Stanza ii, Line 3: “Mountain coughed”
The poem Hole in the sky by Niyi Osundare’s is in sort a social commentary on the effects of pollution on the environment . Through the poem he describes different environmental issues that are plaguing society. This is evident through the line “mountain coughed” (2.3). Osundare use of personification in the line, gives human qualities to the mountain, by giving the reader the image that the mountain is coughing. This line refers to the air pollution that are mostly caused by the the burning of fossil fuels, oils and gas, which threatens human and ecological life. These pollutants tend to concentrate around the mountains, due to the height and structure along with its weather patterns. By using this particular scenario, Osundare is commenting on the haze that engulfs these landscapes. Through this line, he is able to relate the air pollution effects to ecological and human health, by portraying the mountain as sick and through the use of the cough, by giving it human characteristics. He does so, in order to achieve sympathy from the reader, by not seeing the mountain as an object but as another form of life that is endangered.
“Air Quality”.National Park Service. n.d. Web. 29 Nov.2015.
1 response so far ↓
JMERLE // Nov 30th 2015 at 11:46 am
Yes, Yohana, you use a good quotation to point to Osundare’s need to create a visceral bond between humankind and nature. By personifying the mountain, he seems to be saying that we are all connected, and that by saving a mountain, a tree, or any part of the Earth, we are not only improving our environment, we are literally saving ourselves. We’ll talk more about this together in class.