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THEORY
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(10)
The poet in the peom is not happy With what is going on his land but as an individual he has no power over what is going on in the society. He does not want to lose completely so he want something to be done about the old ways so that they will not be lost completely. He is pleading with the new generation to accommodate the old ways of life while behaving in the new norms he pleaded that the old culture be accommodate into the new culture so that they can interprets and practice the culture side by side. In doing this the poet doest condemn the new ways but he suggested that we should not abandon our ancestral culture practice and that instead of abandoning them we should accommodate both and blend together. He posit thus " sew the old days for us, our fathers that we can wear them under our new garment... Make our self new flags and anthems while we left high the banner of our land.
*(NUMBER 9)*
The choice of words of the poet is simple ,though some words like glade,shudder,grizzle,gut,bayonets and court can pose problem for an average reader to understand at a glance without his or her going to the dictionary.
The poet's selected use of words is highly contributory to the success of the poem. As a poem whose metaphorical import is very important to it's appreciation, some words and phrases appear deliberately and approximately employed to help the effective delivery of its message. Some examples includes ''giant ", sabre-toothed ", shudder home", bayonets of tribulation", unceasing disaster" and so on. The word giant is employed to underscore the enormity of the size and might of the state. In a way, the word also provides suggestive information about the setting of the poem. It hints at the spatial settings being Nigeria because Nigeria is the country often referred to as "giant of Africa" due to her population size.
The phrase "sabre-toothed recalls a kind of tiger with word sword-like teeth, which is meant
to point at the possible effect of a bite or attack from such an animal or its metaphorical referent . While the phrase "bayonets of tribulation" similarly draws attention to the sharp-edged form of violence and other challenges faced by the commoners,"shudders home" comments on their intimidation. The word "unceasing" in "unceasing disaster" clearly emphasizes the despair attending the situation.
The title word,Ambush ,on its part suggests the idea that the victims of the realities in the land are either caught unawares or the perpetrators carefully planned and carry out their designs as wished. The choice of animals used as metaphors for the land is also carefully made to reflect the three natural abodes of animals, ,land,sky and water. This suggests a total control of every space by the metaphorical referents
(12)
The image of the caged bird was used as a metaphorical expression to represent the classroom of which the bird was the bird that was caged. The poet used the expression to imply that the buy was like a bird that was caged and denied it's freedom to move around to do what it likes. The image of the caged bird explain the experiences of the boy. He hacked the freedom he desires and he is restricted to a certain schedule. The poet compares formal education as a prison yard and simplifies this by comparing the school system as a sort of a birds in a cage. Birds are born to enjoy flying gleefully and freely and perching on trees as they sing delightful sings/tones. The restricted bird in a cage looses all of these. Similarly, in the school system where children are restricted and have no chance to make fun with the natural environment as they would naturally want is nothing better than a cage bird. Their youthful life destroyed by fear and has no choice other than to drop their tender wings in total lamentation.
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