Ambush by Gbemisola Adeoti
The Poem
The land is a giant whale
that swallow the sinker,
with hook, line and bait
aborting dreams of a good catch
fishers turn home at dusk
blue Peter on empty ships
all Peters with petered out desires.
The land is a sabre- toothed tiger
that cries deep in the glade
while infants shudder home
the grizzled ones snatch their gut
from bayonets of tribulation
halting venturous walk at dusk.
The land is a giant hawk
that courts unceasing disaster
as it hovers and hoots in space.
The land lies patiently ahead
awaiting in ambush
those who point away from a direction
where nothing happens
toward the shore of possibilities.
The Difficult Words in the Poem
Ambush – The act of hiding and waiting for somebody and then making a surprised attack on them.
Sinker – A weight that is attached to a fishing line to make it sink into the water.
Sabre-toothed – A large animal of the cat family with two very long curved upper teeth.
Glade – A small open area of grass in a wood or forest.
Shudder – To shake because you are frightened.
Grizzled – Elderly ones.
Gut – Courage
Bayonets – A long sharp knife that is fastened on to the end of a riffle and used as a weapon in battle.
Tribulation – Great trouble or suffering.
Venturous – Activities that involve risk.
Dusk – The time of day when the light has almost gone, but not yet dark.
Content
Ambush is a four-line stanza poem that takes the form of satire. Ambush means a surprise attack by people lying in wait in a concealed position. (Oxford Dictionary of English) The poem is satirical as it discussed the excesses of Nigerian corrupt leaders after independence.
The first stanza starts by describing the so-called leaders a giant whale. As we know that whale is a very large marine mammal (NOT FISH) that preys on anything that comes its way un-hindered. These leaders share similar characteristics with whale.
They consume anything that comes their ways, whether belonging to them or not, ‘swallow the sinker, with hook, line and bait.’
Nigeria resources are stolen and stashed away in foreign banks; hence people are impoverished when they are not provided with basic needs from their leaders. They are made hopeless and their cases are compared with the Biblical Peter.
‘fishers turn home at dusk
blue Peter on empty ships.’
Simon Peter in the Bible fished several nights without success. Nigerians are turned to failures by their leaders.
In stanza two, as a result of the failures of the leaders, the land is no more secure, ‘The land is a saber-toothed tiger.’ The land turns to that of criminals as a result of crimes that pervade the land; kidnappers, ‘adult-nappers,’ armed robbers, assassins political thugs, terrorism, ritual killings and the liked.
They are faced with a lot of problems as a result of war. It is not safe for them to walk in the night.
In stanza three, the leaders are compared with a giant hawk preying on chicks; they feed on what belongs to the people generally.
Stanza four tells us that Nigeria is a blessed country, the natural and the human resources are there for the corrupt leaders to prey on. The country is presently down; nothing seems to be working again, no employment, no security, no electricity, poor health services. The leaders are directionless.
Themes
Selfishness: Nigeria is gifted with selfish leaders who turn the resources of the country to their own use. They pauperized the masses by their acts.
Unpatriotic: Our leaders are not patriotic as they don’t have the love of the country at heart. They turn their fellow citizens to slaves; they are not provided the basic needs; they are oppressed turned to second class citizens in their country.
Oppression: The leaders are compared with whale, big hawk and a sabre toothed tiger by the poet. These creatures are oppressive in nature. The leaders oppress the masses on the land, the sky and the sea; there is no escape route again for the masses to be successful in whatever they lay their hands on.
Insecurity: The society is no more secure as a result of the failure of the leaders; everybody is living in fear because crime is being perpetrated on daily basis with nobody to challenge the leaders or the criminals for the fear of being arrested or maimed.
Natural Endowment: The country is richly endowed naturally, but the corrupt leaders squander away the resources to the detriment of the masses.
Poetic Devices:
Metaphor: The content of the poem as a satire makes it necessary for the usage of metaphor. In the first stanza, Nigeria is referred to as ‘a giant whale,’ this is explaining the activities of the leaders.
In stanza two, the land is a saber-toothed tiger,’ this means that the land is full of criminals and all forms of evils.
In stanza three, it is also referred to as a giant hawk, the leaders oppress the masses.
Personification: In the last stanza, ‘the land lies patiently ahead. ‘Land is personified here. Land is given the attributes of living things.
Biblical Allusion: In stanza one, Simon Peter in the Bible is made reference to explain the failure of the people as a result of the unpatriotic activities of the leaders.
Language: The choice of words and the figures of speech makes it easier for the subject matter to be understood.
Tone: The tone of the poet is that of anger, because the poet is not happy with the situation of things as a result of the disappointing activities of the leaders that plunge the country into problems.
Mood: The poet is pessimistic; the mood is that of despondency because he has lost hope about the situation on ground. This also reflects the mood of the citizens who have been deprived of their rights in their own country.