1
You laughed and laughed and laughed
by Gabriel Okara
In your ears my song You laughed at my dance,
is motor car misfiring you laughed at my inside.
stopping with a choking cough; You laughed and laughed and laughed. 20
and you laughed and laughed and laughed.
But your laughter was ice-block
In your eyes my ante- 5 laughter and it froze your inside froze
natal walk was inhuman, passing your voice froze your ears
your ‘omnivorous understanding’ froze your eyes and froze your tongue.
and you laughed and laughed and laughed
And now it’s my turn to laugh; 25
You laughed at my song, but my laughter is not
you laughed at my walk. 10 ice-block laughter. For I
know not cars, know not ice-blocks.
Then I danced my magic dance
to the rhythm of talking drums pleading, but you shut your eyes My laughter is the fire
and laughed and laughed and laughed of the eye of the sky, the fire 30
of the earth, the fire of the air,
And then I opened my mystic the fie of the seas and the
inside wide like the sky, 15 rivers fishes animals trees
instead you entered your
car and laughed and laughed and laughed So a meek wonder held
your shadow and you whispered; 35
‘Why so?’
And I answered:
‘Because my fathers and I
are owned by the living
warmth of the earth 40
through our naked feet.’
@Juffrou_Ansie
, 2
The poet
Gabriel Imomotimi Gbaingbain Okara, (born in April 21, 1921 at
Bumondi, Nigeria and died in March 25, 2019 at Yenagoa, Nigeria) is
a Nigerian poet, playwright and novelist. He is one of the pioneers of
modern African literature, the first renowned English language black
African poet and the modernist writer. Most of his works are BACKGROUND
translated into several languages.
The author named his poem You laughed and
His works are germinated out of real life experience and he writes laughed and laughed because in this poem
about the memories he has about his past. With relation to Ijaw the black Africans were laughed and mocked
tribal community Okara focuses on culture and traditions of his by white people. They were laughed for their
tribe. He upheld African thought, religion, folklore and imagery into song, dance and music. These were
his prose and verse. considering to be an cultural norms of black
[https://unreadpoetrysociety.com]
people and also they were discriminated for
their colour. Throughout the poem it portrays
the domination of white people. Okara used
The TITLE the word ‘laughed in this poem, denoting the
white, who dominated the native for their
* Poet is addressing white people/ people from the west. (you)
abnormal actions. As an African poet Okara
* who are laughing at African people brought this concept in his poem and named
it so. M. Ajitha, II M.A. English Racism Faced by Natives
* Repetition of laughed 3x – not a friendly laugh but rather mocking
the African traditions and beliefs.
(Interesting fact: People show teeth when they are happy (laugh) –
other animals when they are aggressive or afraid)
@Juffrou_Ansie
You laughed and laughed and laughed
by Gabriel Okara
In your ears my song You laughed at my dance,
is motor car misfiring you laughed at my inside.
stopping with a choking cough; You laughed and laughed and laughed. 20
and you laughed and laughed and laughed.
But your laughter was ice-block
In your eyes my ante- 5 laughter and it froze your inside froze
natal walk was inhuman, passing your voice froze your ears
your ‘omnivorous understanding’ froze your eyes and froze your tongue.
and you laughed and laughed and laughed
And now it’s my turn to laugh; 25
You laughed at my song, but my laughter is not
you laughed at my walk. 10 ice-block laughter. For I
know not cars, know not ice-blocks.
Then I danced my magic dance
to the rhythm of talking drums pleading, but you shut your eyes My laughter is the fire
and laughed and laughed and laughed of the eye of the sky, the fire 30
of the earth, the fire of the air,
And then I opened my mystic the fie of the seas and the
inside wide like the sky, 15 rivers fishes animals trees
instead you entered your
car and laughed and laughed and laughed So a meek wonder held
your shadow and you whispered; 35
‘Why so?’
And I answered:
‘Because my fathers and I
are owned by the living
warmth of the earth 40
through our naked feet.’
@Juffrou_Ansie
, 2
The poet
Gabriel Imomotimi Gbaingbain Okara, (born in April 21, 1921 at
Bumondi, Nigeria and died in March 25, 2019 at Yenagoa, Nigeria) is
a Nigerian poet, playwright and novelist. He is one of the pioneers of
modern African literature, the first renowned English language black
African poet and the modernist writer. Most of his works are BACKGROUND
translated into several languages.
The author named his poem You laughed and
His works are germinated out of real life experience and he writes laughed and laughed because in this poem
about the memories he has about his past. With relation to Ijaw the black Africans were laughed and mocked
tribal community Okara focuses on culture and traditions of his by white people. They were laughed for their
tribe. He upheld African thought, religion, folklore and imagery into song, dance and music. These were
his prose and verse. considering to be an cultural norms of black
[https://unreadpoetrysociety.com]
people and also they were discriminated for
their colour. Throughout the poem it portrays
the domination of white people. Okara used
The TITLE the word ‘laughed in this poem, denoting the
white, who dominated the native for their
* Poet is addressing white people/ people from the west. (you)
abnormal actions. As an African poet Okara
* who are laughing at African people brought this concept in his poem and named
it so. M. Ajitha, II M.A. English Racism Faced by Natives
* Repetition of laughed 3x – not a friendly laugh but rather mocking
the African traditions and beliefs.
(Interesting fact: People show teeth when they are happy (laugh) –
other animals when they are aggressive or afraid)
@Juffrou_Ansie
