Thematic Study of "The Piano and The Drums" by Gabrial Okara

 Hello Everyone,

I am Hinaba Sarvaiya, a student of The English Department at MKBU. In this task given by our Yesha Ma'am. This blog is based on Themes of "The Piano and The Drums" written by Gabrial Okara. 

About Poet:-

Gabriel Okara, in full Gabriel Imomotimi Gbaingbain Okara. He was born on April 21,1921 and died March 25, 2019. Nigerian poet and novelist whose verse had been translated into several languages by the early 1960s.

A largely self-educated man, Okara became a bookbinder after leaving school and soon began writing plays and features for radio. 

About Poem:-

Okara, born in Nigeria, elicits his chaos through various symbols in his poem “Piano and Drums.” In the title, the word ‘Piano’ symbolizes western culture whereas ‘Drums’ characterizes traditional African culture. He employs two different musical instruments to depict the differences in the two cultures. 

Let's see the theme of the poem "The Piano and The Drums"...

Nature:-

In stanza one, the way the poetic persona expresses the details of the jungle drum depicts his appreciation of the normal natural environment of things.  

Okara, represented in the poem, African culture is full of nature. They are connected to each other. Nature gives to their life and they spend their life with full enthusiasm. 

Childhood Nostalgia:-

Another major theme is childhood Nostalgia. In this poem, the poet presented the two cultures. First is African culture and another is Western Culture. The poet used the experience of his village background to depict African culture which he grew up with, while comparing it to his present civilized way of living. 

The poem speaker was reminded of his/her "primal youth and the beginning" through the quietness of the early to morning river and the echoing forest. While at the riverside, the poem speaker could "hear jungle drums telegraphing/the mystic rhythm..." and other things like panther, leopard, hunters crouching with poised spears, etc added to his/her memory.

Cultural Conflict:-

We know that the poet represents the two cultures through the musical instruments. First piano they represented western culture and drums they presented African culture. We see that both are very different forms each other. African was loved for nature. They are not redeveloping people. They live a simple life. Another part of the poet show to western culture. Western people are connected with the machine. They live life as luxury life. The connotations of the piano are complex and technical. The piano uses significantly different word sounds, showing that it is learnt, westernized and intricate compared to the drums which is instinctive and naturally acquired, and simple. The poem uses no set rhyme pattern which suits the poem as it has an undecided effect, emphasizing the confusion of the persona over his future. 

Dilema:-

The poem speaker concluded that he found himself/herself in dilemma "wandering in the mystic rhythm/of jungle drums and the concerto." because he didn't know which culture to totally embrace. He preferred the simple rural life but it was also impossible to let go of the civilisation he had got into despite it being complex and confusing.

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