Hello Everyone, This is Pooja Bhuva, a student at the Department of English, MKBU pursuing a Masters Degree in English. These slides includes information about the writer Gabriel Okara and his two poems ‘You Laughed and Laughed and Laughed’ and ‘The Piano and The Drums’. If you have any query, reach out to me through the contacts given below. Instagram: / bhuva6606 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?... Blogger: https://poojabhuva666.blogspot.com/?m=1 Slideshare: https://www.slideshare.net/BhuvaPooja Pinterest: https://pin.it/61G8RDU

1. Gabriel Okara’s
‘You Laughed and Laughed
and Laughed’ and
‘The Piano and The Drums’
Prepared by Pooja Bhuva
Date: 1 March 2024
Presented at:- Smt. Sujata Binoy Gardi,
Department of English, MKBU, Bhavnagar
Department of English, MKBU

2. Information of Presenter
Name: Pooja Anilbhai Bhuva
Enrollment No.:- 4069206420220005
Batch:- 2022 - 2024 (M.A. Sem 4)
Date:- 03 March 2024
Roll Number:- 15
Paper Name:- The African Literature
E-mail:- poojabhuva2002@gmail.com
Blogpost:- https://poojabhuva666.blogspot.com/
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Contacts

3. Gabriel Okara ● Gabriel Imomotimi Gbaingbain Okara
(Emmanuel)
● 24 April 1921 – 25 March 2019 (Emmanuel)
● He was a Nigerian Poet, Novelist and Playwright.
(Emmanuel)
● He was knows as first renowned English
Language black African poet and the first African
modernist writer. (Emmanuel)
● Okara held the distinction of being the inaugural
modernist poet of Anglophone Africa. (Emelike)
● During his lifetime, he attributed his flourishing
literary career to his time at Government College
Umuahia, where he encountered and drew
inspiration from the works of William
Shakespeare and other esteemed literary figures.
(Emelike)

4. ● He became well-known for his important novel called "The Voice" (1964), and people
loved his poetry books like "The Fisherman’s Invocation" (1978) and "The Dreamer, His
Vision" (2005). In his writing, Okara cleverly included African ideas, beliefs, stories, and
pictures, which is why people called him "the Nigerian Negritudist." (Emelike)
● Brenda Marie Osbey, the editor of his Collected Poems, stated that,
“It is with publication of Gabriel Okara’s first poem that Nigerian literature in
English and modern African poetry in this language can be said truly to have
begun.” (Emelike)
● Delving deeper into his works, Gabriel Okara's poem, "The Call of the River Nun,"
received an award at the Nigerian Festival of Arts in 1953. His poetry appeared in the
literary magazine Black Orpheus, and by 1960, he had gained acknowledgment as a
skilled literary artisan, with his poetry translated into numerous languages. (Emelike)
● One of Okara’s most famous poems is “Piano and Drum.” Another popular poem, “You
Laughed and Laughed and Laughed,” is a frequent feature of anthologies. (Emelike)
● Aside from his poetry and fiction, Okara ventured into playwriting and contributed
features for broadcasting. Unfortunately, many of his unpublished manuscripts were
lost during the Nigerian Civil War. (Emelike)

5. Awards
● Best All-Round Entry In Poetry at the Nigerian Festival of Arts, for "The Call of
the River Nun" (1953) (Olatunbosun)
● Commonwealth Poetry Prize, for The Fisherman's Invocation (1979) (Augoye)
● NLNG Prize, for The Dreamer, His Vision (2005) (Gabriel Okara (1921-2019))
● Pan African Writers' Association Honorary Membership Award (2009) (Osagie)
● Gabriel Okara Literary Festival (2017) (Ajeluorou)
Notable Works
● The Voice (1964)
● The Fisherman's Invocation (1978)
● Little Snake and Little Frog (1981)
● An Adventure to Juju Island (1992)
● The Dreamer, His Vision (2005)
● As I See It (2006)
● Collected Poems (2016)

