Oral Poetry from Africa
An extract from a Kanuri Praise-Poem from the ancient Bornu kingdom of northern Nigeria. The Yerima was an official responsible for the defence and general administration of the northern part of the Bornu kingdom and was invariably the grandson of a Sultan.
The Yerima is like a prancing horse whose legs are not hobbled,
Like a camel which wanders where it will without a halter…
An extract from a Yorùbá praise-poem from Nigeria. According to legend, Olu Oje was one of the first kings of the ancient Yorùbá city of Ilé-Ifẹ̀.
Offspring of Layimese who was invited to assume a chieftaincy title,
Because of a chieftaincy title he went to Oje…
The opening lines of a long Praise-Poem from Lesotho in praise of Moshoeshoe, the founder of the Sotho nation. Today the Kingdom of Lesotho is a landlocked country surrounded by South Africa.
You who are fond of praising the ancestors,
Your praises are poor when you leave out the warrior…
A song from the Gurage people of Ethiopia. Like Warga, Son of Qariso, this poem is in part an appeal to the successful man to share his wealth.
O cultivator, how great is your merit!
Wealth flows from your fingers…
This Shona Praise-Poem from Zimbabwe praises two women, the speaker’s mother-in-law and his wife, and criticises a third woman, his friend’s wife, for her laziness and unattractiveness. It belongs to the context of a beer party at which two friends, joined in the special joking relationship of ushamwari, are having a mock argument, each trying to outdo the other in eloquence.
The mother of my wife has guardian spirits like to mine.
On seeing me, she will give me her whole barn.
An extract from a Shona Praise-Poem from Zimbabwe, the clan praise of Chihota’s clan. For Chilota’s people the zebra is a symbol, and the sparkling description of the zebra is a metaphor for the qualities of the clan.
Thank you, Zebra,
Adorned with your own stripes
