- Vanity is a poem by Birago Diop
- Birago Diop is a cultural inclined poet
- The following poems of his_ Vanity, Breath, etc. are prove of his love for African customs and norms. He was a Senegalese poet of African folktales and folklores who lived between 11 December 1906 and 25 November 1989. Till this day, his name has never been undermined when mentioning the pioneer figures of the Négritude literary movement.
- We have the theme of African cultural decadence. The message of the poet shows that African are no longer following the valuable paths of their ancestral living which happens to be the only way African culture can remain intact.
- The theme of irreversibility: The title and the chosen words of the poet through his pessimist tone, show that the deed is done and will never be undone. He claimed that even his lamentation will go in vain because their “ears were deaf” and they were also “blind deaf and unworthy Sons”.
- The theme of death and punishment: In the poem Vanity by Birago Diop, the word “Dead” appeared more than once and in the forth stanza it was used as a symbol to symbolise the ancestors. It shows the importance of ancestral believe in Africa. Dead in the poem, if keenly examined symbolized punishment. Other signs of punishment in the poem are the mentioned act of crying and clamouring seen in the poem which shows the unwholesomeness that exists within the African society.
