Critical Analysis of the Poem The Anvil and the hammer
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The Full Text
The Anvil and the Hammer
Caught between the anvil and the hammer
In the forging house of a new life
Transforming the pange that delivered me
Into the joy of new songs
5 The trappings of the past, tender and tenuous
Woven with the fiber of sisal and
Washed in the blood of the goat in the fetish hut
Are Iared with the flimsy glories of paved streets
Thejargon of a new dialectic comes with the
10 Charisma of the perpetual search on the outlaw's hill
Sew the old days for us, our fathers,
That we can wear them under our new garment
After we have washed ourselves in
The whirlpool of the many rivers' estuary
15 We hear their songs and rumours everyday
Determined to ignore these we use snatches from their
Tunes
Make ourselves new flags and anthems
While we lift the banner of the land
20 And listen to the reverberation of our song
In the splash and mean of the sea.
Summary of The Anvil and the Hammer
The African in a colonial situation is akin to a piece of metal which finds itself lodged between "the anvil" and "the hammer". "The anvil" represent the african tradition while "the hammer" is the foreign culture. Both of them impact on the African in the process of forging and transforming him or her into a new being. It is a transformation which like the new birth goes with "pangs" of delivery. A new birth calls for "the joy of new songs". However, this expectation is unfounded as "the trappings of the past" far outweigh the "glories of paved streets".
The "outlaw's hill" includes not only the abode of the colonialists but also foreign institutions, such as schools and churches. The poet-speaker prefers tradition which is why he cries: "Sew the old day for us, our fathers, /that we can wear them under our new garment". The new garment in question refers to the new culture to which we have been exposed, while 'their songs and rumours" which we hear everyday are the white man's influences. We can only borrow "snatches from their tunes" in order to "make ourselves new flags and anthems". We forge a new country and "lift high the banner of the land" formed from our "new flags and anthems". As noted earlier, this process of nation — building goes on" in the splash and moan of the sea".
Stanza and Line to Line Analysis of The Anvil and the Hammer
Line 1 to 4 of The Anvil and the Hammer
Caught between the anvil and the hammer
In the forging house of a new life
Transforming the pangs that delivered me
Into the joy of new songs Lines 1-4
Analysis of Line 1 to 4
The African is faced with the dilemma of being "caught between the anvil and the hammer," found in the "forging house of a new life." The "new life" is the new way of life to which the African is subjected. He/she suffers the pain ("pangs") of a transformation as in a new birth which the new African experiences as in the "joy of new songs."
Line 5 to 7 of The Anvil and the Hammer
The trappings of the past, tender and tenuous
Woven with the fibre of sisal and
Washed in the blood of the goat in the fetish hut (line 5 to 7)
Analysis of Line 5 to 7
Unfortunately, this tender and tenuous nature of the African tradition has been covered by "paved streets" (modernity and civilization), and has also resulted in the importation of new culture and language (the white man's culture and language) which have shattered the African heritage so much that sacred orders are violated in the name of civilization and modernization:
Line 8 to 10 of The Anvil and the Hammer
...Are laced with flimsy glories of paved streets
The jargon of a new dialectic comes with the
Charisma of the perpetual search on the outlaw's hills (Lines 8-10)
Analysis of Line 8 to 10
Consequently, the speaker/persona cries to "our fathers" to "sew the old days" so "that we can wear them under our new garment." Our "new garment" refers to the western culture to which we have now been inducted into after being baptized in the "whirlpool of the many rivers' estuary." "The many rivers' estuary" refers to the many new experiences to which the African is exposed to due to his increased contact with the western culture (see lines 11-14). The speaker asking his fore fathers to sew the old days so that we can we wear them under our new garment clearly affirms the fact that Kofi Awoonor is not against Africans identifying with the western culture but of the opinion that any African who has been exposed to the western culture, either through education or religion, should not leave his/her African values for western values and beliefs; rather, the person should embrace both cultures as they have significant roles to play in transforming the old African into a new African.
