CULTURAL CONTEXT, VERBAL ART AND DISCOURSESEMANTICS PATTERNS IN BAYO ADEBOWALE’S “SONG OF THE BRIDE” AND “SONG OF THE MAIDEN”

Abstract

Poetry is generally viewed as complex because poets are familiar with using language in an uncommon way. The language of this literary genre is, according to some scholars, different from ordinary language. So the study of such texts requires appropriate methods and techniques. This article aims at analyzing two selected poems, viz, “Song of the bride” and “Song of the maiden” by Bayo Adebowale. The paper draws on Halliday’s (1985) systemic functional theory to explore the language of the two poems. The analyses reveal that texture is created, first, through anaphoric, homophoric and exophoric reference. Second, patterns of lexical cohesion such as repetition and collocation are foregrounded to display the aesthetic and the artistic values of the two texts. The contextual features have also facilitated the interpretation of these texts. The analyses reveal that these cohesive elements are also meant to create coherence and reveal the nature of verbal art in the poems. On the basis of these analyses, it is argued that Adebowale has drawn immensely on his Yoruba culture to display his cultural identity and convey his message