Christopher Okigbo, known by critics and contemporaries as a "poet of destiny," espoused the romantic notion of poetry that the poet "is no ordinary mortal but a divinely inspired artist, a possessed performer through whom hidden truths of the spirit are revealed and through whose influence mankind undergoes regeneration and spiritual rebirth. The poet, in the romantic tradition, functions severally as priest, prophet, and legislator for mankind, as a man speaking to other men with a voice of moral authority strengthened by heightened sensibility. He is a man imbued with an understanding and suffering soul, a kind of a god."
"Christopher Okigbo conceived of his poetic career in these serious and responsible terms." Perhaps that is why Soyinka wished for him a kinder existence. Okigbo spent his life tormenting over the problems within his society and trying to solve them. Through his poetry, he tried to convey those visions.
Obiechina, Emmanuel N. Language and Theme. 1990. Pp. 207-09.
