POETIC DEVICES
1. Simile
“Beat him soft like clay” (l. 2)
2. Hyperbole
“Booted the whole house awake” (l. 9)
3. Rhetorical Question
“What business of mine is it/so long they don’t take yam/From my savouring mouth?” (l. 5-7; 12-14; 19-21)
4. Repetition (Refrain)
“What business of mine is it
so long they don’t take yam
From my savouring mouth?” (l. 5-7; 12-14; 19-21)
5. Personification
“the belly/Of a waiting jeep” (l. 3-4)
6. Transferred Epithet
“my hungry hand” (l. 24)
“my bewildered lawn” (l. 25)
7. Symbolism
“a waiting jeep” (l. 4) and the jeep (l. 25) are symbols of the suppressive mechanism of the military
government. “the yam” is a symbol of the poetic persona’s sustenance.
8. Euphemism
“picked up”
This is a euphemism in the first stanza to imply arrest or kidnap.
STRUCTURE OF THE POEM
“Not My Business” is a poem of twenty-six lines patterned into eight stanzas, but structurally composed of four stanzas. The poem is a narrative poem whose background lies in the tendency by people to keep silent when things go wrong simply because they think they are not the ones being wronged or affected. It is written in free verse which means that it has neither meter nor rhyme. It is equally written in run-on lines or
Enjambment. This means that an idea in one line tends to flow into another. This is reflected in the scanty end punctuation marks in the poem. The poem is written in the first-person point of view to substantiate an intimate viewpoint of the situation.
MOOD/TONE
The poem is of a general tone of criticism and admonition. It criticizes indifference to injustice in a very serious tone. It is written in an objective mood and tone as well. It is also blended with an indifferent tone by the poetic persona until he is faced with the realities of tyranny. The general mood and atmosphere are as well frightening and oppressive.
LANGUAGE AND DICTION
The voice is that of the speaker, who refers throughout to the unnamed ‘they’ — the representatives of a brutal regime. It is only in the last stanza that the first-person singular pronoun is used. The tone is understated and therefore all the more effective. The power of the diction used in the poem also lies in what isn’t said but is implied; the secretive and brutal torture of the people. For example, “picked up”, “beat him soft like clay” and stuffed him down in the belly of a waiting jeep”. The speaker’s instinct to preserve himself and ignore what happens to his neighbors — his instinctive fear to the point of selfishness — is implied by the repetition of the last two lines of each stanza. The “yam” is a metaphor for the human impulse to cling to life; the natural instinct of self-preservation and care, disregarding what happens externally. It is also important to note that Osundare uses 3 different names belonging to the three major tribes in Nigeria. Akanni – Yoruba, Danladi – Hausa and Chinwe – Igbo. This highlights that the situation is a national crisis, void of tribe or gender.
Credit to H.K OCRAN/ LiTTROVE
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