Breaking Kolanut
Breaking Kolanut is a poem about paying obeisance to a personality that is revered. This can be rephrased in another way to mean that it is a poem of greeting. It would be strange to one is not Igbo (or African) to decipher why breaking Kolanut is solely about greeting. This supposed strange phenomenon can be explained thus: breaking kolanut is a traditional act of greeting and welcoming someone in the Igbo community.
Being the title of the poem, it aptly alludes to the Igbo traditional classic mode of greetings and hospitality, of which a piece of kolanut is halved by the host before it is handed over to the guest to take a bite. This mild ceremony means that the visitor is acknowledged and welcomed.
Also, between men Gods, kolanuts are broken too. Men break Kolanuts before conversing with their Gods in their different shrines.
What this poem entails is the act of greeting (or breaking kolanut) recorded
orthographically. In this poem, the poet persona is acknowledging the presence of a persona that has occupies a position of authority higher than him. This persona being addressed (or greeted) is of a revered status. The persona is all knowing, overseas and inhabits numerous habitats simultaneously.
In the twelve-line poem, only in the last two lines is the message of the poem elucidated. The subject matter of this poem being greeting becomes evident in the last two lines:
I come with greetings
And with pleadings! (26).
Nevertheless, the initial ten lines were neither insubordinate nor unimportant. They symbolized the tedious ceremonies that often accompany the rituals of greetings (especially to a deity or to a chi) in the African communities.
Also noteworthy is the orality, or poetic, features evident in the Africans mode of communication. The mode of communication employed by Africans is colourful blend of literal words, vivid imageries, and poetry.
This style of communication often ends up in a rather long or exaggerated speech. Periphrasis are also often employed in the African lingua franca. It is these elements that are evident in the first ten lines of the poem. These lines provide extra information about the persona that is being revered through the use of a powerful admixture of an ample amount of different poetic devices.
In conclusion, what one witnesses in the rendering of this poem are the important nuances and protocols that accompany the act of greeting in Africa. Thus, the poem focuses, in microcosm, on the Igbo tradition of breaking kolanuts which is an important precursor act in any form of greeting. When a kolanut is being broken, words are spoken.
These words are not mere words. They are often in the form of Eulogy, praise poetry, ode, elegy etc. An example of these is what is witnessed in the first ten lines of this poem. The first ten lines of this twelve-line poem consist of praises showered to the persona that is being greeted in the poem.
Breaking Kolanut is a poem about paying obeisance to a personality that is revered. This can be rephrased in another way to mean that it is a poem of greeting. It would be strange to one is not Igbo (or African) to decipher why breaking Kolanut is solely about greeting. This supposed strange phenomenon can be explained thus: breaking kolanut is a traditional act of greeting and welcoming someone in the Igbo community.
Being the title of the poem, it aptly alludes to the Igbo traditional classic mode of greetings and hospitality, of which a piece of kolanut is halved by the host before it is handed over to the guest to take a bite. This mild ceremony means that the visitor is acknowledged and welcomed.
Also, between men Gods, kolanuts are broken too. Men break Kolanuts before conversing with their Gods in their different shrines.
What this poem entails is the act of greeting (or breaking kolanut) recorded
orthographically. In this poem, the poet persona is acknowledging the presence of a persona that has occupies a position of authority higher than him. This persona being addressed (or greeted) is of a revered status. The persona is all knowing, overseas and inhabits numerous habitats simultaneously.
In the twelve-line poem, only in the last two lines is the message of the poem elucidated. The subject matter of this poem being greeting becomes evident in the last two lines:
I come with greetings
And with pleadings! (26).
Nevertheless, the initial ten lines were neither insubordinate nor unimportant. They symbolized the tedious ceremonies that often accompany the rituals of greetings (especially to a deity or to a chi) in the African communities.
Also noteworthy is the orality, or poetic, features evident in the Africans mode of communication. The mode of communication employed by Africans is colourful blend of literal words, vivid imageries, and poetry.
This style of communication often ends up in a rather long or exaggerated speech. Periphrasis are also often employed in the African lingua franca. It is these elements that are evident in the first ten lines of the poem. These lines provide extra information about the persona that is being revered through the use of a powerful admixture of an ample amount of different poetic devices.
In conclusion, what one witnesses in the rendering of this poem are the important nuances and protocols that accompany the act of greeting in Africa. Thus, the poem focuses, in microcosm, on the Igbo tradition of breaking kolanuts which is an important precursor act in any form of greeting. When a kolanut is being broken, words are spoken.
These words are not mere words. They are often in the form of Eulogy, praise poetry, ode, elegy etc. An example of these is what is witnessed in the first ten lines of this poem. The first ten lines of this twelve-line poem consist of praises showered to the persona that is being greeted in the poem.
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