Ehizojie Osiri Sadoh

African Poetry and Idioms Ehizojie Osiri Sadoh

The poems included in this book form the author's private collection of poetry, titled Memories of a black lineage'. It is a collection which deals with Africa's past and present life and experiences and also reflects on her cultural heritage, history (with regards to pre - colonial, colonial and post colonial times) religion, social life, tradition and the western interference. The author, under this collection gives honour to everything African and renounces any hypocritical attitude or claim of superiority by any foreigner. The idioms reflect on the African norms and wisdom as handed down from generation to generation. Students are bound to come across some African idioms that may look very strange to them or seem complex for them to interpret as they study this book. Such unfamiliar idioms are often very tedious to understand when compared to the ones they usually meet in English Language text books. The purpose of including such idioms in a book like this, specially written and designed for a secondary school course is to arouse students' interest on African idioms which are common features of African prose and poetry and secondly, it will also ease students understanding of similar idioms whenever they are used in literature. They will also enable students to understand the fact that the use of idioms has always been a part and parcel of them as same are as old as the thousands of languages that are spoken all over the world. Memories of a black lineage are a title of collection of poems which has to do with the negritudian philosophy and the cradle of black civilization.