Line 11 to 14 of The Anvil and the Hammer
Sew the old days for us, our fathers,
That we can wear them under our new garment
After we have washed ourselves in
The whirlpool of the many rivers' Lines 11 - 14:
Analysis of Line 11 to 14
The dominant imagery in this portion of the poem is dressmaking. We have 'sew', 'wear', 'new garment' and 'washed'. While these are gentle preoccupations, "caught", 'the anvil', 'the hammer', 'forging' and 'pangs' recall the imagery of violence and fear. The poet prefers the old when he asks 'our fathers' to 'sew the old days' so 'that we can wear them under our new garment'. Our 'new garment' is the metaphor for modernity to which we have been inducted after being immersed in the 'whirlpool of the many rivers' estuary'. The reference to 'the many rivers' estuary' recalls the many new experiences to which the African is exposed by the coming of the foreign culture.
Line 15 to 19 of The Anvil and the Hammer
We hear their songs and rumours everyday
Determined to ignore these we use snatches from their
Tunes
Make ourselves new flags and anthems
While we lift the banner of the land In lines 15-19,
Analysis of 15 to 19
there is an admission by the poet that they even "hear their songs and rumours everyday" and "determined to ignore these we use snatches from their tunes." The speaker is trying to buttress the point that even though they can hear and sing foreign songs to the detriment of African songs, they are now determined to embrace their cultural values and work towards promoting it by making themselves new flags and anthems while they lift high the banner of the land. Undoubtedly, these lines (15-19) portray the poet as a patriot.
Line 20 and 21 of The Anvil and the Hammer
20 And listen to the reverberation of our song
In the splash and mean of the sea.
From the last two lines (lines 20 and 21), one can deduce from the thought of the speaker that after we have raised high the banner of our land, we can now see the superiority of our cultures, beliefs and values as against the foreign lifestyles:
Setting of The Anvil and the Hammer
The poem is set in colonial times. The traditional order has been supplanted by the new, bu culture. Africans in this situation see a huge contradiction, and those who are conscious of It the emotion of humiliation. The reason is that both tradition and modernity subsist in the i-V'T Tradition is marked by the trappings of the past" while modernity resides in the flimsy paved streets." The poet-speaker exists in "the jargon of a new dialectic" as in relating with go'"' evil or living and dying at the same time, having been exposed to "many rivers' estuary." The process of this intermingling of the old and new is still ongoing; our way out has been to "use snatches ; tunes" to "make ourselves new flags and anthems."
Themes in The Anvil and the Hammer
Loss
The Theme of Loss in The Anvil and the Hammer
Very close to the end of the poem, the poet reiterates a feeling of loss formerly implied in the plea for the father's to help conserve the savagable remains of their original culture. A deeper shade of nostalgia is represented at the tail two stanza of the poem, where the former song (metaphor for African traditions, heritage) reverberates in the sea. The sea is said to be "moaning", perhaps that's just the normal way it does like every other sea, when there's a rush waves; or maybe not, the poet and his fellow concerned Africans could be the ones lamenting, the relegation of their own culture in the face of another.
A forceful fusion
The Theme of forceful fusion in The Anvil and the Hammer
Tic port applies the notion of a forceful coming together of the people of two cultures to the disadvantage of one in a colonial relationship The African people are said to be “caught between the anvil and the hammer ’' The traditional culture b “the anvil," it is the indigenous. Africans sit on it while "the hammer ' la the foreign which violently strives to strike, in order to mould new persons out of Black people It is a forceful yoking together of two different peoples without due consultation. The result is “a new life* created “in the forging home" which gives rise to “the jargon of a new dialectic."
Acculturation
The Theme of Acculturation in The Anvil and the Hammer
A process by which the culture of an isolated society changes on contact with a different one, especially a more advanced society.
