Idanre and Other Poems

by Wole Soyinka

A selection of poetry discussing political tensions and Africa's cultural traditions also includes an adaptation of the creation myth of Ogun, the Yoruba God of Iron

Genres: Poetry, Nigeria, Africa, Nobel Prize

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1967

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka, known as Wole Soyinka, is a Nigerian playwright, novelist, poet, and essayist in the English language. He was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature for his "wide cultural perspective and... poetic overtones fashioning the drama of existence", the first sub-Saharan African to be honoured in that category.
Soyinka was born into a Yoruba family in Abeokuta. In 1954, he attended Government College in Ibadan, and subsequently University College Ibadan and the University of Leeds in England. After studying in Nigeria and the UK, he worked with the Royal Court Theatre in London. He went on to write plays that were produced in both countries, in theatres and on radio. He took an active role in Nigeria's political history and its campaign for independence from British colonial rule. In 1965, he seized the Western Nigeria Broadcasting Service studio and broadcast a demand for the cancellation of the Western Nigeria Regional Elections. In 1967, during the Nigerian Civil War, he was arrested by the federal government of General Yakubu Gowon and put in solitary confinement for two years, for volunteering to be a non-government mediating actor.
Soyinka has been a strong critic of successive Nigerian (and African at large) governments, especially the country's many military dictators, as well as other political tyrannies, including the Mugabe regime in Zimbabwe. Much of his writing has been concerned with "the oppressive boot and the irrelevance of the colour of the foot that wears it". During the regime of General Sani Abacha (1993–98), Soyinka escaped from Nigeria on a motorcycle via the "NADECO Route". Abacha later proclaimed a death sentence against him "in absentia". With civilian rule restored to Nigeria in 1999, Soyinka returned to his nation.
In Nigeria, Soyinka was a Professor of Comparative literature (1975 to 1999) at the Obafemi Awolowo University, then called the University of Ifẹ̀. With civilian rule restored to Nigeria in 1999, he was made professor emeritus. While in the United States, he first taught at Cornell University as Goldwin Smith professor for African Studies and Theatre Arts from 1988 to 1991 and then at Emory University, where in 1996 he was appointed Robert W. Woodruff Professor of the Arts. Soyinka has been a Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and has served as scholar-in-residence at New York University's Institute of African American Affairs and at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California. He has also taught at the universities of Cambridge, Oxford, Harvard and Yale, and was also a Distinguished Scholar in Residence at Duke University in 2008.
In December 2017, Soyinka was awarded the Europe Theatre Prize in the "Special Prize" category, awarded to someone who has "contributed to the realization of cultural events that promote understanding and the exchange of knowledge between peoples".

Reviews

[James F · Rating 3 out of 5]

While Soyinka is best known as a playwright, he is also a poet. Not surprisingly, his poetry tends to be even more obscure than his plays; there is also much similarity in theme.

The first part of this book is entitled "of the road" and consists of five short poems two of which are about fatal accidents; altogether the book is made up of six sections, "of the road", "lone figure", "of birth and death", "for women", "grey seasons" and "october '66" with thirty six short poems about equally divided between them, and then the long title poem Idanre.

Idanre is a religious poem in seven sections. Soyinka explains the genesis of the poem thus: He had once visited the sacred hill, Idanre. Three years later a severe thunderstorm reminded him of his visit. As soon as the storm was over, about midnight, he went for a walk in the wet woods, returning at dawn to find the harvest beginning. He sat down immediately to write the poem.

In the first section ( "deluge") a storm is described in mythical terms as a conflict of Ogun and Sango; in sections II (". . . and after") and III ("the pilgrimage"), the narrator follows the footsteps of Ogun to the site of Idanre. Sections IV ("the beginning") and V ("the battle") then tell the story of Ogun in poetical allusions. (The basic myth is told in more straightforward language in one of the essays in his book on African literature which was the first of his books I read back in January; it is essentially the opposite of the Western "quest" myth -- rather than a human hero seeking to find the gods, the gods are seeking to find humanity, unsuccessfully until Ogun forces a path through chaos to the world.) Then in sections VI ("recessional") and VII ("harvest") the narrator reflects on the meaning.

After the poem there are a few notes which I should have read first, since they make the action more understandable.

[Jennifer Collins · Rating 4 out of 5]

This immersive collection of Soyinka's early poetry is powerful and engrossing, densely packed with an appreciation for Nigerian culture and history, the natural world, and the difficulties inherent in a long-established culture suddenly being pulled all at once into the twentieth century and all that came with it. Soyinka's language is, as ever, tense and demanding, but full of such images and moments as make any collection shine.

This isn't an easy collection, but I was glad to immerse myself in it, and plan to revisit it at length. I'd recommend it for those interested in Soyinka's early work or African poetry. Soyinka was the first African writer to ever be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, and it's clear why.

[Rex · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book came into my hands by serendipitous chance. Soyinka's poems are densely allusive, and my ignorance of Yoruba culture rendered them more or less impenetrable in their depths. But they are sensual and sonorous throughout, punctuated by dramatic images, and well worth a perusal.

[Sameen Shakya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wole Soyinka’s poems come from a place of supreme confidence. It seems, to me as the reader, that he sees the world from within and recreates it in his verses. I’m glad I read this. His poems’ rhythm will live in me forever.

[Akuki Iliya]

The beginning

[Dhimma Ayogu (altoreluwa) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Coming back for a review, so help me God!!

[SirFrankieCrisp]

Quickly becoming one of my favourite poets - resting with Keats and Shakespeare.

[RK Byers · Rating 3 out of 5]

too poetic.

[Oguneme Bethel]

I want to read this book for research purposes

[Akinduro]

Want to read the book for reference purpose

[Yekeen Ifeoluwa]

it is worthy to be red