The Talking Drum
Adjekawen A. Jeremiah 1998 (Delta State, Nigeria)
Sweeten the air
All round the village square
Melody! Melody!
‘Drive sadness into custody!’
Says the talkative spirit of the air
Hear my frenzied strings
They say, ‘this song we sing
Is about a queen in her coach’
Steadily she approach
Our water deity has ascended to land today
Make for her a way
‘Let the feast begin!’
Says my pulsating rhythms
Beat me louder for her
O, red drummer of hearts!
Ignite the fragile waist of the maiden
The tamed vixen in the garden
To sway her hips to the jingling sound of your drum
Giving her body to the hot melody of your songs
Never had I seen a dancing queen
Your beauty is beyond praise
Fine water nymph
It drives men insane
Even the gods of the creek
Restive in their forbidden desire
Your body is a sea of liquor
An eternally flowing ichor
Sweet Calypso
It makes men drunk and forget their sorrow
I feel thoroughly possessed
Each time you work your waist,
Sending your waist beads into frenzy
I feel utterly obsessed
Each time you bend your waist
Brushing your heavy behind against my drum skin
Ah, quite a pleasure for a talking drum like me!
Dance to the rhythm of my strings
Spineless jellyfish
Holding you spell-bond
With the sweet melody of my music
Dance until the shadow has fled
Dance until the sun has slept
About this poem
With feastival as an over riding theme though, the poem potrays no literal feast, but one of the mind (imaginary). The poem tends to showcase the beauty of African art. Music which is an art that, in one guise or another, permeates every human society is exhibited by the "The Talking Drum" in the African style. Moreover, Dance as a fully-fledged art form, belonging to the 'performing arts', a goal in itself and a means of allowing a human being to express his inner feelings, thoughts and experiences, is vividly potrayed in the piece. In a nutshell, the poem highlights African art, religion (i.e, traditional [one among many]) the 'all-round' beauty and inherent talent of African women. more »
Written on March 30, 2019
Submitted by jerrylov322 on July 04, 2022
Modified on April 09, 2023
- 1:18 min read
- 23 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | AABBA CXDD EEFX GXHHXXX XXXXG GAII JKBJKFB CXXX XX |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,295 |
Words | 262 |
Stanzas | 9 |
Stanza Lengths | 5, 4, 4, 7, 5, 4, 7, 4, 2 |
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"The Talking Drum" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 13 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/131126/the-talking-drum>.
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