The Anvil and the Hammer by Kofi Awoonor
Caught between the anvil and the hammer
In the forging house of a new life
Transforming the pangs that delivered me
Into the joy of new songs
The trapping of the past, tender and tenuous
Woven with 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 garment,
After we have washed ourselves in
The whirlpool of the many rivers’ estuary
We hear their songs and rumours everyday
Determined to ignore these we use snatches
From their tunes
Make ourselves new flags and anthems
While we lift high the banner of the land
And listen to the reverberation of our songs
In the splash and moan of the sea
Structure
The poem has 21 lines and two contrasting stanzas. While the first stanza describes the conflict between African traditions and western civilisation, the second stanza offers solution to the conflict. The solution lies in creating a balance of both cultures. It is a free verse poem and has no consistent meter pattern or rhythm.
Subject Matter
The poem is about the clash of cultures especially the Western and African cultures influenced mainly by the many years of colonisation by the West. The result is a cultural twist leading to a change in norms, values, ethos and the general way of life of the African people
Analysis
Caught between the anvil and the hammer/In the forging house of a new life. As the anvil and the hammer work to shape a new piece of metal, the poet believes that rather than discard the African culture, Western ideas could be used to shape and refine African traditions to create a new Africa.
The poet portrays the old African way of life and traditional practices, where he said ‘The trapping of the past, tender and tenuous/ Woven with fibre of sisal and/Washed in the blood of the goat in the fetish hut’. He compares these with the Western culture foisted on Africans through religion and a new system of government. He laments that African values and traditions have been largely eroded –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. Note the use of the word “flimsy” which he employs to portray the attractions of the Western culture.
In the second stanza, he appeals to his ancestors to help restore the old African ways. Sew the old days for us, our fathers/That we can wear them under our new garment. While he admits that Western culture has indeed come to stay and would continuously influence African culture, he pleads for a synergy of both cultures for a better Africa: Determined to ignore these we use snatches/ From their tunes/Make ourselves new flags and anthems/While we lift high the banner of the land.
Biography of the Author
Kofi Awoonor (13 March 1935 - 21 September 2013) was a Ghanaian poet and author whose work combined the poetic traditions of his native Ewe people and contemporary and religious symbolism to depict Africa during decolonization. He started writing under the name George Awoonor-Williams. Professor Kofi Awoonor was among those who were killed in the September 21, 2013 terrorist attack at Westgate Shopping Mall, Nairobi, Kenya, by the Al-Shabaab militant group.
Awoonor was born in Ghana when it was still called the Gold Coast. He went to university there and went on to teach African literature at the University of Ghana. While at the University of Ghana he wrote his first poetry book, Rediscovery, published in 1964. Like the rest of his work, Rediscovery is based on African oral poetry. In Ghana he managed the Ghana Film Corporation and founded the Ghana Play House. His early works were inspired by the singing and verse of his native Ewe people.
He then studied literature at the University of London. In England, he wrote several radio plays for the BBC. He spent the early 1970s in the United States, studying and teaching at universities. While in the USA he wrote This Earth, My Brother, and My Blood. Awoonor returned to Ghana in 1975 as head of the English department at the University of Cape Coast. Within months he was arrested for helping a soldier accused of trying to overthrow the military government and was imprisoned without trial and was later released. The house by the Sea is about his time in jail. After imprisonment Awoonor became politically active and has written mostly non-fiction. From 1990 to 1994 Awoonor was Ghana's Ambassador to the United Nations, where he headed the committee against apartheid. He was also a former Chairman of the Council of State.
Awoonor was among those killed in the September 21, 2013 terrorist attack by Al-Shabaab at Westgate Shopping Mall, Nairobi, Kenya. He was in Nairobi as a participant in the Storymoja Hay Festival, a four-day celebration of writing, thinking and storytelling. He was due to perform on Saturday evening before his death. The Ghanaian government confirmed his death the next day. His son was also shot, but was later discharged from hospital.
Sources
http://www.zodml.org
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