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Our history

            
            
             Our History is a poem about the fierce Western invasion of Africa. Dipoko is African which explains why the poem is written with a bitter and angry tone from the African point of view. Throughout the poem this tone of voice is kept by the use of powerful diction and imagery to emphasize the violence and destruction caused by the Westerners. The title, "Our History" suggests a rather melancholic view of events. He is looking back at the past as though the present does not exist due to all the destruction and unfortunate change. .
             The poem is divided up into three stanzas, each dealing with a different aspect of the destructive invasion. The first stanza describes the arrival of the foreigners. At this point the tone is not quite as angry but instead anxious so the reader can sense that it is building up to something. The first three line, "And the waves arrived seas" convey a very visual image as it stresses the on going, restless movement of the waves. This is emphasized further by starting the poem with the word "And" to show that the waves follow a continuing pattern, a never ending cycle. The waves are metaphorical for the invaders and so this suggestion of a constant cycle places a threat at the Africans. In the third line there is alliteration of the "f" sound which strengthens the rhythm and echoes the sound of the waves. In the next line Dipoko states that their "lustre gave the illusion of pearls". Luster is a is a strong word to describe shine but the "illusion of pearls" suggests its irony, that these invaders, although rich, are anything but pearls. Clear anger is carried through the second part of the stanza as the poet compares them to the "carcass of drifting whales". .
             The next stanza portrays the violence involved in the intrusion of these westerners by describing their weapons and comparing them to lightening and thunder. These two strong metaphors put across both a clear visual image as well as an aural one.


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