The Anvil and The Hammer by Kofi Awoonor
The Poem
Caught between the anvil and the hammer
In the forging house of a new life,
Transforming the pangs that delivered me
In the joy of new songs
The trapping of the past, tender and tenuous
Woven with the fibre of sisal and
Washed in the blood of the goat in the fetish hut
Are laced with the flimsy glories of paved streets
The jargon of a new dialectic comes
With the charisma of the perpetual
Search on the outlaw’s hill.
Sew the old days for us, our fathers
That we can wear them under our new garments
After we have washed ourselves in
Toh whirlpool of the many rivers’ estuary
We hear their songs and numerous everyday
Determine to ignore these, we use
Snatches from their tunes.
Make ourselves new flags and anthems
While we lift the banner of the land
And listen to the reverberation of our songs
In the splash and moan of the sea.
Content
An anvil is a heavy iron block on which metal can be hammered, crushed and shaped. While the hammer is a tool consisting of a heavy metal head mounted at the end of a handle, used for breaking things and driving in nails.
The anvil and hammer are metaphorically used to represent the way foreign cultures are enforced on Africans and the African cultures are crushed and taken away from them, hence the first line, ‘caught between the anvil and the hammer. Africans are dislodged from their ways of life socially, religiously, physically and psychologically. They find themselves in a new life.
It further explains the harrowing experiences of the blacks under the colonial masters and how our cherished culture, language, religions and beliefs are taken away from us. Our beliefs are considered as rubbish, especially rituals.
‘the blood of the goat in the fetish hut’.
After the ugly experiences come the call on the ancestors to come to the aid of Africans, so that the lost glories can be redeemed. ‘sew the old days for us, our fathers’.
The poet sees the African values as a tattered garment that needs to be sewn, after which it would be worn under the ‘new garment’ (foreign culture) after we have purified ourselves.
Africans still listen to their songs, which means we engage in their ways of life. For us to do away with their ways of life, we must embrace our own culture by fashioning out ‘new flags and anthems ‘to suit our culture and ways of life and African songs should be on their tongues.
Themes
Colonialism: This is the main topic discussed in the poem. It discusses how the culture and the beliefs of Africans are forcefully taken away from them and replaced with foreign cultures.
Persecution: The title of the poem, ‘The anvil and the hammer’ explains clearly the harrowing experiences Africans passed through under the colonial masters as the foreign culture was enforced on them.
Supremacy of African Culture: The poet brings out the supremacy of African culture at the expense of the enforced foreign culture. This calls for prayer to our ancestors to come to our aid.
Condemnation of Western Civilization: The poet condemns the enforced civilization and the need to embrace our own culture.
Belief in the Ancestors: After the foreign culture is enforced on Africans, their culture is expunged from them; the poet persona then calls on the ancestors because of the belief in the power of the ancestors to fight our course.
Poetic Devices
Metaphor: This is a figure of comparison. Anvil and Hammer are used metaphorically to explain the experiences of Africans in the hand of the colonial masters while enforcing their culture on Africans and African culture being crushed.
Imagery: African culture and traditions are considered as garments that are torn by the colonial masters hence the image of ‘sew’ is introduced here to put the tattered garment together.
Onomatopoeia: We see this in the last line ho the poem persona describes the African songs after the rescue of African culture. ‘And listen to the reverberation of our songs’
‘In the splash and moan of the sea’.
Language: The poet’s choice of words is appropriate with the topic discussed. The figures of speech used bring out clearly the subject matters being discussed in the poem.
Tone: The tone at the beginning of the poem is harsh but toward the end of the poem, the tone changes to a friendlier one because the poet is optimistic that the ancestors will restore the lost glory.
Mood: The mood at the beginning is sad because of the way Africans are maltreated by the colonial masters. It changes to happiness because the poet is optimistic about better days to come.