The Poetry of Igue Festival’s Song-Text.docVIP

The Poetry of Igue Festival’s Song-Text 　　Abstract 　　This study attempts a poetic analysis of the Igue festival song text. Igue festival is one of the major cultural markers among the Edos， a strategic ethnic group in Nigeria. It is an annual event that ushers in a new year for every Edospeaking person. It is characteristic of the famous “head washing” and the significant display of ‘Ewere leaves”. These are two important cultural practices are central to the royalty and overall development of the Edo kingdom. The study indicates that beyond the historical and cultural implications of the songs is an intricate and predominant interplay of poetry and other aesthetic resources. The songs were analysed based on the critical approach of literary stylistics. This approach was used to examine the literary forms and functions of the selected text within the framework of oral literature. Finally， it is discovered that the songs have creative potentials and artistic qualities which justify their appreciation as essentially literary masterpiece. 　　Key words： Poetry； Igue； Edo； Orality，； Festival； Songs 　　BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY 　　Poetry， in this study， would be examined within the context of folklore- that is， as songs or recitations having no regular rhyme scheme and dealing with the verbal aspect of the Igue festival. This kind of poetry which some scholars refer to as “traditional oral poetry” （Emovon， 1981， p. 265） is transmitted primarily by word of mouth and learnt by imitation or example. Merriam （1964） expands the thematic and linguistic focus of this kind of poetry by saying that “not only do music and language of text tend to take special forms， one would expect that the language of text have a special significance” （p. 190）. Okpewho （1985） in his own case advises that we must abandon the false impression that poetry necessarily has to do with words or the order in which they are arranged. According to him： 　　a group of measured lines which describes a situatio