Analysis of “Ibadan” by J. P. Clark
Biography of Poet J. P. Clark is a Nigerian poet from the Ijaw tribe. He studied at the University of Ibadan; it is from Ibadan that he got to write a poem about Ibadan, and it is from here that he developed as a poet. Analysis of the Poem This is a poem about the city, Ibadan. This Ibadan is in South West, Nigeria. It is in the state of Oyo. It is an ancient city that had been in existence even before the coming of the British. As the city is old, the houses of the city are dirty and the roofs are rusted. This is also an unplanned city. The persona begins by describing Ibadan as running splash of rust: that is, Ibadan is filled with rust; rust here symbolizes old and ancient. The color of this rust is that of “gold” which the persona shows. The use of “scattered” shows disorderliness of houses in the city. Then, the seven hills are the seven hills that surround the city. “Like Broken China in the Sun” represents the disorderliness and the scattered plan of the city. ...
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