The Mask Diction/Sensitivity: An Analysis of Selected Poems from The Outcast

Abstract

The mask is a covering for the face and/or making a replica of it. It is a pristine human phenomenon, the product of human’s spirit and artistry. It was at the core of the “early man’s” apprehension of life and its imponderable that is still used in the present. Its use is also in the mind and this has been subjected to writing especially in the diction of poetry, and is still intrinsic to modern humanity’s expression of day to day realities and impulses. This paper examines and explains Osaro et al’s sensitivity to the mask. It analyses the ways in which the poets exploit in a volcano of voices, the image of the mask to make social, cultural, political, artistic, oil exploration and exploitation statements in their entire poetic oeuvre. They aptly condemn and vehemently query the predators of the Niger Delta.