A Government Driver on His Retirement by Onu Kingsley Chibuike is one of the poems recommended for the 2021-2025 Literature WAEC, NECO and JAMB Syllabus.
Poet's Background
Onu Chibuike hails from South East of Nigeria. His poem ‘’A Government
Driver On His Retirement’’ proves that people die on a daily basis in
motor vehicle crashes as a result of drivers under the influence of
alcohol.
Poem Analysis
The poem is based on an overview of the retired driver’s happiness and celebration which leads to his untimely death after his drunken revel. In the first stanza, lines 1-4, he was happy after many years on wheels and plans for celebration. In the second stanza; 5-8, he controlled himself and did not drink until his retirement in order to obey the rules and regulations of duty. In stanza three; lines 9-6, he invited his friend to rejoice with him and drink alcohol ‘’I shall booze and zoom myself home, Line 10. He is no longer any under law or duty’s regulations. He planned to take liquor excessively. Line 15, ‘’I’ll booze to sleep away any sufferings.’’ In stanza four, government gave him a brand new car for the service he rendered -line18. ‘’A brand new car.’’ In stanza five, he invited his friend for celebration and predicts his own death by saying ‘’joy till no more joy to joy.’’ In stanza six and seven; he continued in the celebration by excessive drinking ‘’he battled with his bottle booze’’ line 28. He lost control in excessive drinking and collided with a particular object that made a deep loud sound. The collision led to his instant death.
Themes
1. Recklessness: The driver was reckless and ended up in grave after spending thirty-five years in government service. Lines 31-32 ‘’He boomed his brand new car,’’ ‘’ And it sent him home.’’Poetic and Literary Devices
- Language: The use of words is carefully selected to depict the predictable death of the driver. Words like ‘booze’ represents to drink in excess. ‘’Celebration’’ means enjoyment and ‘’boomed’’ expresses loud sound.
Foreshadowing: This is a literary device used to predict what will happen in future. The poet uses these words to predict the death of the driver. ‘’Home to rest in peace,’’ ‘’I’ll booze to sleep away my sufferings,’’ ‘’Joy till no more joy to joy.’’
Euphemism: This is when an unpleasant thing is said in a mild way. The traffic collusion that led to the driver is announced in a pleasant way. ‘’And it sent him home,’’ ‘’Home to rest in peace’’ lines 31-32. I’ll booze to sleep away my suffering’’ in line 15 means to die (to sleep away). In line 22, ‘’Joy till no more joy to joy’’ also means sorrow that ends the drinking scene.
Repetition: The use of a word more than once in a poem. The poet repeated the following words ‘’booze,’’ ‘’boozy,’’ come friends, rejoice with me,’’ ‘’many years,’’ ‘’joy’’ were all repeated in the poem to emphasize the driver’s happiness and retirement.
Hyperbole: It is an overstatement or exaggeration. The retired driver celebrated his retirement as if he was a prisoner. ‘’ come celebrate my freedom,’’ ‘’Today, he’ll go home a free man. Even though the retired driver had not received his monthly salary, he saw himself as a king.
Hyperbaton: This is when the natural order of words is changed as certain words are moved out of order. Lines 3-4, ‘’Today retires he home,’’ ‘’And a celebration he holds,’’ instead of ‘’ He retires home today,’’ ‘’And he holds a celebration.’’ These were used for emphasis and to hold readers’ attention.
Alliteration: It is the repetition of same sound in a poem. It was used to enhance the musicality of the poem. The alliterated words are: ‘’Many years has he (h,h) line 5, to duty rules and regulations (r,r) line 6, ‘’and makes me a king’’ (m,m) line 23 and battled with bottle booze (b,b,b) line 28.
Tone: The attitude of a literary work towards its subject. The poet started with humorous tone at the beginning of the poem and concluded by using surprise words to shock the readers through sudden and premature death of the retired government driver.
