It is like a 100-year-old wine just released from the cellar, our rave reviewer, John Chukwuma Ajakah, writes

Renowned poet and prolific writer, John Pepper Clark, Professor Emeritus, recently presented his latest collection of poems, Remains of a Tide, at a public launch held at the University of Lagos. Remains of a Tide, published by Mosuro Publishers Ltd comes as a surprise addition to Full Tide and a maze of other poems churned out by the erudite scholar in a blissful writing career that spans over five decades. Remains of a Tide is a continuation of the wordsmith’s tales of a metaphorical ‘Tide’ that transcends geographical, socio-economic and political boundaries. The poems harp on the vicissitudes of life at personal, family, communal, national and global levels. They cover a wide range of subjects such as birth, life, relationships – as in marriage and friendship, struggles, aging and death. Some of the poems reveal that the octogenarian, while reflecting on personal experiences and the vicissitudes of life, is abreast with current affairs.

*Prof. Wole Soyinka, (2nd left), Prof. J P Clark,(2nd right), author of the book and Prof. Hope Eghagha, (right) with students and staff of Faculty of Arts, University of Lagos during the book presentation by Prof. JP Clark, titled ‘Remains of a Tide’

Thematic Preoccupations

The themes of the poems in this anthology are diverse. Each poem has a distinct message embedded in its content. For instance, The Demolition of JK Randle Hall, Onikan reveals the theme of ‘insensitivity and recklessness’ as exhibited by the government and public office holders. The poem, A Father’s Submission expresses the themes of family life, abject poverty, frustration and indiscipline, while The Excuse portrays love, retributive justice, murder and marriage. The inevitability of death is presented in the poem, The Condition.

In US Exits the World, subtitled, The Donald Trump Show, the poet decries racism, with emphasis on the role America plays in international politics.

Structure

Remains of a Tide contains 45 poems of varying lengths and forms. The poems are arranged in four segments with subject matters ranging from traditional to contemporary phenomena. The shortest verse, None Apart contains four lines while the longest, Going to Ogobiri is made up of 150 lines and five stanzas. Satyr to Siren has six stanzas of short and unequal lines. The other poems – even the relatively long ones, have single stanzas. The uniqueness of each poem also reflects in the use of diverse poetic devices to depict the over-riding themes. The preponderance of narrative poems in the anthology however, indicates unity of purpose especially in terms of the poet’s attitude to each subject matter. As a master artist, Clark crafts his art and thrusts the final piece to the purview of the public for discerning minds to appraise.

Poetic Devices

JP Clark deploys diverse techniques to convey his message through a persona, whose mood in each poem depicts the predominant disposition towards a given phenomenon. Imagery is a dominant device in most of the poems. Each verse is crafted with images expressing themes, cultural ideation, metaphors, symbolism, time, age, the poet’s community, etc. The dominant images include tree, creek, root, rivers, tide, canoe, weeds, earth, pipes, drums, seed, iroko tree, bird, sun, home, kola-nut, old age, school, white river, ducks and drakes. In terms of diction, the language is relatively simple. However, the poet’s penchant for elevated language and economy of words complicates his diction for the average reader who has inadequate knowledge of poetry. For instance, ‘tree’ is repeatedly used as a metaphor for persons in poems like A Tree Bigger than the Iroko.

Types of Poems

The anthology encompasses diverse kinds of poems. The predominant type is narrative poem. Others include odes, elegy, free verse, closed couplet, lyrical and didactic poems. The odes reveal the poet’s commitment to relationships. They are in praise of persons he celebrates for either a heroic deed or commendable character trait as in ‘A Trio’ (celebrating Aduke Alakija and the Rhodes sisters, Olga and Gloria), A Tree Bigger than the Iroko (for Michael Ibru), Witness of Truth (for Itse Sagay), A Medical Report (for Sam Okudu) and The Message from Boro (for Sam Amuka). There are also myths like The Ferryman’s Story and A Police Record (p.68 and 69).

For conclusion, Remains of a tide is like a 100-year-old wine just released from the cellar: the older, the better!

The Book Presentation

While presenting the anthology to the audience which included literary icons like Prof. Wole Soyinka (Nobel laureate) and Femi Osofisan, the CEO of Mosuro Publishers, Dr Kolade Mosuro commended the author saying, “JP Clark has dedicated himself fully and totally to the Arts. At his age, he continues to write. He brings a new age to Nigerian poetry. When we presented his collection, Full Tide seven years ago, I thought he was rounding up. Since then, he has done a full collection of poems. As we celebrate JP today, something tells me that he still has work to do. I won’t be surprised if he calls soon to say he is working on another manuscript. He is able to do this because of his fecundity of mind. The tide is not about to ebb.”

Veteran broadcaster, Julie Coker, described JP Clark as ‘a literary figure that has withstood the test of time, an asset and inspiration. He has left a legacy for younger generation of writers and the literary world. He writes on every aspect of life – global and contemporary issues – not just about his own culture.”

Chairman of the occasion, the Vice-Chancellor, University of Lagos, Professor O.T. Ogundipe represented by the Head of English Department, Professor Hope Eghagha, described the author as “a literary icon in African Literature that deserves to be celebrated,” adding; “It’s a landmark achievement that at about 85, Professor Clark comes out with such profound collection of poems.”

Five students of the Department of English took turns to recite selected poems from the anthology. The sales session commenced with the publisher, Dr Kolade Mosuro announcing the selling price of N1, 000 per copy and requesting that students be assisted. Chief Oscar Ibru bought 250 copies of the book and donated 200 to students. Tony Echiejine also purchased 100 copies for students. Professor J.P. Clark autographed the individual copies.