to an Igbo mother, Grace, and an Urhobo father, Silver.
Okri’s father then a railway station clerk soon left for England to study law. The rest of the family joined
him shortly afterwards. Despite young Ben’s protestations, the okris returned to Lagos in 1965, where
Silver Okri set up a law practice.
His exposure to the Nigerian civil war and a culture in which his peers at the time saw visions of spirits,
later provided inspiration for Okri’s fiction. He founded in his father’s library: Aristotle, Plato, Shakespeare,
Dickens, Twain, Ibsen, Chekhov, and Maupassant, among others. This double heritage, the intermingling
of African myths and European sources and the later influence of contemporary African writers were to
become major inspiration for Ben Okri’s work.In April 2014, Okri was conferred an honorary doctorate by
the University of Pretoria for his contribution to literature.

Literary Contribution

Okri began writing articles and fiction in 1976, after failing to get a place at a university in Nigeria. He
wrote a novel and a play while working in a paint company, then moved to England, first to study
comparative literature at the University of Essex, then to continue writing in London.
His first novel “Flowers and Shadows’’ was published in 1980. Afer a short span of time he published
“The Landscapes Within’’ in 1981in which the main character, Omovo, is a young painter living in Lagos.
This novel, which Okri was later to re-write under the title ‘’Dangerous love’’(1996), may be considered an
early manifesto. A collection of essays ‘’A Way Of Being Free’’ is published in 1997.
The Landscapes Within, as well as some of the short stories contained in Incidents at the Shrine (1986)
and Stars of the New Curfew (1988) read as tales of the country, Nigeria, struggling with poverty,
corruption and sometimes war. These thematic interests were further developed in The Famished Road
(1991), for which Okri won the Booker Prize. His other famous books are Starbook, Songs of
Enchantment and astonishing the gods.
About the poem
An African elegy, published in 1992, is one of the marvelous poems of Ben Okri. It is about the sufferings
of African people. The element of hope is also present in this poem. This poem emphasizes that the good
can be found in the bad. The setting of the poem is Nigeria. It is written in third person narrative. It
consists of 29 lines. It has five stanzas and each stanza consists of five lines. Elegy is usually written in
response to a death. It has no rhyme scheme. It is written in three stages…grief, sorrow and praise.
Poem is written in simple language. The poet has used western literary techniques but the elements of
African culture are also present in the poem.
Analysis of the poem
Stanza 1
We are the miracles that God made
To taste the bitter fruit of Time.
We are precious.
And one day our suffering Will turn into the wonders of the earth
In this stanza, the poet says that God created humans so that they can face good and bad times. He
used the pronoun “We” to depict his African culture. ‘We’ is also used for the people of Africa. He says
that we are innocent people whose sufferings will one day change our lives for something good. The poet
has used stylistic features like imagery and personification in this stanza. There is imagery when the poet
says “To taste the bitter fruit of Time”, bitter in this statement means something bad and the fruit means
something sweet. The time could mean life. He is saying to his people that as time / life go by them, they
will face some really bad and sad times and really good happy time. He also used the technique of
personification. He says“And one day our suffering, Will turn into the wonders of the earth”. The poet
compares the sufferings of his people with the wonders of earth. Comparing suffering to the wonders of
earth and also giving wonder of earth a human quality of happiness is personification.
Stanza 2
There are things that burn me now
Which turn golden when I am happy.
Do you see the mystery of our pain?
That we bear poverty
And are able to sing and dream sweet things

In this stanza, the poet says that there are hardships that we all have to face but no matter how hard they
are; if and when we manage to overcome them, we will feel good. There is always a mystery to the pain
we experience as humans but as humans we sometimes cannot answer the mysteries to our pain. We
may not all bear poverty but we bear different burdens. Even though we have all these factors weighing
on us we still has a lot to be thankful for and we can have the sweet dreams of the future.
The poet has used different literary techniques like imagery and metaphor. The poet says “There are
things that burn me now”. Burning is associated with feelings and is an unpleasant feeling. It means the
narrator is experiencing a tough time in his life. In the next line the poet also use color imagery when he
says “Which turn golden when I am happy”. Golden is associated with worth and meaningful. It means the
narrators pain will be worth after his hardships. In the next lines as the poet says “That we bear poverty”.
The word, bear, sticks out in the line because it sounds harsh. Bear means to support or to carry the
weight of something. The narrator is carrying the weight of poverty. In the next line the poet also used
imagery when he says “And are able to sing and dream sweet things.” The image being portrayed is of
people having sweet dreams and singing sweet songs. They are singing because they are thankful for
life.

