If things were to turn around and time fly back, most Africans would refuse to embrace civilization wholly, but rather look at what it has to offer, and apply it in African societies.
The poem, The Anvil and the Hammer by Kofi Awoonor, brings to limelight, in a poetic form, the process of transformation Africans went through to arrive where they are today. A transformation process which is part of the intellectual terrorism that Africans suffered during the colonial rule.
Analysis using the method of the Realms
First, before delving into the stanza, it is pertinent to understand the title of the poem.
“Anvil” and “Hammer”, are two main instruments used by a blacksmith in the forging house.
Anvil – a heavy block of iron on which heated pieces of metal are shaped by hammering.
Hammer – a tool consisting of a piece of metal with a flat end which is fixed onto the end of a long thin usually wooden handle, used for hitting things
Pangs – this is a sharp sudden feeling of a mental or emotional pain, as of joy or sorrow.
Trappings – Clothing or equipment. That which gives appearance of something. It is something that covers something. You can refer to the shell of an egg as its trapping.
Tenuous – Something that lacks importance
Sisal – Central American Plant of the genus agare, cultivated for its sword-shape leaves that yield fibre used for rope
Fetish – Something which is believed to possess, contain or cause spiritual or magical powers.
Laced – intertwined and neatly knotted. E.g. – tied shoelace.
Flimsy – Something that is likely to bend or break under pressure, weak, shaky, flexible or agile.
Jargon – A technical terminology unique to a particular subject or language characteristic of a particular group.
Dialectic – Any formal system of reasoning that arrives at a truth by the exchange of logical argument.
Outlaw – A fugitive from the law; in a humorous sense, an in-law; a relative by marriage.
Whirlpool – A swirling (spiral movement) body of water. Turmoil or agitated excitement.
Estuary – coastal water body where ocean tides and river water merge.
Snatches – from the word ‘snatch’ which means to grasp quickly.
Reverberations – An echo or series of overlapping echoes
Splash – The sound made by an objecting hitting a liquid
Moan – A low mournful cry of pain, sorrow or pleasure.
The above words are explained to help our understanding of the poem. We are to put it into the poem as it suits the context of the poem.
Reading Time: 7 minutes
This tutorial is an in-depth analysis of The Anvil and the Hammer, a poem by the Ghanaian poet, Kofi Awoonor.
We are going to look at the poetic devices and themes in the poem, The Anvil and the Hammer.
I will show you possible questions and answer points on The Anvil and the Hammer.
Basically, you will discover how the persona views his African tradition in the poem, The Anvil and the Hammer.
16 Likely examination questions on The Anvil and the Hammer.
Introduction
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Kofi Awoonor in his poem, The Anvil and the Hammer, presents a positive view of his traditional African roots. He sees African tradition as being still useful and relevant even in the face of an onslaught of Western European ways.
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How WAEC set their questions.
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The persona believes that in spite of modernization brought by Africa’s contact with European culture, there are still positive elements in African culture that Africans must hold on to. It is for this reason that the persona in The Anvil and the Hammer calls on the ancestors to come to the rescue of the fast-disappearing African traditional values.
“Sew the old days for us, our fathers,
That we can wear them under our new garment,”
Clearly, the persona is in a nostalgic mood here. He is deeply concerned that African tradition is in danger of becoming extinct, so to speak.
Read also: Analysis of The Dining Table
This fear for the survival of his beloved African culture is based on the realization that Africans are actively relegating their culture to the background.
The persona is filled with regret for the way African ways are being diluted by European culture.
“Determined to ignore these we use snatches
From their tunes
Make ourselves new flags and anthems”
Poetic techniques in The Anvil and the Hammer
Below are some poetic techniques that point to the persona’s attitude of admiration mixed with concern for African tradition.
Diction and Imagery
There is a careful selection of words in The Anvil and the Hammer to convey the way the poet views his African tradition. Here are some examples:
• tender
• tenuous
These evoke conflicting tactile and visual images. On the one level, African culture, with its tenderness, is viewed as what is in the best interest of the African.
Recommended for you: Types of imagery in Literature
But at the same time, Kofi Awoonor sees a tradition that has suffered so much from the onslaught of foreign culture that it has become weak and therefore in danger of dying off.
The expressions below evoke images of the new foreign culture which, to the persona, needs to be accepted with caution.
