Poetic Devices

1. Personification

In all the stanzas, the land is given different human abilities. In stanza one, it can swallow and it can cry in stanza two. It is stated in stanza three that it can hover and hoot. And  stanza four states that it lies in wait patiently.

2. Metaphor

‘The land is a giant whale’-line 1

‘The land is a saber-toothed tiger’ line 8

‘The land is a giant hawk’ line 14

3. Allusion

Biblical allusion is made to Peter who toiled all day for a catch and never caught anything. The ruled in Nigeria fruitless effort is likened to Peter’s.

4. Metonymy

‘Land’ is used to represent both the leaders and the masses. This has helped the poet to escape the wrath he can incur from leader if their names were mentioned.

5. Symbolism

So many symbols are found in the poem. They are giant whale, saber-toothed tiger, bayonets of tribulation and giant hawk. They convey feelings of turbulence, confrontation and suppression.

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