Early Birds is a poem book for Junior Secondary Schools in Nigeria composed by Nigerian Legendary Poet, Niyi Osundare and commented on by Ayo Banjo. The book was first published in 2004 and then reprinted and republished in 2006 hitherto.
It consists of 43 poems spread across the 87 pages of the book. The book began with a preface by the author where he discussed at large about the book, its importance, and significance to the younger generation. He closed his remark with a quote as stated below:
“Early Bird, rise with the sun. Let poetry fill your day with delight as you sing and think and grow.”
Here is a list of all the amazing poems included in the Early Birds:
- My Pen
- The Computer
- The Gong
- All Sorts
- Lend Me
- My Mother’s Loom
- Journeys
- The Aeroplane
- Faka Fiki Faka
- Up and Down
- Jos
- Lokoja
- Jo’burg Dawn
- The Nile
- Rain and Shine
- The Almond Tree
- Iroko
- The Guest Who Came to Lunch
- Song of the House Rat
- Overhead at the Roach Boulevard
- Grasshopper
- Firefly
- Let Us Not Forget
- Inu Rere
- Every Song Has a Story
- Grandma’s Words
- Open Secrets
- Love
- Power
- True Name
- Garden
- Milk
- Riddles (3)
- Kebuyeri
- Hints (3)
- Unequal World
- Song of the Little Bird
- The Pothole
- NEPA
- Gabriel Okara
- Wole Soyinka
- The Eagle and the Sun
- We Are
In this article, we will briefly look at the first 10 poems in the book to give an idea of what you should expect in Early Birds.
My Pen
My Pen is a short piece of poem written in praise of a pen. The poem uses several literary devices to describe a poem such as “between the finger and the thumb” to show how a pen is held. The poet also employs the use of rhymes as every two consecutive lines rhyme. This is known as rhyming couplets.
Definitely, this is an amazing way to begin a book filled with an exquisite work of art. Here is a snippet from the poem:
Its life flow straight from its fountain of ink
With which it makes the longest link
It pricks and probes with its nifty nib
Its tiny tooth, its eloquent tip
The Computer
Claiming the next page is the “The Computer”. This is similar to the first poem as it is also written in appreciation of a computer. The poet once again makes use of a series of literary devices such as simile, personification, and alliteration.
The poet also employs some rhymes since many of the lines rhyme although there were a few discrepancies. The computer is another exciting poem that reminds students of how a computer works and its significance to humankind.
Here is a snippet from My Computer Poem In Early Birds:
And purring like a friendly puppy
It swallows all its floppy
Feeding fast on a diet of disks
That cut our daily risks
Ready helpmate for the human brain
Reducer of stress and strain
The Gong
A gong is a traditional mode of communication used by town criers, especially in many African countries. It consists of a piece of bell-shaped metal that is struck with a metallic rod to produce sounds used by the town crier to get the attention of the villagers and pass the message from the king.
The poem begins with the sound produced by the gong “Kogo, kogo, kogo” and continues to describe the gong and its functions. It ends yet again describing the sound produced by the gong. I specifically enjoyed the commentary on this particular poem and I guess you will also.
Here is a snippet from the poem:
Is the sound of the gong
Ancient song from the metallic tongue
It wakes the young
It wakes the old
All Sorts
All Sorts is a shortened term for “All Sorts of Experience”. Each stanza of the poem consists of two lines that describe certain experiences of the poet propelled by the location of his home. He started by describing the experience of a person living close to the ocean, then moved on to picture the experience of himself walking and talking to trees in the forest.
He then shared his experience when swimming at a river near his home before ending the poem with his experience as a person born and living close to the market. The poem is capable of connecting with the readers and you can easily visualize every word you read from the poet. The rhythm is a bit complex as it creates a rhyming scheme from the second line of each stanza.
Overall, All Sorts will surely give you all sorts of visualizations as you read it. Here is a snippet from the poem:
Born very near the marketplace
I know the traffic of voices
The comings and goings of human beings
Their many and endless choices
Lend Me
Lend Me is simply a short piece of educational poem that can help students learn about objects, including animals and their specific features. The poet talks about divergent objects and animals in the first line and describes their specific attributes in the second.
This is a great poem to teach students how to know more and identify objects. Here is a snippet from the poem:
I said to the squirrel
Lend me the beauty of your tail
I said to aloko
Lend me a pot of indigo
My Mother’s Loom
Another poem written in rhyming couplets (two rhyming lines per stanza) and gives a full description of a woman working in front of a loom. Looms are popular local machines used in weaving traditional attire known as “Aso Ofi” among the Yorubas.
The poet did justice to the process with every line and you will find it interesting, especially if you do not have an idea of what a loom is. Here is a snippet from the poem:
Two standing poles and two across
Before them she sits like a busy boss
A network of thread going up and down
Long enough to robe the town
Journeys
Journeys is one of the poems that shows the versatility of Niyi Osundare in the Early Birds as each line mirrors the other in the stanza. The poem is quite an interesting one and an inspiration for the young ones. The entire first line also rhymes with one another to complement the intriguing nature of the poem.
Here is a snippet from the poem:
I like the rest an night
But I miss the sun of noon
When the day is clear and bright
I long for shadows
You may also like Iya Mi Owon
The Aeroplane
This poem is in the appreciation of an aeroplane and exhibits the interplay of writing creativity of the poet and his ability to liken objects to other phenomena. An aeroplane was presented using divergent literary devices, especially simile and metaphor. It also utilizes a rhyming scheme of “abab” in each stanza to give a total of 6 beats to the poem.
Here is a snippet from the poem:
A gleaming eagle, conqueror of distance
A thrust and surge in impossible heights
Feast for the eye, beyond a glance
Far, far above the wing of kites
Faka Fiki Faka
Faka Fiki Faka is a poem about trains and you can guess the title is onomatopoeia. The first stanza is wholly onomatopoeic and describes the sound of a train as it moves. The poem then continues to describe places a train passes, its length, the number of wheels, the events as the train approaches, when it stops, and when it leaves the station.
A brilliant piece of writing that also brings back memories of the old days when a train was an important mode of transportation for traders. Here is a snippet from the poem:
Fo fo fo fooooo
Faka fiki faka fi
Fo fo fo fooooo
Faka fiki faka fi
Up and Down
Up and Down is a poem dedicated to Okey Ndibe, another legendary writer and poet in Nigeria’s history. The poem adopts the use of contrast within some stanzas and expresses the sad reality of life initiated by death.
It is brief, yet interesting ode to Okey Ndibe – a friend of Niyi Osundare.
Here is a snippet from the poem:
My forest is full of trees
But each root knows the way
To the nearest river
The bitterest leaf paves the way
For the sweetest cure. Stay silent,
My friend, that I may hear your voice;
The shortest step
Is the mother of the journey
Bottom Line
Early Birds is a comprehensive poem book not only for junior secondary school students, but anyone passing through the walls of a classroom. The poem analyses practical events linguistically in a rather simple and concise manner.
You really should check the poem out if you enjoy poetry and want to know more about certain events and objects without reading tons of books.
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