THE CLASSICAL AND TWENTIETH-CENTURY POETICS IN NIYI OSUNDARE’S MOONSONGS AND THE WORD IS AN EGG

ABSTRACT : Existing studies on Osundare’s Moonsongs and The Word Is an Egg dwell predominantly on the social relevance of the works in line with the poet’s vision that writers should deploy their art in the service of society. Not much has been accomplished in subjecting the texts to a hermeneutic appraisal from the perspectives of the Classical as well as some 20th century poetics, particularly postmodernism. This is the thrust of this study which examines Osundare’s Moonsongs and The Word Is an Egg from the Greco-Classical, Romantic, as well as some twentieth century poetics. The research is a qualitative one and adopts the interpretive design. The study adopts Stylistics as its analytical framework. The study finds that the poet’s two collections align with the Aristotelian concepts of mimesis and rhetoric. The works conform to the Classical notion of sublimity which harps on the imperative of a socially elevating art. The works also align with the dictates of Romanticism which emphasises imagination and emotional spontaneity as the fulcrum of an impacting art. The study argues that Osundare’s poetry demonstrates a creative synthesis of classical aesthetic principles and twentieth-century poetic experimentation, reflecting his commitment to artistic innovation, cultural identity, and social engagement. The study concludes that Moonsongs and The Word Is an Egg reveal Osundare’s distinctive poetic vision, through which inherited literary conventions are transformed into dynamic instruments of contemporary expression.

KEYWORDS: Greco-Classical, Romanticism, Hermeneutics, Rhetoric, Mimesis