The anvil and hammer symbolizes African and European culture respectively. The coming together of the two cultures created a new African way of life in which we are Africans by identity but almost Europeans by actions. Africans learnt the ways of the Europeans in the process of their contact with Europeans in an estuary known as colonialism. In this contact, much contents of African was lost.
Tradition and Modernity
The Theme of Tradition and Modernity in The Anvil and the Hammer
The African culture constitutes tradition which has been visited by European culture, the modem. No matter what has happened in the experience of the African person, tradition is deep-rooted. That is probably why the poet speaks of “the trappings of the past” which be says are "tender and tenuous;” it is “woven with die fiber of sisal" Thus, what is going on at the moment is “transforming the pangs that delivered me" as in a new birth. Having been “washed in the Mood of the goat in the fetish hut." we are merely “faced with the flimsy glories of paved streets.” The “paved streets” represent modem n\ while what emerges it only “the jargon of a new dialectic.”
Cultural clash
The Theme of Cultural clash in The Anvil and the Hammer
The first line of the poem, affirms “caught between the anvil and the hammer.” just as the blacksmith jams the anvil and hammer together, there is a clash of two metals with an iron to be forged in between them. This depicts the clash of African and European culture and the iron in between is the African man.
Nostalgia
The Theme of Nostalgia in The Anvil and the Hammer
Nostalgia .is a longing for the past. Having experienced both tradition and modernity, the poet-speaker long for the past. He seems to have tasted both ways of living and prefers the past. This is why be states: "sew the old days for us, our fathers.” However, these old days to be sewn are to be worn “under our new garment ” The reference to “our new garment” is our new reality as a people who have found themselves in the modem culture and cannot escape it
Conflict of the way to go
The Theme of Conflict of the way to go in The Anvil and the Hammer
The pool-speaker suffer* from the conflict of the way to go, having been bombarded by the influences of the two culture. Traditional socialization » worn “under our new garment” while modem education has enabled us to engage m “the perpetual search on the outlaw’s lull”, m addition to “the whirlpool of the many rivers’estuary ” This is akin to the gathering of experiences from Western teaming. However, these experiences are to be chosen according to their usefulness Not all “their songs and rumours"’ are acceptable. That is why the poet-speaker remarks that “determined to ignore these we use snatches from their/tunes ” The way to go is to be choosy of the new experiences to which we are exposed.
Cultural transformation:
The Theme of Cultural transformation of the way to go in The Anvil and the Hammer
the poet speaks in "great lengths" about the rebirth of the African, the process involves, being shaped, with a somewhat use of cohesion , gradually into another person with a new culture infused in the system. Then, the old culture is laid to rest, in a background, an undergarment, worn under the "new garment". Therefore, a typical African man would eat with cutlery in international conferences, and dig properly into his bowl of food in the comfort of the African kitchen. What about African beauty queens, they wear their traditional attires as a sort of costume in which they'll be seen for the purpose of adding slight local colour into the show, in the end, they'll have to wear evening ENGLISH dresses to clinch the crown.
This transformation is depicted as painful, unpleasant, as the poet persona describes it in terms of how a blacksmith would shape a piece of iron, as well as how a woman would deliver a baby in a "pangful" labour
Confusion as a result of cultural clashes:
It is always very difficult having to juxtapose different cultures, especially when values differ, which is the case with the western traditions and the African way of life. We have words like "whirlpool" to project the dizzying effect of being caught in between the force of two cultures. The recollections of the past are now "laced" by the the new culture, referred to as "flimsy glories of paved street" (something somewhat unworthy), In the same vein, the poet seems to happy and lament at the same time: the atmosphere of the poem is therefore sort of confusing, where it's hard to pin point the particular emotion the poet tries to convey: is he happy to have a new culture transform him, or is he sad of losing, letting go, laying in the background, his culture?, Or his he happy to be transformed in the joy of new songs? This theme is mostly achieved by the use of irony
The importance of retaining traditional cultures: While the poem talks about cultural transformation ,it shows the value of the old traditions.The poet says "sew the old days for us,our father" to show that although the traditions might not me as perfect as it seems ,the fussion of the good sides of each coins will be fantastic.The poet uses phrases like "trapping of the past","snatches from their tunes" to show the ingenuity of the traditional culture and the fatality of losing them.
