AFRICAN POETRY Illustrate Senghor's use of figures of speech in I will Pronounce Your Name

Answer Details

In I Will Pronounce Your Name, Leopold Sedar Senghor celebrates the beloved, Naett, by piling up figures of speech that turn her name into a feast for the senses. The poem is less an argument than an incantation, and its figurative language is the source of its music and sensuous beauty.

Apostrophe. The whole poem is a direct address to an absent beloved, "Naett". This apostrophe gives the lines the intimacy of a lover speaking, and the promise to "pronounce your name" frames the poem as a devotional act.

Simile. Senghor defines the beloved's name through a chain of comparisons introduced by "like". The name is "mild like cinnamon" and likened to the fragrance of a lemon grove and to the sweetness of ripe fruit. These similes appeal directly to taste and smell, making abstract affection physically vivid.

Metaphor. Naett is repeatedly identified with natural forces and precious things. Her name becomes "sugar", a "dry tornado", the "clap of lightning", pure gold and shining coral. By fusing the woman with sweetness, storm and treasure, the metaphors present her as both tender and elemental, gentle yet overpowering.

Imagery. The poem is dense with sensory imagery: the perfume of spices and citrus (smell), the taste of sugar and fruit (taste), gold, coal and coral (sight and touch). This synaesthetic mixing of the senses conveys the total, overwhelming effect the beloved has on the poet.

Personification and hyperbole. Natural elements are given life and emotion, and the beloved's qualities are magnified beyond ordinary measure, so that her name commands storms and shines like precious metal. The exaggeration expresses the intensity of adoration.

Repetition and refrain. The recurring naming of "Naett" and the repeated pattern of definition act like a chant. This repetition builds rhythm and reinforces the ritual, almost sacred, tone of the tribute.

Contrast. Senghor balances soft images (cinnamon, sugar, fragrance) against hard, violent ones (tornado, lightning, coal), suggesting that the beloved unites tenderness with fierce power.

Conclusion. Through apostrophe, simile, metaphor, rich sensory imagery, personification, hyperbole and hypnotic repetition, Senghor transforms a single name into a sensuous hymn. The figures of speech are not decoration but the very means by which the poet makes the reader taste, smell and feel his love.