• new life
• new songs
• new garment
• new dialectic
• new flags and anthems
• flimsy glories of paved streets
Imagery of violence
The poet also uses imagery of violence to depict the pain and trauma his beloved African tradition has been subjected to as a result of its interaction with European culture.
Here are some examples of words and expressions that evoke images of the violent clash between African and European culture and the resulting pain this has caused:
• Caught between the anvil and the hammer
• pangs
• whirlpool
• moan
The poet vividly paints images of the African setting of the poem, The Anvil and the Hammer. They include the following:
• blood of the goat in the fetish hut
• splash and moan of the sea.
• our fathers,
• We hear their songs and clamours every day
• whirlpool of the many rivers’ estuary
Imagery of African nationalism
• Make ourselves new flags and anthems
• While we lift high the banner of the land
Musical imagery / Sound effects/ Auditory imagery
• We hear their songs and clamours every day
• … we use snatches
From their tunes
• And listen to the reverberation of our songs
Imagery of childbirth
Transforming the pangs that delivered me
Into the joys of new songs
The persona expresses the hope that just as the pains of a mother in labour are replaced by joy when a new child is born, African culture may, after all, derive some benefits (joys of new songs) from the painful experience.
The character and role of Adade in Faceless
Here come more literary techniques employed in the poem, The Anvil and the Hammer.
Extended metaphor
Kofi Awoonor’s poem, The Anvil and the Hammer is built around an extended metaphor. In stanza one, in particular, The clash between the two cultures on the persona’s homeland is conveyed through the sustained use of an image of what happens to a piece of metal in a blacksmith’s shop.
The title, The Anvil and the Hammer, is, therefore, an appropriate choice.
Caught between the anvil and the hammer
in the forging house of a new life
Transforming the pangs that delivered me
Into the joy of new songs
To the poet, this is exactly what has happened to his beloved African tradition. After the pain and the anguish comes the transformation. The persona seems ready to accept the reality of change but is not ready to let go of what he considers to be the lofty aspects of African culture.
Contrast
The structure of the poem is built around the literary device known as contrast.
The two stanzas contrast with each other.
Stanza one is used to lament the erosion of African traditional values with the advent of western European culture. The poet’s tone in these initial lines is one of lamentation and this helps create a pervading mood of nostalgia. He complains bitterly about the way Africans appear to have traded their old ways for a new, strange way of life.
In stanza two, however, the tone changes to one of acceptance, accommodation and hope. We hear the poet calling on the ancestors to do something to redeem the situation. Almost to a point of desperation, the poet is eager to, at least, tolerate parts of the new, foreign culture if only it could be made to accommodate his own.
The poem ends on a note of cautious optimism. Despite his expression of hope, the persona is still worried about the apparent refusal of the African to follow the path and voice of the ancestors. He can only hope that this unhelpful attitude would change so that the eroding African identity could be redeemed.
We hear their songs and clamours every day
Determined to ignore these we use snatches
From their tunes
Make ourselves new flags and anthems
Alliteration
An example of alliteration in the poem, The Anvil and the Hammer is:
…trappings of the past, tender and tenuous
This rhythmic musical line creates a pleasurable sound effect that goes to depict the pre-colonial African past in a positive light. It evokes the nostalgic mood of the persona.
Apostrophe
Example:
Sew the old days for us, our fathers
That we can wear them under our new garment,
The persona is here calling on the African ancestors to come to the rescue of old African ways lest they disappear completely. The persona in The Anvil and the Hammer sees the blending of the two cultures as the only viable way to preserve his beloved African tradition.
It is therefore clear, judging by these lines that the poet is not totally against Africans adapting to the reality of the influence of European culture on Africa.
Metaphor
Instances of metaphor in The Anvil and the Hammer are:
the past, tender and tenuous
the past … woven with fibre and sisal
the past … washed in the blood of the goat
Onomatopoeia
And listen to the reverberation of our songs
In the splash and moan of the sea.
Powerful auditory imagery is used here to evoke the African setting of the poem and also to lament the tragedy of the erosion of African traditional values.
Note also:
LINES AND THEMES IN THE ANVIL AND THE HAMMER THAT COMPARE WITH TWO OTHER AFRICAN POEMS:
1.PIANO AND DRUMS by Gabriel Okara
2. VANITY by Birago Diop
The jargon of a new dialectic
This reminds us of the following lines in Gabriel Okara’s, poem, Piano and Drums.
