Song of Lawino and Song of Ocol

Frank Horley’s illustrations were first included in Song of Lawino’s 1966 English translation. What do these illustrations contribute to readers’ experience of the text, and why might they have been added for English-speaking readers?

As Heron notes in his introduction, Clementine is mentioned very early in the poem but ultimately disappears from the text. What effect does this disappearance have, and why do you think p’Bitek chose to move the poems’ focus away from Clementine?

Compare Song of Lawino and Song of Ocol with another major work of early African postcolonial literature, such as Things Fall Apart, A Dance of the Forests, or When Rain Clouds Gather. What themes do the two works share? How might cultural and political differences between their countries of origin inform differences between the two works?