Life and Death



Whence have thou been my dear
Within the palace of thy queen
Again; again have thou come
To repeat to me thy central rites

Will thou hurt the kindred spirit?
Will thou come to stay this time?
Oh you! From yonder to mimic the living
...departing from us yet again

Senseless seem your coming and going
Endless journey for this chosen one
Searching for a never ending end
In a never ebbing life

Scattered is the diviners cowries
Upturned to find your beloved mates
Appease; appease! He cries to me
Before the fullness of your brief stay

Will this be the last my dear
Or else will you still appear
In what form if I may ask?
Do remind my forgetfulness

Oh! My ageless one
Do bid my ways in gold
Confer your charm my love
And drench my folly when thou come

Too short is your pitiful stay
Yet so warm is your natures embrace
Beauty is what you are my dear
Obanje ! Obanje! We know your name

About this poem

Traditional misconception regarding the spirit of the dead occupying the body of the living in Igbo land. The believe in life after death is the motivation for this poem

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Written on November 06, 2019

Submitted by jajafrank on January 21, 2023

Modified on March 14, 2023

53 sec read
0

Quick analysis:

Scheme AXBC XXDX DEXX XXXF AAXC EXXB FXAX
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 889
Words 178
Stanzas 7
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

FRANK OBIEDIMA GODWIN-JAJA

I am a passionate writer that have written books including one on poetry. My passion for telling the human stories in form of written down book is great in me. I still have more books I am writing and have 3 of my works published in Amazon platform more…

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    "Life and Death" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/150609/life-and-death>.

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