Examine the importance of the use of irony in the poem “The Dinning Table”.
The poem, “The Dinning Table” is shrouded in irony. Things appear to be going in the opposite direction. The dinner table for instance is supposed to be for palatable dishes but here, “it comes with gun wounds”. Their tongues that are dried from deprivation, rather than “sick” water to refresh instead lick the vegetable blood”. Again, it is commonplace to have playgrounds full of toys for children to have fun but in this case, the playgrounds are emptied of toys, and in their places, roadblocks are created. No wonder the poet asks rhetorically, “when the playground is emptied of children’s toys who needs roadblocks”?
Again, when it seems the time has come to enjoy the fullness of life, the disease takes away the shine.
“When the hour to drink from the cup of life ticks, cholera break its spell…”
Finally, the speaker promises to be a revolutionary but once again, he is inhibited by self, a big irony indeed.
“I promise to be a revolutionary, but my Nile…comes lazy upon its own Nile”. This goes to support the saying that the spirit is willing but the body is weak.