Onomatopoeia Ghanaiansis: A textual analysis

This poem, “Onomatopoeia Ghanaiansis,” is a 37-line free verse written by Isaac Ato Mensah, an independent scholar and journalist.

In the first six lines, the poet introduces some African foods.

The poet uses the onomatopoeia “Bumpety bump” probably as a reference to the sound of a war drum.

The literary device of Repetition is also employed almost throughout the whole poem. The poem has much existential relevance as the drums of Mother’s Day fade out and Father’s Day draws nigh.

Let’s now enjoy the poem and follow it with the textual analysis.

Bumpety bump Apapransa

Bumpety bump Dawadawa

Bumpety bump Kakadeamaa

Bumpety bump kokonte

Bumpety bump Tuozaafi

Bumpety bump African foods

Bumpety bump African tongue

When in pain I say Agyeeeiii

So that my father can always be there

It can never be ouch

That’s why your father is gone

When I’m surprised I say Shieee

When I’m disappointed I say oooh

When I knock I say kokooko

It is the sound I hear in my mind

It is the sound I feel in my soul

It is the sound I think and feel

My name is Kwasi but never Kci

You may spell it Kwashi but never Quarshie

My national capital is Nkran

So where from the Accra

When I’m sorry I say Kose

But never sorry

Me nsor enko hen

And I hit my right hand in my left hand

Me paw’ kyew, kyew, kyew, kyew

But never strike my breast;

For that is pride

If you don’t accept sorry for my debt

I don’t call for death

By jumping on the rails

For a relative can work in my stead

It is never slavery

It is a group thing

We say tsooboi yei, tsooboi yei, tsooboi yei

Let’s stop the propaganda

And get a proper Ghana

Now onto the analysis.

Our indigenous culture of honouring our ancestors is given a place of prominence.

The poet seeks to infer that the reason why Ghanaians say “Agyeeeiii” is because they need their father's help.

In the struggle for emancipation of the African people, many men have suffered and died.

Katharina Buchholz, referencing the US Bureau of Justice Statistics in an article published on April 19, 2023, wrote that “1807 black males” are in US prisons as compared to “327 white males.”

This means that there are six times more black males than white males in US prisons per one hundred thousand residents.

Hence, the poem is a call for a new pan-African vehicle that can crash into the current crisis that is crumbling in Negritude.

Reading the poem also invokes the imagery of “a voice crying in the wilderness” to help end the discrimination meted out against Africans and people of African descent. Regardless, fatherhood is in crisis, no matter the ethnicity.

In 2022, there were 87,784 female prisoners in US federal or state correctional facilities compared to 1,142,359 males, according to Veera Korhonen in an article published on December 12, 2023, on Statista.com.

The poem ends with the battle cry “Tsooboi yei," calling for an end to the "propaganda,” which is killing our own time-honoured traditions.

In the end, the poet advocates for “a proper Ghana”.

On the flip side, the poet seems to give males carte blanche to abandon their children and puts the blame on the children for failing to call for their fathers "Agyeeeiii.”

Those who abandon their children for whatever reason needn’t hear “Agyeeeiii” before coming to their rescue.

In much the same way, those carrying out the oppression needn’t hear complaints

before they stop causing pain to children.

All told, we Africans, in the spirit of Negritude and Pan-Africanism popularised by the likes of Leopold Senghor and Kwame Nkrumah, must now rise up in solidarity, affirming the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of all men.

The poem is culled from the book titled: “15 Poems and their meanings for you to

become a poet in 15 days”.