From: Song of Lawino by Okot p'Bitek Briefly explain what the poem is about. In what ways are people helpless when death comes calling? Identify and explain the irony in the poem.

Here are the answers to your questions based on the poem excerpt:

• a) The poem is about a metaphorical invitation, likely to death or an inevitable end, presented as an enticing and irresistible offer. The speaker, addressing "my only child," uses the imagery of a desirable traditional meal to mask the true, grim nature of the call.

• b) People are helpless when death comes calling because it is an inevitable and universal force that cannot be resisted or escaped. The poem emphasizes this by portraying death's call as an "irresistible" offer, implying that all must eventually succumb to it without choice.

• c) The irony in the poem is situational irony. Death, which is universally feared and resisted, is presented as an enticing and irresistible invitation. The pleasant imagery of a desirable meal ("white-ants' paste mixed with shea-butter") and the rhetorical question "And who can resist that?" create a stark contrast with the grim reality of death, making its portrayal as something one cannot refuse deeply ironic.