The Awakening Age

The deadly Nigerian Civil War, which began in 1967 and lasted three years, has a bloody past. Between the Government of Nigeria (North) and the ostensibly autonomous Biafra, there was a terrible and bloody conflict (South). Almost a million people have died from famine.

Ben Okri's poem "The Awakening Age," written in Nigeria.

The poem is about the struggles faced by the African population in southern and northern Nigeria.

The poet speaks for himself. Here, he appeals to people all throughout the world to come together in harmony, peace, and solidarity.

Seven separate stanzas totaling fourteen lines make up the poem. Each stanza consists of a couplet of two lines with the rhymes AA BB CC.

First stanza:

The speaker sends his best wishes to all of the Nigerians who endured severe challenges during the civil war.

He is optimistic about how people will live in the emerging world.

The Nigerian people entered the "awakening age" with great anticipation and hope. All Nigerians gained hope for survival in this new world during this time.

He expresses his hopes for the people along the meridian line, or for those who were split between the North and the South as a result of the destructive civil war. These folks have endured a lengthy journey of starvation, deprivation, unemployment, and other facets of their existence as they have struggled to survive in small groups.

He hopes that all people living in Africa would be able to see a better future filled with hope, prosperity, unity, truth, and creativity.

He hopes that when civil peace finally breaks out over the country, these individuals will be filled with the bright vision of a brand-new, peaceful world.

Second stanza:

▪︎He wishes for these people that they may experience the glory of the awakening age.

▪︎These people may get the chance to see fine conditions through the glory of the awakening age (age of African people's recognition, realization, or coming into awareness of their condition, and the beginning of their new world).

The age of enlightenment known as the "awakening age" is characterized by peace, prosperity, freedom, joy, and human unity and harmony.

Third stanza:

He discusses hope and how it relates to the Nigerian people.

He asserts that all Nigerians have a wide range of aspirations. He compares their dreams to a mountain rope that is so powerful it can bring all Nigerians together in a world of peace.

These hopes are able to bind them together like a mountain rope.

Fourth stanza:

He discusses the harmony of the Nigerian people. He believes that Nigerians can reach the pinnacle of perfection and prosperity if they are united.

He believed that by banding together, we may achieve greater success in life. We must follow the most direct light of our hearts in order to achieve this height (positivity). We ought to reject the ideas of anger, bigotry, and discrimination. By working together, we may move closer to our goal of prosperity.

Fifth stanza:

He discusses how Nigerians need to have their perceptions of the world modified. It is important to initially prevent the limited perception.

It is the ideal strategy for gaining a lot. Having a broad perspective enables us to see the truth as a blooming rather than as a pain. On the path of truth, life will go without incident. As a result, perception must be altered.

Sixth stanza:

He discusses the upbeat circumstances affecting Nigerians' daily lives. People will be able to live well outside of their poverty threshold thanks to this condition. Nigerians will receive more as a result.

This is the state that perfectly combines a new global vision, realization, hope, optimism, altered perception, etc.

Seventh stanza:

He speaks of the happy life that Nigerians lead everywhere, in both the north and the south.

People's lives will be filled with happiness, peace, and harmony. The result will be extremely loving in both space and time. Their existence in the new planet will be so delightful and poetic.

Ben Okri, a Nigerian poet and novelist, wrote the poem "The Awakening Age." He depicts the struggles and suffering of the African people in it. He makes an appeal or calls for world peace, wealth, happiness, freedom, unification, and harmony. He wants to usher everyone and everything out of the age of ignorance and poverty and into the age of awakened illumination.

The poem is divided into seven stanzas, each of which includes two lines. The poem resembles a sonnet because there are 14 lines in all. It begins with a slang term like "Oye." Then, he discusses the trip of those who walk down the meridian line and experience a new world.

The speaker desires for Africans to experience a new world. He wants the African to experience the age of awakening. They are a group that is poor and marginalized because they have suffered from famine, pain, and poverty for years. He also wants people to experience the glory of the Awakening Age. The waking era describes the point at which Africans become aware of their circumstances and the beginning of their new world.

According to the speaker, his people are propelled by an occult force who gives them hope like a mountain rope. Africans in poverty use their resources to scale new heights. They wish to demonstrate that their troubles do not define who they are. They also aim to uncover their abilities and utilize them to benefit others as well as themselves.