Manifestations of Times and Seasons: Analysis of Images in a Selection of Nature Poems from Niyi Osundare's Songs of the Marketplace

Abstract

Songs of the Marketplace (1983) is Niyi Osundare's first volume of poetry. It marks his incursion into recognition as a literary artist and also gives an indication of his vision as a poet.. Specifically, however, the section used for the analysis titled: "Songs of Dawn and Seasons” essentially examines nature, and its various states such as the seasons, dawn, and even eclipses. It also shows how such natural phenomena affect people's way of life and their livelihood. The poems specially considered from Songs of the Marketplace (1983) are the five nature poems from the section, "Songs of Dawn and Seasons” namely: "Dry Seasons”, "Dawn I”, "Sundown”, "Autumn I” and "Autumn II.” These poems were chosen because they are representative of the phenomena of dawn, sunset and the seasons. The titles of the poems point to the poet's focus on nature as a phenomenon. However, a discussion of each poem established a relationship between the phenomenon and other aspects of nature. The poems also portray the effect that the phenomena have had on the community, sometimes represented by the persona. The poet's deliberate choice of imagery was to humanise the phenomenon in order to bring a particular experience to our awareness. Altogether, the poems represent varying manifestations of time by exploring the relationship time has with nature and their collective effect on human beings. The poet's carefully chosen sensuous words successfully capture the images he wants to evoke, and thus makes the experience of nature come alive – forcing the reader to pay even closer attention to this phenomenon whose effect on the livelihood of human beings is usually unappreciated.