Stanza 3
And that we never curse the air when it is warm
Or the fruit when it tastes so good
Or the lights that bounce gently on the waters?
We bless things even in our pain. We bless them in silence.

In this stanza, the poet says that the people of Africa do not take things in life for granted. They cherish all
the things they have. They never even curse the negative factors which harm them. They take their
sufferings as stimulus which motivates them to be thankful in every sort of situation. Their sufferings are
blessing to them because sufferings purify them. In this stanza warm air is the symbol of sufferings as
well as sensory imagery and silence is the symbol of their dedication because they silently seek freedom.
The words in forth line, “Bless” and “Pain” are contrasted with each other. It shows their dedication
towards their belief that they would get rid from their sufferings and pains one day.
Stanza 4
That is why our music is so sweet.
It makes the air remember.
There are secret miracles at work
That only Time will bring forth.
I too have heard the dead singing.
In this stanza the poet is talking about the fruits of their sufferings. He says that their sighs of pain will
prove fruitful one day. There are elements of hope that they would get reward. The poet is talking about
miracles. He wants to say that at every moment something is happening in Africa and this happening is
not worthless. There is mythical imagery in this poem. The poet says “There are secret miracles at work”.
Miracles usually connected to God as well as to supernatural elements. This line shows that Africans are
very dear to God. These lines also portray how Africans believe that time brings them secret miracles.
The poet also used the technique of personification. The poet says “I too have heard the dead singing.”
In this line the dead is the symbol of deceased Africans. It means that the deceased African ancestors
have lived a good life despite bad conditions of living in Africa. These lines portray that life is good.
Stanza 5
And they tell me that This life is good
They tell me to live it gently
With fire, and always with hope.
There is wonder here
In these lines the poet is talking about his ancestors. He says that the dead are speaking to him, telling
him to be thankful and hopeful because he is still living and has control in what direction his life will go;
this is not the end for him. The second line of the stanza is ironic. The poet says “This life is good”. He
talks about the pain and suffering people go through in their lives and it is ironic how he says this life is
good because technically life should not be good if someone is suffering. The poet wants to say that the
people of Africa should live life happily, despite the situation and there is always something for them to
look forward to in the future. The tone of this stanza is satisfying, friendly, hopeful and optimistic.
Stanza 6
And there is surprise
In everything the unseen moves.
The ocean is full of songs.
The sky is not an enemy.
Destiny is our friend.
In this stanza the poet says that they are full of hope that their sufferings are not ever lasting. They will
come to an end one day. He used imagery and metaphor to explain his point of view as he says” In
everything the unseen moves, The Ocean is full of songs, the sky is not an enemy”. In these lines the
words unseen moves, ocean and sky are used metaphorically. The unseen moves refer to the hidden
miracles at work that Okri mentions in the fourth stanza. The ocean is a metaphor for the world .songs is
a metaphor for life whether human or not. The sky is also a metaphor. It refers to the future; there are
endless possibilities of what lies beyond the unknown much like the sky. Destiny is also used as
metaphor. The poet says that we can choose our destinies the same way we choose our friends. We
might not know what our destiny is or when it comes to us but when it does we will know whether to let go
or follow through. The poet also used biblical allusion in the line;“the sky is not our enemy. The sky can
refer to God and heaven. When bad things are happening to us we should not blame God or to make
him our enemy.
Conclusion
To conclude it can be safely remarked that the Africans bear a lot of sufferings but they are not pessimist.
They are full of hope that their sufferings and pains will ultimately bring reward for them. Their dedications
and patience will not go worthless. They are, infect thankful to hard times that give them the chance to
rise and make room in this great world. So, one day they will meet their good time and get success in
their aim.
Critical Reception
Claire says, I am a fan of Okri. There were a fair few poems that didn't really speak to me in this collection
however, the entire collection was worth it simply for the first and last: Lament of the Images and “To An
English Friend in Africa”. The first appeals to a specific interest of mine (cultural looting) and the last one
is just so beautiful to read.
Another critic says, the thing about Okri is that you've got to have your head in the right state to hear him.
This series of poems is a short easy read though, but some of the poems held nothing for me. My
favourites are "They Say" "And if you should leave me" "To an English friend in Africa". They are beautiful
words, enough for everyone. I will definitely be reading this over and over again until I hear everything he
is saying to me. Brilliant and odd, just like Okri.