The Fair Lady of the Night

Many a Damsel, I have seen
Homely, cultured yet learned.
With beauty that had fair Venus
Died of envy
None compares to Onila
Whose beauty eclipses all others

Many a belle I have met
With courage matching Virginia 
Great mother of noble Coriolanus 
Unflinching amazon in a patriarchal millieu
Poor Andromeda might have found her match
In Onila, fairest among virgins

Many nymphs I have heard
Have benevolent sprites as their guards
Mighty Ariel for Pope's Bellinda 
Onila; yours a mystery
To Mount Olympus, I have been 
In a bid to seek the help of the gods
Inexplicable as it might sound 
Mighty Zeus, answers yet deny

Pure Onila, in the words of
My mentor Donne
Let not thy divining heart 
Forethink me any ill;
To this piece the muses have lent voice
To speak to thy hearing
Of my heart desires
If thou art Venus
Make me thy Adonis
I seek nothing but thy Love...

DAUGHTERS OF EVE

Lascivious seekers we are

Posterity from Adam

Your pot of honey; our infamous home

Your bosom our Eldorado

The deception my anxiety

Daughters of Eve

Same commodity in altered packages

Yet our lusty cravings

 Brand us prawns to their amusement

Beware ye soul brothers
Descendants of Eve

Are on the prowl

They might be as enthralling as the peacock

                                        Yet they make vipers the best of pets

THE SRANGER FAIRY

THE STRANGER FAIRY

Never have I ever seen a prettier fairy

Her beauty enigmatic

Teeth as white as the winter snow

Her face glowing like the oily ‘rebi’s head

Her hair so graceful in their exquisite curls

Here am I positioned in my poetic pose

Yearning for her to muse my name

For a feel of her lips on mine

Her luscious breasts on my unadorned chest

Alas, it was a trance

Mount Olympus has come for her fairest fairy

Yahaya Michael Bolakale

Isokan our ancestor

Why did u desert us suddenly?

In the snare of our foes

You left us to our captors

Your catheists are our maxims

Day and night we toil at your shrines

Our tongues pronounce your panegyrics

Your heroics are our eulogies

Yet dirge has known our tongues

Here we are before thee

Helpless, naked and needy

Where goes thy face

Your succor is our desire

About the Poet: Yahaya Michael Bolakale is born on the 30th April, 1990,a  student of English at the prestigious University of Lagos, Isokan is a poem originally written when he was in secondary school but has undergone series of changes as the poet's knowledge advances.... He has written numerous {yet to be published} poems...

About the Poem: The poem centres on the consciousness of Nigeria unity which has been seriously questioned. A lot of vices have left it toils on the unity of this country. Amongst them are the bad political terrain, corruption, 1966 to 1970 Nigerian civil war, resurgence tribal killings in plateau state and some other parts of the north and recent terrorism activities of the sect tagged Boko Haram. Opines that the lost is a very important thing in unity as in death; we will always mourn forever.

Literary Analysis: The poem is an Ode. It is an address to a subject which in real sense not physical but assumed to possess the quality of living (i.e. personified). Isokan meaning unity in Yoruba language is  presumed to have died  untimely when it matters most. The poet's griefs  seriously for the loss considering a lot of challenges this country is going through at a time when its’ presence would have been greatly felt. Thus, there are no lips where the song of its absence is not eulogized. Mostly, people realize this looking at our political terrain. In fact, it would have been most worthy a solution to some of our problems in this nation  if we have had your presence. So, this is seriously regrettable upon all your praises on our lips. The poet, in line 1, addresses Isokan as our ancestor because without it this country would not have been known as Nigeria. Line 2 rhetorical question shows how not fair for the lost of the unity at this time in our history.And, the last line, ‘Your succor is our desire’ points clearly to the fact that the only way to solve our hardship and distress.

Language and Style: The language employed is emotional, regretful and pleading. It seems to the poet to see unity returning from its’ grave as personified. In fact, the poet makes use of metaphorical expression all through the lines. Meanwhile, stylistically, the poem is written in one verse with end rhyme pattern of abcccccccdbef. The rhythm is not really felt. Though, interestingly, the diction is simple as some of the lines are personification. Examples are in line 1,4,5,6,7,8,10,12 and 13 respectively. Above all the poem is direct, short, simple, sublime and easy to understand.

