Name: Oyebamiji Oluwadarasimi ifeoluwa

MATRIC NO: RUN/ENG/19/8102

Course code: ENG 253
Course title: introduction to creative writing.

Presentation
Discuss the poetic techniques used in “when Omowale came to root” in waiting
for the rain by Ayodeji Shittu.
 Personification: This technique was used generously in the poem. It could be cited in the
first stanza line 2.
“Oroole climbed and peeped”
Oroole is a rock taking the human behavior to climb and peep and it is clear that a rock is
not a living thing that could move.
Personification can also be seen in stanza 4 line 1.
“ at odo oja the ample womb of the ose tree”
Only humans and certain animals are recognized to have wombs not a tree.

 Enjambment: Enjambment can be described as the spilling of an idea being expressed in

a line of poetry to the next or subsequent line. This technique wasn’t left out in certain
stanzas of the poem. It can be sighted in stanza 1.
“When omowale came to root
Oroole climbed and peeped
Through tangles foliages of tender trees
And rose to meet the tiler of the earth”
It can be seen that this stanza had run-on(Enjambment). It was uses to complete the
whole idea of stanza 1 in subsequent lines.

 Imagery: Visual imagery wasn’t discarded in the poetic techniques used in the poem as
stanza 1 and 6 fastened a pictorial view in the imagination of its readers.
“when omowale came to root
oroole climbed and peeped
through tangled foliages of tender trees
and rose to meet the tiler of the earth”

Stanza 6

“at odo oja, Ejibuasi stood with cold stare

angered by trivial calls to ancestral duty
and the footprints of Agba carriers laid rustic
silenced by a drought of lore
 no Elila's hooves have trodden this slippery dust for
seasons”
This stanzas definitely created a visual imagination for its readers.
 Blank verse : The poem had its own traditional rhythm yet it lacks a regular rhyme
scheme like the Abba or aabb rhyme schemes but the main rhythm wasn’t discarded in
the poetry.
 Theme: The title “when omowale came to root” was clearly seen in the course of the
stanzas to be the death of an icon and traditional rites being carried out. The death of
omowale created a sad atmosphere in the poem due to this fact this poem could be
referred to as a DIRGE.
 Tone: The tone with which the poem was written is a serious thereby expressing the fact
that the writer feeling was melancholic.
 Allegory: It is of no questionable doubt that this poem is an allegory as it could be seen
that it was peopled by non-living character performing human duties thereby giving a
secondary meaning to the poem.

Conclusion: This techniques used in writing this poem has exposed the message the writer was
trying to pass to his readers. “ When Omowale came to root” has clearly shown that it is a
traditional poem and it was written about Omowale’s death and the effect it had on the people of
ikere-ekiti. The last stanza of the poem backed up that fact
“Omowale came to root
On a grey horse of memory
but the land groaned under the burden of a drought...

Glossary
In the quest of reading the novel further research made me to understand that certain terms used
in the book should be explained in the review of this poem
 Oroole: it is a name of a rock in ikere-ekiti
 Amoye: amoye is a school situated in ikere-ekiti
 Anaye: it is a name of a place in Ikere-Ekiti
 Odo- Oja: a place in Ikere- ekiti
 Ose tree : a name of a particular tree in ikere – ekiti
 Okeruku: A place in ikere-ekiti
 Ejibausi: it is a name of a person
 Agba: it is a name of a drum
 Elila: it is a native name for a cow
 Olosunta: A name of a rock in ikere-ekiti
 Otifon: As part of the rites, palm fronds are tied together and lit up in what is known as Otifon.
Only the Olu-Ikere is allowed to make sacrifices to the rock.