Then I hear a wailing piano
solo speaking of complex ways
in tear-furrowed concerto;
of far away lands
and new horizons …
Consider these too:
We hear their songs and clamours every day
Determined to ignore these we use snatches
From their tunes
The above reminds us of the following lines in Birago Diop’s poem, Vanity.
When they have spoken to us in their clumsy voices,
Just as our ears were deaf!
To their cries, to their wild appeals
Comparable themes in two other African poems
Comparable themes in The Anvil and the Hammer, Piano and Drums and Vanity include the following:
• The theme of the clash of African and European cultures
• The theme of the celebration of African culture and tradition
• The theme of the call for a return to the African past
Likely examination questions on The Anvil and the Hammer.
• What are the similarities and differences between Kofi Awoonor’s The Anvil and the Hammer and Gabriel Okara’s Piano and Drums?
• Compare and contrast Kofi Awoonor’s poem, The Anvil and the Hammer and Birago Diop’s Vanity.
• Consider The Anvil and the Hammer as an extended metaphor.
• Discuss Kofi Awoonor’s poem, The Anvil and the Hammer as a poem of realism.
• What makes The Anvil and the Hammer a realistic poem?
• What is the poet’s attitude to foreign culture in The Anvil and the Hammer?
• Discuss the theme of the clash of two cultures in The Anvil and the Hammer.
• Kofi Awoonor’s poem, The Anvil and the Hammer is about the revival of old, African traditions. Comment.
• Comment on the title of the poem, The Anvil and the Hammer.
• Discuss the theme of tolerance in The Anvil and the Hammer.
• Comment on the poet’s use of contrast in The Anvil and the Hammer.
Thank you!
STANZA ONE
Here, the poetic persona gives us a chronological flow of what happened.
“Caught between the anvil and the hammer
In the forging house of a new life”
The metal which is to undergo a process of transformation is caught between the anvil and the hammer, and no longer in the usual forging house of a blacksmith, but in a new one.
“Transforming the pangs that delivered me
Into the joy of new songs”
Having read the poem for the first time, getting to these lines, one would concur that it’s actually a human person that is caught between the anvil and the hammer.
The individual in question is the African man who is caught between two cultures: African and western culture, in a new forging house which is colonialization.
The anvil which is the base where the metal is placed symbolizes the African land and culture upon which the African man stands. The hammer represents civilization which comes by force upon the African man through a process known as colonialization.
The clashing/meeting of the two cultures had the personality of the African man between them. This personality is being transformed no longer in the normal African setting governed by ancestral laws, but by tenets and statutes of the western world, in an African environment.
The last excerpt above, seems to depict that the poetic persona accepts the transformation wholeheartedly as he points out that the pains(pangs) which he was born into is now changed into joyful songs.
Lines 5 to 9 brings to mind, the African norms and values (Trappings) in which the African man has being in and which the poetic persona affirms not to be important (tenuous). The norms also have religious foundations and backings as the poetic persona puts it:
“Washed in the blood of a goat in the fetish hut (shrine)”
This African values are then laced (mixed) very well with the attractive ways of life of the western world. Then, the outcome(dialectic) of the mixture created and enthusiastic spirit in the African man which makes him to always be looking for something in the outlaw’s hill (Western world).
“The jargon of a new dialectic comes with the
Charisma of the perpetual search in the outlaw’s hill”
One could affirm that this excerpt informs us that after the African man has had a taste of the African and western culture, the new him saw the attractiveness of civilization and became very interested in it.
STANZA TWO
Having seen that the new African man, a product of colonialism, has become more civilized that civilization, he cries out to the ancestors and probably to the elders in the society who still know the nitty gritty of the African culture, to help inculcate African values and norms into the new African man.
“Sew the old days for us our fathers
That we can wear them under our new garment (civilization)
After we have washed ourselves in
The whirlpool of many rivers’ estuary”
They will have in their minds the African cultures, but will put on a civilized look. This is because they have seen and being in many places where different cultures meet (river estuary).
The poetic persona from line 15 to the last line points out that the new African personality is aware of the castigations and negative statements of stereotype and prejudice labelled against Africa by the white (e.g. Monkeys, half humans etc.). But they will ignore them and their sentiments, use the little things they learnt from the whites (snatches from their tunes) and build and African nation.
