Pain, sorrow and delusion of the masses in Ezenwa-Ohaeto’sSongs of a traveller

Christian Chukwuloo Chukwueloka

Abstract


This work, entitled “Pain, Sorrow and Delusion of the Masses in Ezenwa­-Ohaeto’s Songs of a Traveller” examines the kinds of trauma which the masses undergo in the hands of   Nigerian leaders. The study focused on five poems in the collection which include:”Oriki of a General”, “Song of an Unemployed”, “A Song for Nigeria”, “Rivers are Afraid” and “Song of Confession”. A juxtaposed and detailed perusal of the selected poems revealed the poets messages in the collection. The work employed Marxist ideological stance, meshedwith intertextuality. The work revealed that pain and sorrows of the heart, joblessness, intimidation and wickedness, despotism and delusions, formed the basis of the masses problems in Songs of a Traveller. The work also revealed that the poet truly meshedthe Marxist ideology with intertextuality in the collection. Also some elements of ‘njakiri’ (badinage) are manifested in the collection.

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References


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