Theme:

Nostalgia for Unity.

ANALYSIS OF WILLIAM GOLDING;S LORD OF THE FLIES 1

The lord of the Flies is a novel by English novelist William Golding. The novel features the experience of group of young boys aged 6 to 12 on an island as a result as a plane crash. Initially, they tried to live a civilized life, patterning their organization after the adult model until this pattern eventually collapsed after they turned savages. The cruelty and their blood thirsty nature disrupt their initial democratic arrangement.

It is widely believed that the events of the World war II where the brutality of man towards fellow man led to the destruction of many lives and property; Influenced Golding in the course of writing the novel. The novelist employed allegory and symbolism to point out the flaws mankind’s. the novel concerned itself with human nature, the boys on the island were a microcosm of human society, the boys initially tried to adjust to their new environment but in keeping with man inherent sinful nature, no sooner had they arrived than arrived than they begin to degenerate into a bunch of savages; hunting, attacking and killing. One another Golding uses this adventure to probe into the heart of man. The novel presents the age old question age of whether goodness and evil are innate characteristics or if it is learned behaviour.

The boys on arrival set up a machinery for governance they elected Ralph as Chief, they made Jack head of the choir; they vested in the choir the duty of keeping the fire, hunting, and keeping the fire burning. Within a few chapters Jack is already jockeying for power. Later in the book there is an underlying hint that Roger is increasingly desirous too. With this the novelist establishes that leadership is a tenure string that is easily cut by those who wish to usurp it.

After anarchy ensured on the island and Jack weird the testimony to the adage that says a power corrupts absolutely. He assume the statues of a Dictator, he used power arbitrary. His abuse of power mirrors the way power is being abused in the adult world. The island represents the progression of the mind normalcy to acute psychosis.

Introduction to Literature

It should be made clear from the onset that there is no real consensus or
one all embracing definition of the term literature. You should also
know that some of the definitions of literature given by scholars are
largely according to their wealth of life experience within their
locations. Before we move further, let us consider literature both on its
broad and narrow planes. Gyasi (1973) defines it in its broad sense as
"anything that is written", while Rees (1973) sees it in the narrow sense
of "writing which expresses and communicates thought, feelings and
attitudes towards life".
  The broad definition of literature appears to be vague and amorphous in
that it includes works that are not literature per se, like works in fields of
Education, Biology, History and a host of others, because they are
written. However, they cannot qualify as real literature. The narrow
definition delineates literature from its general purview to what can be
called literature as a subject of study.
For you to really know what literature is, some more definitions will
have to be given to you. This will be followed by the evaluation of each
of the definitions to see which one can be said or taken to be most
appropriate in discussing literature.
Moody (1987) writes that literature springs from our in born love of
telling a story, of arranging words in pleasing patterns, of expressing in
words some special aspects of our human experience.
Boulton (1980) defines literature from a functional perspective as the
imaginative work that gives us R’s: recreation, recognition, revelation
and redemption.
Rees (1973), after describing what he regarded as literature, summed up
that literature is a permanent expression in words of some thoughts or
feelings in ideas about life and the world.
All the above definitions describe literature from different perspectives.
Still, there are certain things that are common to them. They all
recognize the fact that:
i. Literature is imaginative
ii. Literature expresses thoughts and feelings
iii. Literature deals with life experiences
iv. Literature uses words in a powerful, effective and yet captivating
manner
vi. Literature promotes recreation and revelation of hidden facts.
Literature is thus summed up as permanent expressions in words
(written or spoken), specially arranged in pleasing accepted patterns or
forms. Literature expresses thoughts, feelings, ideas or other special
aspects of human experiences.

PRELUDE

Welcome abroad....
     This is an avenue for us all to "rub" minds together and explore {probably the unexplored} the various segments of literature. i call literature the greatest invention ; as all forms of entertainment have their origin in literature. It is a tool for unwinding... The nine muses are here...