Symbolism as Meaning Strategy in Tanure Ojaide’s Poetry: A Linguistic Approach

This paper examined animal symbolism in three collections of poetry written by Tanure Ojaide, namely, The Fate of Vulture and Other Poems, Delta Blues and Home Songs and The Tale of the Harmattan. Data for analysis were twenty-one (21) poems purposively selected from the three collections, using a linguistic approach as the theoretical framework. Findings from the study revealed that through the predominant use of material verbs and few instances of mental processes, Ojaide uses the actions and activities of both predatory and minute animals in the collections to symbolise the barbarity, brutality and tyranny of Nigerian/African political leadership. The findings also showed that the poet employs imperative jussive mood to signal his revolutionary intent and ideological vision, and uses hyponymy to reveal how aquatic creatures, different species of fish and birds function as symbols and metaphors to recount the idyllic scenes and harmonious co-existence in the ecosystem in the Niger Delta region before oil and gas exploration and its subsequent devastation and degradation due to oil spillage and gas blowouts. The paper concluded that the use of animal symbols as a meaning strategy in versification probes into the inner consciousness of the poet and enriches the reader’s linguistic knowledge.