Full Summary and Analysis of Night by Wole Soyinka: WAEC, NECO and JAMB Recommended Poem.

Here is the video presentation of the complete summary and analysis of the poem, "Night" by Wole Soyinka.

In this analysis you will learn:

About the poet

Setting of the Poem

Summary of the Poem 

Stanza-by-Stanza Analysis and Interpretation of the Poem

Themes of the Poem

Literary Devices Used in the Poem

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Night by Wole Soyinka

Your hand is heavy, Night, upon my brow.

I bear no heart mercuric like the clouds, to dare.

Exacerbation from your subtle plough.

Woman as a clam, on the sea's cresent.

I saw your jealous eye quench the sea's

Flouorescence, dance on the pulse incessant

Of the waves. And I stood, drained

Submitting like the sands, blood and brine

Coursing to the roots. Night, you rained

Serrated shadows through dank leaves

Till, bathed in warm suffusion of your dappled cells

  Sensations pained me, faceless, silent as night thieves.

Hide me now, when night children haunt the earth

I must hear none! These misted cells will yet

Undo me; naked, unbidden, at Night's muted birth.

Wole Soyinka is one the most honoured African poets. He is a playwright, poet, lecturer and an activist. He was awarded the Nobel prize in Literature in 1986 being the African to be so honoured. Wole Soyinka was born on 13 July, 1934.

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A Sudden Storm by Pius Oleghe

The wind howls, the trees sway,
The loose house tops sheets clatter and clang,
The open window shuts with a bang,
And the sky makes night of day

Helter-skelter the parents run
Pressed with a thousand minor cares,
‘Hey you there! Pack the household wares
And where on earth’s my son?’

Home skip the little children.
‘Where have you been you naughty boy?’
The child feels nothing but joy,
For he loves the approach of the rain

The streets clear, the houses fill,
The noise gathers as children shout,
To rival the ranging wind without,
And nought that can move is still

A bright flash! Alighted plain;
Then from the once blue heaven,
Accompanied by noise that deafens,
Steadily pours the rain

Pius Oleghe

For Anita Roddick, a poem by Ken Saro-Wiwa

For Anita Roddick

Had I a voice

I would sing your song

Had I a tongue

I would speak your praise

Had I the time

I would live for you

But here, gagged and bound

To the ioor and injustice

And waiting for death

I can only wonder

How you have breathed life

Into the thought that we give

Meaning to being

Only when we share and care.

Ken Saro-Wiwa 

Ken Saro-Wiwa (full name: Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa) was a Nigerian writer, television producer and activist, born in October 10th 1941 in Bori near Port Harcourt in Nigeria. Saro-Wiwa spoke against the country's military regime and Royal Dutch/Shell for the destruction of the environment of the Ogoni people, in his hometown of Rivers state. He was executed on November 10th 1995 in Port Harcourt after being tried by a special military tribunal for allegedly orchestrating the murder of Ogoni chiefs in a pro-government meeting. Subsequently, he was hanged by the military dictator of Nigeria, General Sani Abacha. This act of injustice aroused international outrage and led to Nigeria's suspension from the Commonwealth of Nations for more than three years.

I lie Alone at Night, a poem by Ken Saro-Wiwa

I Lie Alone at Night 

I lie alone at night

And think all of one year’s gone

Since I held you in my arms

In the bed we know so well.

I lie alone at night

And see the callous bandits

Break into our hallowed bedroom

Cruelly knife our togetherness.

I lie alone at night

And think of you lying lonely

Dreaming of my return

To the home we love so well

I lie alone at night

And think of the thick boots

Which stalk the halls of tyranny

And crush us underfoot.

I lie alone at night

And wonder why you wait

And endure the gripping pain

Which is my lot to bear.

I lie alone at night

And think of the stranger moon

The stars beyond my gaze

Your beauty like moons and stars

I lie alone at night

And pray the day will come

To mend your broken heart

And steel my breaking soul.

I lie alone at night

And dream a great new dawn

Without boots and knives

Broken hearts, breaking souls

Empty dreams and lonely beds

Stranger moons and searing pain

When you and I and all of us

Can hold hands and sing our love

Into a night captured by peace.

Ken Saro-Wiwa 

Ken Saro-Wiwa (full name: Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa) was a Nigerian writer, television producer and activist, born in October 10th 1941 in Bori near Port Harcourt in Nigeria. Saro-Wiwa spoke against the country's military regime and Royal Dutch/Shell for the destruction of the environment of the Ogoni people, in his hometown of Rivers state. He was executed on November 10th 1995 in Port Harcourt after being tried by a special military tribunal for allegedly orchestrating the murder of Ogoni chiefs in a pro-government meeting. Subsequently, he was hanged by the military dictator of Nigeria, General Sani Abacha. This act of injustice aroused international outrage and led to Nigeria's suspension from the Commonwealth of Nations for more than three years.