6. ‘You Laughed and Laughed and Laughed’
In your ears my song
is motor car misfiring
stopping with a choking cough;
and you laughed and laughed
and laughed.
In your eyes my ante-
natal walk was inhuman,
passing
your ‘omnivorous
understanding’
and you laughed and laughed
and laughed
You laughed at my song,
you laughed at my walk.
Then I danced my magic dance
to the rhythm of talking drums
pleading, but you shut your eyes
and laughed and laughed and laughed
And then I opened my mystic
inside wide like the sky,
instead you entered your
car and laughed and laughed and
laughed
You laughed at my dance,
you laughed at my inside.
You laughed and laughed and laughed.
But your laughter was ice-block
laughter and it froze your inside froze
your voice froze your ears
froze your eyes and froze your tongue.
And now it’s my turn to laugh;
but my laughter is not
ice-block laughter. For I
know not cars, know not ice-blocks.
My laughter is the fire
of the eye of the sky, the fire
of the earth, the fire of the air,
the fie of the seas and the
rivers fishes animals trees
and it thawed your inside,
thawed your voice, thawed your
ears, thawed your eyes and
thawed your tongue.
So a meek wonder held
your shadow and you whispered;
‘Why so?’
And I answered:
‘Because my fathers and I
are owned by the living
warmth of the earth
through our naked feet.’

7. ● Michael J. C. Echeruo wrote a tribute to Okara for his 70th birthday. He said that
Okara's poems are calmer and less troubled than others. They're more playful and
less serious. They're not as urgent or intense. If Clark's poem 'Ivbie' was
complicated for a reason, Okara's "You laughed, and laughed, and laughed" is
simple and honest: feeling good about yourself without being rude, feeling hurt
but not letting it show. (Echeruo)
● Gabriel Okara's poem consists of 10 stanzas and describes the interplay of different
interpretations of the same sounds, sights, and dances. The interaction that takes
place within the poem is commonly thought to be between a white colonialist and
an African native. The poem follows a trope in African literature of "The White Man
Laughed", which embodies the notion of dismay and cynical derision of the beliefs,
practices, and norms of an African. (Azuonye)
● According to Pushpa Naidu Parekh, in the poem "You Laughed and Laughed and
Laughed," the colonizer makes fun of and looks down on African culture and
beliefs. But in the end, the native person's ‘fire’ laughter overpowers and shuts
down the colonizer's insults. (Parekh)

8. ● Central Theme: The poem explores the complex dynamic between colonizer (likely a
white colonialist) and the colonized (an African native), including dismissing and looking
down on African culture.
● Tone & Style: Compared to some of Okara's other works, this poem has a more playful,
less intense or troubled tone. There is simplicity and honesty in how it approaches
issues of cultural identities and interactions. It embodies the trope seen in other African
literary works of "The White Man Laughed" - depicting the scorn and condescension
shown towards African beliefs and practices.
● Structure & Imagery: Repetition of "laughed and laughed" evokes the layers of
interpretation and dismissal between the two central figures and cultures. There is a
turn at the end, where the African native's defiant, fiery laughter overcomes and rebuts
the insults of the colonizer.
● While colonialists may deride and laugh at African culture, the poem suggests that
native cultures can reclaim power through proud resilience, overriding such cynicism
through inner confidence and conviction.
● the poem cleverly plays with imagery of laughter to make a deeper point about standing
up to cultural misunderstandings and reclaiming identity in the face of colonial power
structures. The simpler style also aligns with and reinforces this message.

9. ‘The Piano and The Drums’
When at break of day at a
riverside
I hear jungle drums telegraphing
the mystic rhythm, urgent, raw
like bleeding flesh, speaking of
primal youth and the beginning,
I see the panther ready t0
pounce,
the leopard snarling about to leap
and the hunters crouch with
spears poised.
And my blood ripples, turns torrent,
topples the years and at once I’m
in my mother’s laps a suckling;
at once I’m walking simple
paths with no innovations
rugged, fashioned with the naked
warmth of hurrying feet and groping
hearts
in green leaves and wild flowers
pulsing.
Then I hear a wailing piano
solo speaking of complex ways
in tear- furrowed concerto;
of far away lands
and new horizons with
coaxing diminuendo, counterpoint,
crescendo, but lost in the labyrinth of its
complexities, it ends in the middle of a phrase
at a daggerpoint
And I lost in the morning mist
of an age at a riverside keep
wandering in the mystic rhythm
of jungle drums and concerto.

