Piano and Drum By Gabriel Imomotime Okara
The Poem
When at break of day at riverside
I hear jungle drums telegraphing
The mystic rhythm, urgent, raw
like bleeding flesh, speaking of
primal youth and the beginning
I see the panther ready to pounce,
the leopard snarling about to leap
and the hunters crouch with the spear poised.
And my blood ripples, turns torrent,
Topples the years and at once I’m
In my mother’s laps a suckling;
At once I’m walking simple
paths with no innovations,
rugged, fashioned with the naked
warmth of hurrying feet and groping heart
in green leaves and wild flowers pulsing.
Then I hear a wailing piano
Solo speaking of complex ways
In-tear-furrowed concerto
of far away lands
and new horizons with
coaxing diminuendo, counterpoint:
crescendo. But lost in the labyrinth
of its complexities, it ends in the middle
of a phrase at a daggerpoint.
And I lost in the morning mist
of an age at a riverside keep
Wandering in the mystic rhythm
Of jungle drums and the concerto
The Difficult Words in the Poem
Jungle – A large undeveloped forest that houses wild animals.
Telegraphing – Communicating, sending messages.
Mystic rhythm – Mysterious sounds.
Primal – Tender age
Panther – Leopard
Pounce – To jump suddenly
Snarling – Growling sounds made by leopard and other wild animals showing their teeth.
Leap – To jump from one place to another.
Crouch – To bend down.
Poised – Ready, prepared.
Ripples – A movement in the surface of a liquid.
Torrent – A large amount of liquid e.g. blood.
Topples – Overturn
Innovations – The introduction of something new.
Rugged – Not refined or blended.
Groping – To search for something in the dark.
Pulsing – Flourishing and beating.
Wailing – A prolonged high-pitched cry.
Furrowed concerto – Distant sounds, foreign sounds.
Horizon – The meeting point of the sky and the earth.
Coaxing diminuendo – Teasing sounds.
Crescendo – A gradual increase in sound.
Labyrinth – Complicated, confusing
Daggerpoint – Suddenly, unannounced.
Mist – A droplets of water from the sky.
Content
The poem chronicles the African culture and the influx of foreign culture as well as the resulting conflicts. The first stanza starts with the description of the African culture that the poem persona is first exposed to, being an African. This is represented by the drum. The poet brings out the richness and how powerful the culture is.
The poem personal is at a riverside when he hears the sweet sound of a jungle drum; the sound is musical, original, inviting and full of messages. The sound has effects on all creatures around including animals. It gears the leopards and the hunters into action.
The second stanza continues with the effects of the drum on the persona. He lives a very simple, innocent and un-contaminated life; hence he is on his mother’s lap. He walks on a footpath bare-footed. Africans live peacefully and very close to nature. This means that African culture is raw, peaceful and un-refined.
The third stanza starts with the sound of the piano that the poem personally is exposed to later in life. The piano here symbolizes European foreign culture. The sound is strange and un-friendly to the persona because of its complexities.
Gradually he creates interest in the sound he does not understand, he is carried away, but the sound just stops abruptly when the poem persona is already enjoying it without any sign that it is coming to an end, this is painful to the persona.
The poem’s persona stands by the riverside on a misty morning considering the two sounds; the drum and the piano. His love for the drum does not stop him to listen to the piano, but structurally, the poem persona devotes the first two stanzas to describe the drum, while only one stanza is devoted to the piano. This shows that the poem’s persona loves the drum more than the piano.
Themes
The richness of African culture: The first stanza opens with an appreciation of African culture. The power of the drum represents African culture that has effects on all the creatures around, including the non-human. The culture is also presented as being friendly, simple and full of messages.
The influx of foreign culture: The third stanza heralds the coming of European or foreign culture. This is strange, complex, unfriendly and difficult to understand. It is not even appealing to the hearings of the poem persona.
Innocence: The poem’s persona lives innocent life before the arrival of foreign culture. He walks barefoot along a bushy path. He sits in his mother’s lap innocently. This shows that African culture is raw, innocent and un-refined.
Indecision: In the last stanza, the poem persona considers the African and European cultures represented by Drum and Piano respectively. Despite the love he has for African culture, he still creates interest in European or foreign cultures.
The complexity of Foreign culture: The poem persona is able to establish that African culture is simple and interesting, but European culture is complex and difficult to understand.
Cultural conflict: The poem’s persona is able to bring out the difference between the African and European cultures. The cultures are from different backgrounds, hence the difference identified.
Poetic Devices
Alliteration: This is a figure of sound. It is used in lines:
7 “the leopard snarling about to leap”
9 “……. turns torrent”
11 “in my mother’s laps….”
18 “solo speaking of….”
26 “…. morning mist”
Personification: We have this in lines:
4 “like bleeding flesh, speaking of”
5 “primal youth and the beginning”
The attribute of speaking is for human being but given to the Drum
17 “Then I hear a wailing Piano”
18 “solo speaking of complex ways”
Hyperbole: The persona exaggerates his excitement to the sound of the drum when he says;
“And my blood ripples, turns torrent”
Synecdoche: This is in line fifteen;
“warmth of hurrying feet and groping heart”
The feet and heart in the expression represent human beings, the Africans.
Simile: The sound of the jungle drum is compared to a bleeding flesh
“the mystic rhythm, urgent, raw
Like bleeding flesh”
Imagery: The poem is full of imagery. As we are going through the poem, the pictures of some of the discourse are showing in our inner minds.
Symbolism: The piano in the poem symbolizes European or foreign culture while the Drum symbolizes African culture.
Enjambment: The poem runs on line; one line leads to the other.
Gabriel Okara also composed “Once Upon a Time.”