“Make ourselves flags and anthems
While we lift high the banner of the land”
The use of flags and anthems insinuates that the political structures of the western world will be used in the new African nation. In the ancient days, African communities has no flag or anthem as identities of a state. More so, the Whiteman’s political structure will be used to lift the new African state.
“And listen to the reverberations of our songs
In the splash and moan of the sea”
The new state will be built and new songs (Positive statements and achievements on Africans against the rumors made by the white). The songs and developments will be spread, and Africans will listen as t echo in the world and hear the responds of the world.
Simply put, this poem illustrates the attack on African culture by civilization through colonialism, causing a clash and birth of a new African man who is almost ignorant of his own original culture. Hence, he regains himself and cries for help to build himself a new nation with the knowledge he got from civilization.
AUTHOR'S BACKGROUND
Kofi Awoonor (13 March 1935 - 21 September 2013) was a Ghanaian poet and author whose work combined the poetic traditions of his native Ewe people and contemporary and religious symbolism to depict Africa during decolonization.
At the time, the time was written, African writers were examining the impact of the conflict of dealing with the local and foreign cultures in the life of the African. Finding himself in the mesh of interrelations between Africa and Europe, the poet lives with a clash of emotions arising from this contact. The circumstance brews in the poet—speaker different conflicts - there is the conflict of which way to go; the conflict of being in a new form having found oneself between "The anvil and the Hammer", and there is also the issue of being impassioned and being inhibited, perhaps between good and evil, one attractive, the other repellent.
INTRODUCTION
Caught between the anvil and the hammer
In the forging house of a new life
Transforming the pange that delivered me
Into the joy of new songs
5 The trappings of the past, tender and tenuous
Woven with the fiber of sisal and
Washed in the blood of the goat in the fetish hut
Are Iared with the flimsy glories of paved streets
Thejargon of a new dialectic comes with the
10 Charisma of the perpetual search on the outlaw's hill
Sew the old days for us, our fathers,
That we can wear them under our new garment
After we have washed ourselves in
The whirlpool of the many rivers' estuary
15 We hear their songs and rumours everyday
Determined to ignore these we use snatches from their
Tunes
Make ourselves new flags and anthems
While we lift the banner of the land
20 And listen to the reverberation of our song
In the splash and mean of the sea.
SETTING
The poem is set in colonial times. The traditional order has been supplanted by the new but foreign culture. Africans in this situation see a huge contradiction, and those who are conscious of it live with the emotion and humiliation.
The reason is that both tradition and modernity subsist in the African. Tradition is marked by "the trappings of the past" while modernity resides in "the flimsy glories of paved streets". The poet-speaker exists in "the jargon of a new dialectic" as in relating with good and evil of living and dying at the same time, having been exposed to "many rivers" estuary". The process of this intermingling of the old and new is still ongoing; our way out has been to "use snatches of the tunes" to "make ourselves new flags and anthems".
SUMMARY
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 the African in the process of forging and transforming him or her into a new being. It is a transformation which like the new birth goes with "pangs" of delivery. A new birth calls for "the joy of new songs". However, this expectation is unfounded as "the trappings of the past" far outweigh the "glories of paved streets".
The "outlaw's hill" includes not only the abode of the colonialists but also foreign institutions, such as schools and churches. The poet-speaker prefers tradition which is why he cries: "Sew the old day for us, our fathers, /that we can wear them under our new garment". The new garment in question refers to the new culture to which we have been exposed, while 'their songs and rumours" which we hear everyday are the white man's influences. We can only borrow "snatches from their tunes" in order to "make ourselves new flags and anthems". We forge a new country and "lift high the banner of the land" formed from our "new flags and anthems". As noted earlier, this process of nation — building goes on" in the splash and moan of the sea".
Two activities are suggested here'. The activities of forging a new nation-state and the exploitative resource evacuation preoccupation of the colonialists in the high seas.
Stanza One
Lines 1 - 4: The African is faced with the dilemma of being "caught between the anvil and the hammer," found in the "forging house of a new life". The "new life" is the new way of life to which the African is subjected. He/She suffers the pain ("pangs") of a transformation as in a new birth which the new African experiences as in "joy of new songs"
Stanza Two
Lines 5 - 10: The inheritance of the past which th poet refers to as "the trappings of the past" is 'tender and tenuous'. This is an indication of how positive the poet-speaker is towards the old way of life. He goes on to inform us that the past is 'woven with the fiber of sisal .../ Washed in the blood of the goat in the fetish hut' before the present and modern "are laced with the flimsy glories of paved streets'. This is akin to the meeting between good and evil, between what is attractive and what is repellent. What now results from the old and the new in the an admixture is what the poet calls "the jargon of new dialectic", which comes with "the charisma of the perpetual search on the outlaw's hill". The "outlaw's hill" refers to those attractions associated with Western exposure such as education, church-going and modern living in general.
