Eat more fruit!, the slogan say More fish, more beef, more bread But I’m on an employment pay My third year now and wed And so I wonder when I’ll see The slogan when I pass The only one that would suit me Eat more bloody grass! INTRODUCTION Joe Corrie (1894–1968) was a Scottish miner, poet and playwright … Read more
If we must die, let it not be like hogs Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot. While round us bark the mad and angry dogs Making their mock at our accursed lot If we must die, o let us nobly die So that our precious blood may not be shed In vain; then the … Read more
BUILDING THE NATION By Christopher H. M. Barlow ~ Selected Poems BUILDING THE NATION By Christopher H. M. Barlow ~ Selected Poems Today I did my share In building the nation. I drove the permanent secretary To an important urgent function In fact to a luncheon at the Vic. The menu reflected its importance Cold … Read more
ISAAC MRUMA A Tanzanian poet and journalist. YOU ARE LOST To you dada. it’s the days that matter, for we are unable to chat in the language we had. When I look at you and see my pay-slip in your eyes, I feel empty and sapped. Your glance, sister, is to me the … Read more
Hollow Heads Hollow heads torture me with ignorance, Blind eyes harass me with darkness, Deaf ears tire me with silence, Dumb voices deafen me with gibberish, Blank minds confuse me with emptiness, And above all, There is power and command. With wits and ears and eyes, I have speech and a strong mind, But … Read more
JWANI MWAIKUSA A Tanzanian writer and lawyer. He studied law at the University of Dar es salaam and in England. He was a lecturer in the Faculty of Law at the University of Dar es salaam. Sunrise Behold! The sun has risen. And with it the sons of the land have risen too. Forward they … Read more
AKAN A member of a people who live in Southern Ghana. Lullaby Someone would like to have you for her child but you are mine. Someone would like to rear you on a costly mat but you are mine. Someone would like to place you on a camel blanket but you are mine. I have … Read more
POET: MARJORIE OLUDHE MACGOYE She was born in England in 1928. She went to Kenya in 1954 and worked with the C.M.C Bookshop in Nairobi, where she got married. She is publisher’s representative in Nairobi. POEM: A freedom Song Atieno washes dishes, Atieno plucks the chicken, Atieno gets up early, beds her sacks down in … Read more
SAMPLE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS QN: “Poets like other literary artists have messages they want to convey to their readers through poems”. By referring to two poems which you have read and appreciated give four messages from each poem. Answers; Poets are writers of poems. They use imagery and rhythmical sounds to convey messages to the … Read more
POEM: SONGS OF LAWINO AND OCO POET: Okot P. Bitek INTRODUCTION Songs of Lawino is a dramatic monologue that reveals two characters, Lawino and her husband Ocol who are in disagreement. Lawino and Ocol belong to acoli tribe of Northern Uganda, thus they present any other African husbands and wives. Ocol is educated as he … Read more