10. ● In the poem, "The Piano and the Drums," the
speaker compares the traditional African
lifestyle with modern ways.
● The poem spans from ancient times to the
present day, highlighting the impact of
foreign cultures on Africans.
● The main idea centers on how outside
influences have changed African traditions.
● Okara uses music to symbolize this change,
showing how it affects the speaker.
● Ultimately, the poem mourns the loss of
African purity due to the intrusion of
civilization.
● Gabriel Okara expresses his sorrow over the
erosion of African customs through the art of
poetry. (Nwatu)

11. ● Symbols:
○ The drums represent traditional African culture, values, and ways of
life. They are associated with community, rhythm, dance, ceremony.
○ The piano represents European/Western cultural influence and
modernization. It is associated with individualism, discordance, and
loss of cultural identity.
● Themes:
○ Cultural identity - The poem explores the tension between traditional
communal ways of life vs modern individualistic society. There is a loss
of cultural purity.
○ Colonialism/Imperialism - The imposition of Western culture on Africa
is seen in a negative light, as it erodes traditional values.
○ Modernity - The arrival of modernization brings both good (education,
technology) and ill (loss of cultural identity). This is depicted in the
poem.

12. ● Structure:
○ The poem has two sections - the drums section reminisces about
communal African village life. The piano section depicts the present-day
of disruption and chaos.
● Language:
○ Rhythmic and musical language mirrors the beating of the drums. This
shifts to discordant with the piano imagery.
○ Strong visual imagery - the poet powerfully evokes the sights and sounds
of an African village gathering.
● The poem uses the highly symbolic drums and piano to cleverly explore
complex themes of cultural change, identity, and colonialism's impact on
Africa. The structured contrast shows the tension between past and present.

13. “If you listen to every
said-thing in this world,
you cannot achieve
anything or you the
wrong thing will do. If
you inside says this is a
straight thing, do it. Let
not people's said things
you inside spoil.”

14. Works Cited
● Ajeluorou, Anote. “Gabriel Okara… Restoring the genius of Africa's oldest living poet.” The
Guardian Nigeria, 5 May 2017, https://guardian.ng/saturday-magazine/cover/gabriel-okara-
restoring-the-genius-of-africas-oldest-living-poet/. Accessed 1 March 2024.
● Augoye, Jayne. “Renowned Nigerian poet, Gabriel Okara, dies at 97.” Premium Times
Nigeria, 25 March 2019, https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/322315-
renowned-nigerian-poet-gabriel-okara-dies-at-97.html?tztc=1. Accessed 1 March 2024.
● Azuonye, Chukwuma. "'The White Man Laughs': Commentary on the Satiric Dramatic
Monologues of Gabriel Okara." Africana Studies Faculty Publication Series, 2011,
https://scholarworks.umb.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=africana_faculty
_pubs.
● Echeruo, Michael J. C. “Gabriel Okara: A Poet and His Seasons.” World Literature Today, vol.
66, no. 3, 1992, pp. 454–56. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/40148369. Accessed 1 Mar.
2024.
● Emelike, Obinna. “Nigerian literary community mourns Gabriel Okara.” Businessday NG, 25
March 2019, https://businessday.ng/life-arts/article/nigerian-literary-community-mourns-
gabriel-okara/. Accessed 29 February 2024.

15. ● Emmanuel. “Renowned Poet and Novelist, Gabriel Okara, Dies Just Before 98th Birthday.”
Olisa TV, Internet Archive Wayback Machine, 25 March 2019,
https://www.olisa.tv/renowned-poet-and-novelist-gabriel-okara-dies-just-before-98th-
birthday/. Accessed 29 February 2024.
● “Gabriel Okara (1921-2019) – The Sun Nigeria.” The Sun Nigeria, 5 April 2019,
https://sunnewsonline.com/gabriel-okara-1921-2019/. Accessed 1 March 2024.
● Nwatu, Mcanthony. “THE PIANO AND THE DRUMS – Litionary.” Litionary, 19 December
2017, https://litionaryblog.wordpress.com/2017/12/19/the-piano-and-the-drums/.
Accessed 1 March 2024.
● Olatunbosun, Yinka. “THE RIVER NUN CALLED, AND GABRIEL OKARA ANSWERED AT LAST….”
THISDAYLIVE, 31 March 2019, https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2019/03/31/the-
river-nun-called-and-gabriel-okara-answered-at-last. Accessed 1 March 2024.
● Osagie, Evelyn. “Echoes of Achebe’s works at writers’ show.” The Nation Newspaper, 25
November 2015, https://thenationonlineng.net/echoes-of-achebes-works-at-writers-show/.
Accessed 1 March 2024.
● Parekh, Pushpa Naidu. "Gabriel Okara." Edited by Pushpa Naidu Parekh and Siga Fatima
Jagne, Postcolonial African Writers: A Bio-bibliographical Critical Sourcebook, Greenwood
Press, 1998, pp. 353–354.

16. Thank You