Stanza Three
Lines 11 - 14: The dominant imagery in this portion of the poem is dressmaking. We have 'sew', 'wear', 'new garment' and 'washed'. While these are gentle preoccupations, "caught", 'the anvil', 'the hammer', 'forging' and 'pangs' recall the imagery of violence and fear. The poet prefers the old when he asks 'our fathers' to 'sew the old days' so 'that we can wear them under our new garment'. Our 'new garment' is the metaphor for modernity to which we have been inducted after being immersed in the 'whirlpool of the many rivers' estuary'. The reference to 'the many rivers' estuary' recalls the many new experiences to which the African is exposed by the coming of the foreign culture.
Stanza Four
Lines 15 - 21: When the poet says, 'We hear their songs and rumours everyday', it is a reference to Western education and precepts, often targeted at the African way of life. The poet- speaker goes on to say that we are "determined to ignore these", that is ignore colonial misinformation and misrepresentation. We can only use "snatches from their tunes" to create "new flags and anthems", signifying new nation-states. Rather un-subdued, 'we lift high the banner of the land' even as we 'Iisten to the reverberation of our songs' amidst "the splash and moan of the sea". The noise in the sea may mean activities of importation such as those of factory-produced goods and those of exportation as in the carting away of local resources by colonialists.
THEMES
1. Tradition and Modernity
2. Dilemma
3. Nostalgia
4. A forceful fusion
5. Nation - building
LANGUAGE AND STYLE
Images of compulsion
2. Metaphor
3. Cynical tone
4. Repetition
5. A cultural expose in condensed lines
About Kofi Awoonor, the poet.
It would not be right to call Awoonor just a poet. He was a creator of poetry and prose, an author of both fiction and non-fiction, a professor, and an activist. Awoonor has had a controversial life and he was killed in an attack in September of 2013.
Born George Kofi Nyidevu Awoonor-Williams, Awoonor was a Ghanaian writer whose work includes a lot of Ewe tradition and the culture of Africa. Some of his most popular works include Rediscovery and Other poems, Until the Morning After, The House by the Sea, etc.
Context of the poem
The poem about the cultural and structural evolution of Africa during colonization by European countries. The poem shows the mindset of the writer during these changing times and the choices made by the people along with the reasons for it.
A lot of metaphorical elements in the poem is about oppression, change, acceptance, and a new way of life. The poem is divided into two stanzas, the first talking about this transitionary phase and how difficult it is for people to accept this into their own culture.
The second stanza of the poem is about acceptance and using this “force” of a new culture to form something unique, something new that has the best of both worlds. This “best of both worlds” means the rich culture from inheritance that the people of Africa were given by their ancestors and the new, modern amenities and knowledge of the western world.
Meaning of The Anvil and the Hammer poem
The meaning of the poem is divided into two parts, the first will look at the overall meaning of the poem, the metaphors and the words used. This also includes the psychological implications that the poet projects into the poem.
The second part of this section is the stanza by stanza analysis of the poem with its meaning. We’ll look into the line by line analysis of each stanza and how the overall meaning emerges. Let’s begin.
What the poem signifies
The anvil and the hammer signify creation through pain and suffering. Great metaphorical use of this element is to signify the struggles and sufferings the people of Africa had to go through during the colonial transformation. But this suffering turned them into something more powerful.
The poem is also about the conflict of choice, the moral dilemma of going either with the modern European ways or with the traditional inheritance of African culture. It ends with a new resolution, a solution that incorporates both of the choices that benefit the people of Africa.
Analysis of the poem
Caught between the anvil and the hammer
In the forging house of a new life,
Transforming the pangs that delivered me
Into the joy of new songs
The first line represents the place of transformation, the place where two solid objects collide and the poet is in between. The anvil is the African culture where the poet rests, the hammer is the new force of European culture, brought by colonization.
The transformation here is the painful pangs into the joys of a new song. The hammering that once caused suffering and anguish has now turned into something joyful. This joyful song is the creation of something new, a new reality, a new world.
