Literary Devices Used in “The Song of the Women of My Land” by Oumar Farouk Sesay
This analysis explores the literary devices used in “The Song of the Women of My Land”, a poem by Oumar Farouk Sesay. Click here to read the detailed analysis of the poem, covering structure, mood and tone, language and diction, content summary, and content analysis.
Complete Analysis of The Song of the Women of My Land by Oumar Farouk Sesay
Themes in The Song of the Women of My Land by Oumar Farouk Sesay
Literary Devices Used in The Song of the Women of My Land
Sesay used various literary devices to pass the message of the poem. One common literary device in the poem is personification, as many inanimate things were given human attributes. Below, some of the outstanding poetic tools in the poem are discussed with examples.
1. Enjambment
This device is used in most lines in the poem to push the reader forward as a line runs into the succeeding line.
Example 1 (Lines 3-4)
“It strips away lyrics of the song of the women of my land
Leaving only a fading tune echoing the song,”
Example 2 (Lines 16-18)
“cheat the tyranny of time
And commune with the yet unborn
To give meaning to an epoch lost in antiquity,”
2. Repetition
Different types of repetition were used in the poem. Here are some examples.
(a)Alliteration
Example 1:
An example of a fricative alliteration-
“In places far afield the forlorn fields,”
(Line 35)
Example 2:
More examples of alliteration in the poem include:
“… dereliction decapitated…” (Line 11)
Example 3:
“… lyrics lost … vast void …,” (Line 8)
(b) Sibilance
Example
“Who ploughed their soil and soul
For a song to sing the story of their lives
The song of the women of my land”
(Line 28-30)
(c) Consonance
Example
“In verses far from the theatre of toil
where they left a song that now roams the land
stripped of lyrics like a scorned ghost.
The tune tuning the tenor of my verse”
(Lines 40 -43)
(d) Assonance
“Who ploughed their soil and soul
For a song to sing the story of their lives
The song of the women of my land”
(Line 28-30)
3. Personification
Personification is greatly utilized by the writer to make the poem come alive. Here are some examples.
Example 1 – (Line 2)
Time is given a human quality in line 2.
“Time chisels away bits of their memory”
Example 2 (Line 10)
Servitude is described as “cuffing” the women.
“when servitude cuffed the ankles of their soul,”
Example 3 (Line 12)
“Yet time strips the lyrics and scars the tune,”
Here, time has the features and abilities to strip away and scare.
Example 4 (Line 19)
‘Today the tune roams the forlorn fields”
Example 5 ((Line 37)
“The stuttering lips of my pen”
4. Simile
Compares two things with the use of “as” or “like”. This is seen in the first 2 lines of the poem –
Example 1 (Lines 1-2)
“Like a sculptor chipping away at bits of wood,
Time chisels away bits of their memory”
This compares what time had done to the song in question to the work of a sculptor. Just as the sculptor meticulously chisels away bits of wood to create his masterpiece, time has worked to erase the song, especially the lyrics, such that all that is left now is just the tune. The tune is strong enough to trigger memories, endear reverence, and stir creatives to work to preserve the story of the women of old in the land who worked the forlorn fields.
Example 2 (Lines 20-22)
“leaving a dying song.
Dead!
Like the woman who died long ago,”
Here, the death of the song is compared to the death of the women who sang the song. This song, which told their stories, is now also dead.
Example 3 (Line 42)
“stripped of lyrics like a scorned ghost.”
The writer examines the state of the song he was trying to recreate and realizes that the tune is the only thing left; the lyrics are long forgotten.
5. Metaphor
This device compares two things without the use of like or as. Rather, it states that one is the other. Here are some examples of metaphors used in the poem:
Example 1 (Line 12)
“With a song, they sponged off their anguish”
The song the women sang is compared to a sponge used in washing of dirt or a mop for cleaning dirt, or a wound to facilitate healing.
Example 2 (Line 28-29)
“Who ploughed their soil and soul
For a song to sing the story of their lives”
The women’s souls are depicted as a garden being ploughed and cultivated to yield a song to tell their story.
Example 3 (Line 40)
“In verses far from the theater of toil”
The writer describes the forlorn fields where the women labored as a theater of toil, a stage carefully crafted for the drama (the suffering of the women).
6. Zeugma
Zuegma is a literary device and figure of speech where one word, usually a verb or adjective, “yokes” together two or more distinct words in a sentence, often applying to each in different senses (literal and figurative).
Example (Line 28)
“Who ploughed their soil and soul”
Literal – the women ploughed the soil to grow crops. This was their everyday affair as they toiled in the forlorn fields.
Figurative – the women ploughed their “soul” for the song they sang.
Conclusion
Every literary device used in the poem contributes to its depth and meaning.
Did you identify other literary devices? Share in the comment section or reach out to us here.
Read also:
Literary Devices in Caged Bird by Maya Angelou
Themes and Literary Devices in “Digging” by Seamus Heaney