AFRICAN POETRY
Discuss the theme of love in Seghor’s I will pronounce your name
Explanation
The poet Leopold Sedar Senghor is one of the pioneer poets of the Negritude School This group of poets in their poems exalt Africa and all that is African.
In the poem "I will pronounce your name," the poet expresses his love and admiration for his lover, Naett. He addresses Naett as if she were a god that he is worshipping. The theme develops with a repetition of his lover's name which is pleasant in his ears. The name Naett, is mentioned six times in the short poem of ten lines and this shows the extent of his love for Naett. As a lover, Naett means everything to him and he cannot do without her.
A further expression of his love for her is found in the simile; "your name is like mild cinnamon." By comparing his lover's name to cinnamon, he is implying that his lover's name is not only mild but precious and invaluable. He metaphorically refers to her name as "the fragrance in which the lemon grove sleeps" and "the sugared clarity of blooming coffee trees." Naett to him is "the dry tornado", "the hard clap of lightning", "coin of gold and shining coal" "you my night, my sun". All these expressions heighten the extent of his love for her and the effect which she has on him. Above all, Naett symbolizes the beauty of the African woman.