The trapping of the past, tender and tenuous
Woven with fibre of sisal and
Washed in the blood of the goat in the fetish hut
Are laced with the flimsy glories of paved streets
These four lines show a lot about the mental state of the poet and his views on his culture and it being mixed with the European ways. The trappings of the past, tender and tenuous represents the trappings of African culture. Fibre of sisal, goat’s blood, fetish hut all represents the African way of life.
The last line says that the cultural elements of African ancestry have been laced with “flimsy glories paved streets”. Paved streets are modernistic, European elements. It was given to the Africans as a “glorious gift” and the poet has a disdain for it. The concrete roads do not fit well with the African culture, hence the author uses the term “laced”.
The jargon of a new dialectic comes with the
Charisma of the perpetual search on the outlaw’s hill.
These two lines are very important as they make the transition in the mindset of the poet. This is the introduction to the second stanza of the poem that has a very different meaning about the European inclusion in Africa, whether the natives liked it or not.
The jargon of the new dialectic refers to the power of education, the power of reasoning which came with the education from the European colonization. Not just that, but everything beneficial that came from it. And from this dialectic, the poet moves to the next stanza, the acceptance of the new culture in a smarter way.
The first stanza was all about this mixing of cultures. The clash of the hammer on the anvil with the African people in the middle, suffering the blows. It was about the change the hammer was giving the people, which of course they did not like.
The second stanza
Sew the old days for us, our fathers,
That we can wear them under our new garment,
After we have washed ourselves in
The whirlpool of the many rivers’ estuary
This is where the transition occurs. It is the acceptance of the new culture but in a reasonable way. “Sew the old days for us so that we can wear then under our new garment” is exactly what the reasonable way is.
The people of Africa will accept the good things of the new culture, they will use the hammer’s blow to become something even better, but they must always keep their culture close to their heart. There is a way to make use of the foreign ways without giving up their culture.
The new garment will be worn, but it will be superficial. Inside, closer to their heart will the culture, the rich inheritance from the forefathers of the people of Africa.
Washing themselves in the estuary of many rivers means taking the various things from the European culture. This is the act of acceptance of the “good” things from the European people.
This line also signifies cleaning. Cleaning of the dirt that the people have, or the wrong practice that they had been doing. Bathing is an act of becoming something new after getting rid of their old ways.
We hear their songs and rumours everyday
Determined to ignore these we use snatches
From their tunes
Make ourselves new flags and anthems
The violence of the Europeans, the discriminations, the mocking was hurtful and the praise for the European countries was swiftly ignored. The poet says that they will take the tunes from their songs and create a new world for themselves, a better world. The creation of new flags and anthems shows the rise of a new country, the birth of a better country.
While we lift high the banner of the land
And listen to the reverberation of our songs
In the splash and moan of the sea
The new African country shall rise and stand high, the banners will fly and the chants of their songs shall reach and echo even in the sea. This is to show the power of their will and their resolute nature. They aim to make the new world rise so high and the songs so powerful, it’ll make even the sea shiver.
Literary devices in the poem
The poem has a lot of literary devices, the most common being metaphor. It relies heavily on metaphors to deliver the gravity of the feeling. Here are some of the examples.
Metaphor – The name of the poem is a metaphor, the anvil and the hammer, then its pangs that delivered me, new songs, trappings of the past, glories of paved streets, charisma of the perpetual search in the outlaw’s hill, sew the old days for us…etc. The examples could go on. There is a metaphor in every line of the poem.
Alliteration – tender and tenuous is the example of alliteration used in the poem.
Imagery – Washed in the blood of the goat in the fetish hut, in the splash and moan of the sea are some examples of imagery being used. Another great example of the use of symbolism is Fire and Ice by Robert Frost.
Theme – The poem has a lot of major and minor themes. One theme is about conflict of choices, another theme is a desperate situation, the contrast between culture, accepting something new, the truth, patriotism, etc.
Conclusion
The poem speaks a lot about conflict of choice. When we face a morality situation, it is hard for us to take one options. Most of the time, it is one option that is tempting while questioning our morality or tradition. The author could not take the ways of the European people mingling with the their culture. This abandonment of their own heritage was not acceptable.
But at the same time, the poet knows the importance of human lives. If people of his community or country could benefit from the ways of the foreigners, he would not stop it. Benefiting from all these ways would make the country more powerful. This is the better way, the lesser evil and to change when there is a hammer beating down on them. They could either stay where they are and be deformed. Or they could shift and move and the use the hammer’s force to become something even greater.
