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Question 1 - Poetry
Closely read the following poem “Farewell” by E.E. Sule and answer the question that follows.
Tight jinxed professors gazing at the immensity of nothing!
Behold a multitude of books speeding away in escape
Pens swagger in hollowness, prostitute with cheap sheets
Afro-haired professors walking the length of the Atlantic in fury!
Bid the sun, bid the moon, bid the stars, bid the rivers
Farewell
Farewell to the flapping bravado of the flag
Farewell to the querulous query of the anthem
Ask the rocks, ask the rivers
ask the ghosts of the deserted shelves
ask the rocks, ask the rivers
ask the emasculated walls surrounding shelves
They will be manacled by crooked questions
In their intention a jeremiad shall burst
They will compose startling rhetoric
Only in amputated tongues
(Omoniyi. T. ed. 2014. Poems for a Century: An Anthology on Nigeria. p. 51)
1. Write a carefully-worded essay of 1000 – 1200 words in length in which you analyse how the
poet uses diction, particularly metaphors, poetic techniques, and any other features of language
to express a mixture of frustration, outrage, disappointment, hopelessness, and sadness, at the
forced migration of educated people from their land after political independence. As he laments
the disastrous state of affairs in his country, the poet turns to inanimate objects like rocks, rivers,
shelves, even ghosts, for answers. His use of personification suggests his loss of confidence in
some of his compatriots and expresses how his country has dashed the hopes of its people,
especially professionals like university professors.
Please note that the author of this document will not responsibility for any plagiarizing you
commit.
Question 1 - Poetry
Closely read the following poem “Farewell” by E.E. Sule and answer the question that follows.
Tight jinxed professors gazing at the immensity of nothing!
Behold a multitude of books speeding away in escape
Pens swagger in hollowness, prostitute with cheap sheets
Afro-haired professors walking the length of the Atlantic in fury!
Bid the sun, bid the moon, bid the stars, bid the rivers
Farewell
Farewell to the flapping bravado of the flag
Farewell to the querulous query of the anthem
Ask the rocks, ask the rivers
ask the ghosts of the deserted shelves
ask the rocks, ask the rivers
ask the emasculated walls surrounding shelves
They will be manacled by crooked questions
In their intention a jeremiad shall burst
They will compose startling rhetoric
Only in amputated tongues
(Omoniyi. T. ed. 2014. Poems for a Century: An Anthology on Nigeria. p. 51)
1. Write a carefully-worded essay of 1000 – 1200 words in length in which you analyse how the
poet uses diction, particularly metaphors, poetic techniques, and any other features of language
to express a mixture of frustration, outrage, disappointment, hopelessness, and sadness, at the
forced migration of educated people from their land after political independence. As he laments
the disastrous state of affairs in his country, the poet turns to inanimate objects like rocks, rivers,
shelves, even ghosts, for answers. His use of personification suggests his loss of confidence in
some of his compatriots and expresses how his country has dashed the hopes of its people,
especially professionals like university professors.
