Abstract
This paper critically examines the metaphor of the minstrel
and the muse using selected verses from Tanure Ojaides’s The Beauty I Have
Seen. The unravelling of this metaphor opens up the poetry as nothing short of
a beautiful interplay between the minstrel and the muse. There is perhaps no other
literary work in the history of modern Nigerian poetry tradition where the
relationship between the minstrel and muse has been so profoundly explored. The
poetics so espoused in the poetry permeates the subconscious of the reader who
is almost transformed into the minstrel who must obey the dictates of the muse
if good art must be produced. This is why the use of the theory of
Psychoanalysis is central to the work. The metaphor of the minstrel and the
muse does not just dawn on the reader at first read. It is reinforced in
virtually every verse in the first part of the trilogy. The minstrel is the
poet whose excellence in art depends on his compliance and communion with a
certain divine inspiration, or muse. Key findings of the work are hinged on the
fact that the metaphor of the minstrel and muse should be appreciated by an
artist all the time. Also, a young artist must be sensitive to the dictates of
the muse if he must produce art that is compelling and sublime.
Keywords: metaphor, minstrel, muse, poetry, poetics, Psychoanalysis.
DOI: www.doi.org/10.36349/tjllc.2024.v03i01.010
author/Ugochukwu, O.I. & Agada, A.A.
journal/Tasambo JLLC | 15 February 2024 | Article 10