Nation-building
The Theme of Nation-building of the way to go in The Anvil and the Hammer
Nation-building in all the African countries entails the wearing of “new garment”; it also mean* being exposed to “many rivers’ estuary”. There are also the references to “songs”, “tunes”, “new flags”, ‘‘anthems” and flying high of “the banner of the land.” These recall nation-building. Again, when the poet-speaker makes mention of “the splash and moan of the sea,” two events are connected: one is die importation of finished goods into the polity and the other is the exploitation of new materials such as agricultural produce and mineral meant to service the industries in Europe. As the poet is not specific in who is doing the roaring business in the high seas, it could both apply to the colonial master and to the new-nation states.
Structure of The Anvil and the Hammer
The poem has 21 lines, a solid flow of words, as one stanza.
1st four lines describe the forceful transformations that has to be passed through by the poet. A very grotesque image of a person between forces like an anvil and a hammer, continually slammed into a particular shape he does not necessarily fit into.
Next 5 lines is a reminisce of what old times looked like, before the scramble for and the partition of Africa, where westerners came over to place their stamps on various colonies. One thing that catches ones literary attention is the pun on the word laced, the word, not only a verb that describes the dilution of the African culture by the colonial masters, but also, when taken to the sphere of clothing and textile, we find the fiber of sisal, an African material being juxtaposed with "lace(d)" a western clothing material. In this subtle almost unnoticeable way, the poet enunciates how their culture is being overtaken by a strange one, and there's nothing effective to be done.
The same goes for the Succeeding 5 lines, but this time, of pleading to "our fathers" to help them at least keep their cultural heritage, "sew the old days" into what they can wear as undergarment, under the "new garment" . This employment of clothing vocabulary/diction, gives meaning to the pun found in the preceding stanza, the words "sisal" and "lace(d)". But, the fact remains that the original culture is now worn underneath, (probably because it cannot be completely done away with) kept in the background, while they put on the lace the white man's new culture. The poet persona also makes mention of washing in a whirlpool (which turns round and round, depicting the image of dizziness) in "many rivers estuary" , which could represent the white man's land, where some Africans (including the poet himself) were sent for a transformation, through education, into a "total man". It's after this transformation that at least their own culture stays as an undergarment.
The next four lines is a description of how new nations, or more accurately countries, are created. The colonies ignore the unpleasant sides of their colonial masters (exploitations, racism, history of slavery and forced labour and so on), and they (colonies) when it's time to become independent, take up "snatches from their tunes", to create an identity for themselves. The Union Jack of Britain, for example, remained the national flag of some colonies after independence, and till now certain African anthems were written by the colonial masters. Let's not even start with the names of the African countries, some which were later changed.
The Last two concluding lines of the poem is bemoaning a loss that seems unrecoverable. As the sea carts it away, or, as the western explorers in the name of expendition steal the cultural heritage of Africans away. Not only the material culture, but also the practicable aspect, for example, no government worker in some parts in Africa is allowed to wear the the native attire to work, all the white collar jobs, most time discourages the wearing of native clothing to work, especially on weekdays. All these portrays the drastic decline of the African culture due to the contact with the colonial masters
Language and Style
1. A cultural expose in condensed lines
The poem is no more than a cultural expose in condensed lines. Whereas in history or typical cultural I studies, it would take books to write on the poet’s themes, it is here only dealt with in twenty-one lines. It is the shadowy war between two cultures in which one using the arsenal of force compels the other to pass through “the forging house of a new life.” It is akin to a new birth, a new coming into being. The weaker African culture is compelled to move from the experience of being into a new becoming. The poet-persona speaks of “the pangs that delivered me,” which are the pain of a new transformation “into the joys of new songs.”
