LEAD CITY UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF ARTS
DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGES AND LITERATURE
300 LEVEL
GROUP 5
TOPIC: IDENTIFY AND DISCUSS THE POETIC ELEMENTS IN KOFI AWOONOR’S EASTER
DAWN.
GROUP MEMBERS
1.UDO, ABIGAIL EMMANUEL- LCU/UG/20/17678
2. POPOOLA BISOLA ZAINAB -LCU/UG/17054 3.LAWAL OPEYEMI ADEOLA -LCU/UG/17242
4.GBOLAGADE AFOLABI UMAR- LCU/UG/20/16889
5.OLASEBIKAN GANIYAT ABIOLA- LCU/UG/21/21034
6.OLANIYI OLUWAJUWON ADEOLA- LCU/UG/20/17331
7.ADENIYI MICHAEL OLUGBENGA- LCU/UG/20/16288
8.DADA OLAMIDE ROSEMARY - LCU/UG/20/17625
9.AGEH ODOMERO CATHERINE- LCU/UG/20/16912
10.UGWU GIFT ONYINYECHI- LCU/UG/22/23954
11.ABRAHAM ELIZABETH AYOMIDE- LCU/UG/22/23955
12. ADENUGA TENIOLA LYDIA- LCU/UG/20/17152

BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF THE POET

The poem The Easter Dawn was written by Kofi Awonoor, an acclaimed literary icon and poet
from Ghana. Born George Kofi Nyidevu Awoonor- Williams in Wheta, Ghana in 1953, he studied
in Ghana, England and the United States of America. He worked as a university lecturer and
also represented his country on the international scene in various capacities.

EASTER DAWN
That man died in Jerusalem
And his death demands dawn marcher
From year to year to the sound of bells.
The hymns flow through the mornings
Heard on Calvary this dawn.
the gods are crying, my father's gods are crying
for a burial - for a final ritual -
but they that should build the fallen shrines
have joined the dawn marchers
singing their way towards Gethsemane
where the tear drops of agony still freshen the cactus.
He has risen! Christ has risen!
the gods cried again from the hut in me
asking why that prostration has gone unheeded.
The marchers sang of the resurrection
That concerned the hillock of Calvary
Where the ground at the foot of the cross is level.
the gods cried, shedding clayey tears on the calico
the drink offering had dried up in the harmattan the cola-nut is shriveled the yam feast has been
eaten by mice
and the fetish priest is dressing for the Easter service.
The resurrection hymns come to me from afar
touching my insides.
Then the gods cried loudest
Challenging the hymners.
They seized their gongs and drums
And marched behind the dawn marchers
Seeking their Calvary
Seeking their tombstone
And those who refused to replace them
In the appropriate season.

INTRODUCTION
The poem captures the clash of culture and religion especially the Western and African religion
influenced mainly by the many years of colonization by the West. The result is a religious twist
leading to a change in norms, values, ethics and the general way of life of the African people.
It's not divided into stanzas. But the poet tries to establish some sort of class difference when he
is addressing the two personas in the poem —"Christ" and "the gods”. The difference is
achieved by beginning each line that talks about the religion of the white people with a capital
letter, but beginning the lines about the traditional religion with small letters. The parts that
address the traditional religion are indented so that they come under the lines about the white
man’s religion. This shows subjugation, imperialism, dominance etc.
In Awoonor’s poem the gods with their shrines are victims not only of oppression by the whites,
but also neglect by their own ‘children’ who happen to be converted into the new religion.
Awoonor's poetry abounds in laments for the neglected shrines and forgotten gods, ignored by a
society. The true cause of this desertion according to Awoonor are the foreigners who by
preaching other kinds of shrines and gods distracted some members of the society from
discharging their duties to their own gods.
This desertion is very dramatically presented by the poet in lines.
“the gods are crying, my father’s gods are crying for a burial - for a final ritual - but they that
should build the fallen shrines have joined the dawn marchers singing their way towards
Gethsemane...”
This is not all, for, a few lines later, we see the tragedy clinched by the priest of the gods
deserting them himself:
“the gods cried, shedding
clayey tears on the calico
the drink offering had dried up in the harmattan the cola-nut is shrivelled the yam feast has been
eaten by mice
and the fetish priest is dressing for the
Easter service.”
And at this point the desertion is complete; but the deserters are not pursuing individual status
or material wealth - they are drawn into another religion, Christianity. This is natural, for every
act of conversion is counterpoised by another of aversion.
In Easter Dawn Awoonor employs the myth inherent in the word Easter. That is the early
celebration of Christ death to dramatize the way colonialists and their followers lured away the
indigenous Africans from their traditional religion into Christianity. for the poet this kind of
behavior is senseless and hypocritical it symbolizes doomsday for the African society, the
mocking tone explicit in the image “that man” suggest the poet’s defiance as well as a strong
inclination to distance, or disassociate himself from the scene of the action.