Caught between the anvil and the hammer
In the forging house of a new life
Transforming the pangs that delivered me
Into the joy of new songs
The trapping of the past, tender and tenuous
Woven with fibre of sisal and
Washed in the blood of the goat in the fetish hut
Are laced with the flimsy glories of paved streets
The jargon of a new dialectic comes with the
Charisma of the perpetual search on the outlaw’s hill.
Sew the old days for us, our fathers,
That we can wear them under our new garment,
After we have washed ourselves in
The whirlpool of the many rivers’ estuary
We hear their songs and rumours everyday
Determined to ignore these we use snatches
From their tunes
Make ourselves new flags and anthems
While we lift high the banner of the land
And listen to the reverberation of our songs
In the splash and moan of the sea
Background
The poem The Anvil and The Hammer 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. He authored the controversial novel, This Earth, my brother. Kofi Awonoor was among those killed by terrorists during an attack at the Westgate Shopping Mall in Nairobi in 2013.
Analysis
Literally, an anvil is a tool with a hard surface used mostly by blacksmiths to work iron. The blacksmith often strikes the surface of the anvil with a hammer. The poem The Anvil and the Hammer derives its title from this activity.
The poem is about the clash of cultures especially the Western and African cultures influenced mainly by the many years of colonisation by the West. The result is a cultural twist leading to a change in norms, values, ethos and the general way of life of the African people: Caught between the anvil and the hammer/In the forging house of a new life.
Just as the anvil and the hammer work to shape a new piece of metal, the poet believes that rather than discard the African culture, Western ideas could be used to shape and
refine African traditions to create a new Africa. The poet portrays the old African way of life and traditional practices in the following words: The trapping of the past, tender and tenuous/ Woven with fibre of sisal and/Washed in the blood of the goat in the fetish hut. He compares these with the Western culture foisted on Africans through religion and a new system of government. He laments that African values and traditions have been largely eroded –Are laced with the flimsy glories of paved streets/The jargon of a new dialectic comes with the/ Charisma of the perpetual search on the outlaw’s hill. Note the use of the word “flimsy” which he employs to portray the attractions of the Western culture.
In the second stanza, he appeals to his ancestors to help restore the old African ways. Sew the old days for us, our fathers/That we can wear them under our new garment. While he admits that Western culture has indeed come to stay and would continuously influence African culture, he pleads for a synergy of both cultures for a better Africa: Determined to ignore these we use snatches/ From their tunes/Make ourselves new flags and anthems/While we lift high the banner of the land.
Structure
The poem has two contrasting stanzas. While the first stanza describes the conflict between African traditions and western civilisation, the second stanza offers solution to the conflict- Sew the old days for us, our fathers,/That we may wear them under our new garment. The solution lies in creating a balance of both cultures.
The Anvil and the Hammer is a free verse poem. It has no consistent meter pattern or rhythm.
Mood and Tone
The mood is nostalgic- The trapping of the past, tender and tenuous/ Woven with fibre of sisal and Washed in the blood of goat in the fetish hut/. The tone reflects hope: Sew the old days for us, our fathers,/ That we can wear them under our new garment,
Themes:
1. Clash of cultures
2. Resolution of the clash through cultural synergy
3. Revival of the African culture
Poetic Devices
1. Metaphor
The poem is metaphoric. The two cultures are likened to the anvil and the hammer: “Caught between the anvil and the hammer”. The colonial experience leading to the independence of many African nations is described as “the forging house of a new life”. The word “pangs” (like birth pangs) in the third line represents our cultural values.
2. Imagery
The poem contains powerful imagery that helps to deepen the reader’s thoughts. The poet uses many symbols beginning from the use of the words “anvil” and “hammer” which represent clash of cultures. The old African ways are described as follows: The trapping of the past, tender and tenuous/woven with fibre of sisal and/Washed in the blood of the goat in the fetish hut/. Western civilisation is described as follows: “…flimsy glories of paved streets/ The jargon of a new dialectic comes with the/ Charisma of the perpetual search on the outlaw’s hill”.
3. Oxymoron: A figure of speech in which contradictory terms appear together. Example: “flimsy glories“.
4. Antithesis: Sew the old days for us, our fathers,/That we can wear them under our new garment,
5. Alliteration: Example- The trapping of the past,
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