2. Images of compulsion
A dominant feature of the poem is the stylistic use of force and all it connotes. The African is “caught”, as in a snare, between two instruments of re-formulation - “the anvil” and “the hammer.” The re-modelling of the African takes place in “the forging house” after which he/she is “delivered” with “the pangs” usually associated with giving birth. Being enmeshed in his past, the African embodies “the trappings of the past” and as such “washed in the blood of the goat in the fetish hut.” Other suggestions of compulsion and recalcitrance are “laced with”, “paved streets”, “jargon”, “perpetual search” “the i outlaw’s hill”, “sew”, “whirlpool”, “snatches”, “reverberation”, “splash” and “moan.”
3. Metaphor
Metaphors are amply observable in the poem, beginning with the title.
“the anvil”: is a metaphor for the indigenous, for the traditional while “the hammer which strikes on the anvil is the foreign, imposed culture.“the forging house” is constituted by the meeting points of the two culture*, namelv school and the church where the re-formulation of the African largely takes place"the pangs”: is the pain arising from the forceful yoking together of the two cultures labour pangs suggested by the phrase “that delivered me.”“the blood of the goat”: is reminiscent of tradition or traditional religion“paved streets": is a metaphor for civilization or modernity.“the jargon of a new dialectic”: is the metaphor for all the attributes of the new impositions by the new culture, including way of life, language, religion and new attitudes‘'perpetual search”: is the constant unending interactions between the two cultures gene the assumptions of the foreign way of thinking.“the outlaw's hill”: could mean where the colonialist lived or lives, his institutions schools and churches or his administrative sites, The white man and all those who forcefully embraced the new culture arc the outlaws.“our new garment”: is metaphorical of a new lifestyle, a new living pattern,“whirlpool”: suggests a flux, a confusing state of things brought about by the force!; together of elements of the two cultures.“many rivers* estuary*: refers to the various influences generated by the compelling m the two different cultures.“songs and rumours”: is a metaphor for their good and evil, what is useful and w hat i-; new culture.“new flags and anthems”: refers to the new emerging nations of Africa. Relate that wit high the banner of the land.”“splash and moan of the sea”: refers to the economic activities in the high seas.
4. Repetition
Certain words and their derivatives are repeated in the poem.
“a new life” (/. 2) and “new songs” (/. 4): evoke repetition.“tender and tenuous” (/. 5): is an effort to repeat the idea of softness. This is distinct from their attractiveness.“washed” (/. 7) and “washed” again in line 13.“songs” appears as well in lines 4,15 and 20. “Tunes** is in line 17.“splash and moan” (/. 21) are two repeated ideas in one line as in “lender
5. Cynical tone
The tone of the poem is measured. It is the tone of one who has observed what happened Africans and Europeans, with a sense of superiority. The poet-speaker sounds cynical becai to have superior knowledge of what is happening in this experience of culture clash. No emotion is resolved in favour of the African whose “trappings of the past” are “tender uiu while those of the foreign culture are “flimsy glories” and “whirlpool of the many rivers estt speaker placing “songs” and “rumours” side by side to reflect substance and shadow suggest and doubt. In the end. what is used in nation-building and new African education are ?• snatches from their tunes”. The reference to “the splash and moan of the sea” in the last brings out the poet’s cynicism.
About the Poet 'Kofi Awoonor'
He was a creator of poetry and prose, an author of both fiction and non-fiction, a professor, and an activist. Awoonor has had a controversial life and he was killed in an attack in September of 2013.
Born George Kofi Nyidevu Awoonor-Williams, Awoonor was a Ghanaian writer whose work includes a lot of Ewe tradition and the culture of Africa. Some of his most popular works include Rediscovery and Other poems, Until the Morning After, The House by the Sea, etc