POETIC ELEMENTS IN THE POEM

1.THEMES
The following are themes derived from the poem;

A.THE CONFLICTS OF RELIGION AND CULTURE:

The Easter Dawn is a poem that captures the conflict between the embrace of Western religion
and traditional African culture. In the poem, the speaker laments the imposition of European
Christianity on African culture. He argues that the new religion has caused a disconnect
between the people and their culture, leading to a loss of identity and a sense of betrayal.
The conflict is embodied in the form of images that portray the African traditional culture in
contrast to the religious practices brought by the Europeans. For instance,
in lines 6-9.
the gods are crying, my father's gods are crying for a burial - for a final ritual -
but they that should build the fallen shrines have joined the dawn marchers
The speaker suggests that the African culture and religion has been replaced with a foreign
religion, erasing centuries of tradition and meaning.

B.THE THEME OF DESERTION:

The Easter dawn is a lamentation for those who have deserted their religion and embraced a
foreign religion and culture. He emphasizes the idea that cultural beliefs can change leading to
displacement and desertion. Awoonor’s use of imagery in the poem further emphasizes the
theme of desertion.
“the gods cried, shedding clayey tears on the calico
the drink offering had dried up in the harmattan the cola-nut is shrivelled
the yam feast has been eaten by mice and the fetish priest is dressing for the Easter service.”
He uses this to also emphasize that even the custodians of the tradition have deserted their
traditions to follow a foreign God.

C.THE THEME OF RESISTANCE:

The last part shows "the gods" fighting for their rights and revolting against the "dawn
marchers".
“They marched behind the dawn marchers seeking their Calvary. Seeking their tombstones
and those who refuse to replace them In the appropriate season.”
2. MOOD AND TONE
The tone is satirical. The poetic persona is angry disappointed and disillusioned. He uses irony
and sarcasm to mock and criticize his people. The tone is a mixture of pity, muted sorrow, and
gentle humor.

3. STRUCTURE
"Easter Dawn" by Kofi Awoonor is a free verse poem. It is not written in stanzas and does not
have any rhyming scheme.

4. IMAGERY AND SYMBOLISM

Awoonor’s constant references to several images and symbols important to the Christian
orthodoxy words like Jerusalem, dawn marchers, Calvary, gethsemane Easter service, the
resurrection and the hymns etc. not only endow Awoonor’s verse with a formidable symbolic
structure but suggest his acute knowledge of his subject matter.

"marchers": People walking in unison, mimicking the steps of others. The dawn marchers
represent those who celebrate the resurrection of Christ, while the “gods” symbolize the
traditional African beliefs and practices that are in conflict with Christianity.

“The hymns and gongs/drums” symbolize the different forms of worship and the clashes
between them.
“The yam feast and the drink offering” represent the offerings made to the gods in traditional
African religions.

"Fallen shrines”: Picture of monumental structures laid waste. Shrines are highly revered spots
of worship or festive rituals in African traditional communities. Their falling points to the ruin of
African values and traditions. This points to the way Africans took up western cultures and
religion and abandoned their indigenous traditional practices.

The imagery and symbols used in Kofi Awoonor's "Easter Dawn"also include:

A. Religious imagery: The poem alludes to the Christian faith and the resurrection of Christ, with
references to Calvary, Gethsemane, and the tombstones. The hymns and rituals associated with
Easter are also mentioned.

B. Cultural imagery: The speaker's father's "gods" represent traditional African religious beliefs
and practices. The yam feast and the fetish priest further emphasize the cultural setting of the
poem.

C. Natural imagery: The "tear drops of agony" on the cactus add a poignant and vivid image to
the poem. The "clayey tears" shed by the gods also create a strong visual effect.
6. FIGURATIVE EXPRESSIONS

The figurative expressions used in Easter Dawn by Kofi Awoonor include:

A. METAPHOR:The poet also refers to "dawn marchers"- as a metaphor for those who
commemorate Christ's death and resurrection every year.

B. IRONY: The author uses irony to show the contrast between the celebration of Christ's
resurrection and the sadness of the gods who have lost their shrines.

C. PERSONIFICATION: The author personifies the gods, giving them human emotions like
“crying and challenging the hymners”.

D. HYPERBOLE: The author exaggerates the gods' sadness by saying they cried "loudest" and
shed "clayey tears" to emphasize their grief.

E. ALLUSION: The author alludes to Calvary and Gethsemane, which are significant places in
the Bible related to Christ's death and resurrection.