THE AVIL AND THE HAMMER. KOFI AWONOOR

The poem talks about the experience of the poet on how to cope with modern trends. He found himself struggling for survival between the old and the new order .He believes that in comparison, the experience of the past that is, the old  order, could be more acceptable than the present day ideas. He thus asks for away out from the gods. The African in a colonial situation is akin to a piece of metal which finds itself lodged between ‘the anvil’ and ‘the hammer’. ‘ The anvil’ represent the African tradition while ‘the hammer’ is the foreign culture. Both of them impact on African in the process of forging and transforming him/her into a new being.

THEMES

• A forceful fusion
• Conflict of the way to go.
• Nation building
• Tradition and modernity

See also

THE PANIC OF GROWING OLDER BY LENRIE PETER

THE DINNING TABLE BY GBANABAM HALLOWELLPiano and Drums by Gabriel Okara

AMBUSH

African Poetry