You Laughed and Laughed and Laughed by Gabriel Okara

 You Laughed and Laughed and Laughed by Gabriel Okara

Hello, I am Emisha Ravani, writing this blog as a thinking activity which is assigned by Yesha Bhatt ma'am. In this we have to do thematic study of various poems in the African Literature. So, in this blog i will discuss the poem You Laughed and Laughed and Laughed by Gabriel Okara.

You Laughed and Laughed and Laughed

Gabriel Okara

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.’

You Laughed and Laughed and Laughed is a poem by Nigerian writer Gabriel Okara. One of the most popular in his oeuvre, it is a frequent feature of anthologies. "The piece belongs with the best of Senghor's nostalgic verse," wrote Michael Echeruo in a tribute to Okara on the occasion of his seventieth birthday, "with the militancy of many of David Diop's lyrics, and certainly with J. P. Clark's 'Ivbie', another of my favorite African poems. Okara's poem is more relaxed than these, however, more ironic, less tortured. In some ways, of course, it is less urgent, less strident, less involved. If Clark's 'Ivbie' was complex and for good reason, You laughed, and laughed, and laughed seemed also appropriately straightforward: proud without arrogance, hurting without showing it, and blunt without rudeness."[1] The first of Okara's poems that it was Echeruo's pleasure to read, it was also in his opinion the most enduring.

African literature is a literature about the African people and that continent. It contains various languages and genres. The major themes of the African literature are culture, conflict, religion, colonialism, modernism and racism. Nigerian poet Gabriel Okara’s poem ‘You laughed and laughed and laughed’ brings out an emotion, feeling and pain faced by black people. This poem also brings out the sufferings faced by black people. This poem is as discussion between the black natives and white people which brings an rules, beliefs and practice of African. Okara brought out the suffering faced by the native people in this poem.

Themes of the poem 

Racism 

- Underestimating other race 

- Tortures of white

- Mental tortures of white

The theme of racism is at the center of the poem like how poet how described pain of the black people as white thought that they only had better civilization and the ill treatment as white people laughed at their dance , song , and insides.

Cultural conflict 

- Western culture

- Supremacy superiority complex

- Judgemental nature

- Cultural connection to nature 

- Barbarian 

Cultural conflict is the theme Okara often uses in his works. In the context of this poem we can see the western culture seems like supremacy. And as poet talks about their behaviour they seems too judgemental because white people judging very common things of black people's culture. They neglect the culture which is the having connection to the nature.

Modernism 

- Materialism 

- Use of 'Car'

- Luxuries - as attraction - upper class

Modernism we can have when poet uses the word 'car' and he tells :

“In your ears my song
Is motor car misfiring
Stopping with a choking cough
And you laughed and laughed and laughed”

Also poet tried to criticize western civilization by their way of living and lifestyle like upper class and materialism.

Colonialism 

- Physically controlled 

- Mentally tortured 

- Traits of being inferior 

Colonialism is another theme of it. It is written after the colonization influenced upon the poet so how colonizers were treating and controlling the black or colonized people and also they used torture them in the way that they can rule easily on them. They tried to make them feel inferior so their way can be got in easy way.

Nationalism 

- 'Magic Dance'

- 'Mystic inside wide as sky'

- 'Fire - warmth of the nature 

 - Living warmth of the earth 'Mother nature'

-  necked feet 'raw' - 'pure'

Theme of Nationalism come in the indirect phrases the poet has used here in the poem. By above given phrases he is admiring his culture and criticizing western culture by various comparison.

Thank you!