Oral Poetry from Africa
In October 1944, a company which came to be called Arrozal was awarded (by the Rice Propaganda Division) the rice concession for the lower Zambesi valley in colonial Mozambique. This granted the concession-holder, a man called Ruy Pereira de Lima, the right to levy four sacks from every adult woman in the area, paying them one-third of the market value…
Palm wine is an alcoholic beverage created from the sap of various species of palm tree. This is a popular Yorùbá song in praise of the drink.
Alimotu of the gourd
Lamihun in the fibrous clump…
Another Yorùbá funeral song from Nigeria. (See also the poem ‘Slowly the Muddy Pool Becomes a River’).
The hunter dies
and leaves his poverty to his gun…
Another set of praises for the Òrìṣà Ògún. Ògún is one of the most popular Òrìṣà, both in Nigeria and across the Caribbean and the Americas. Known as the god of hunting, iron and warfare Ògún is both a violent destroyer and a heroic leader who delivers strength and justice to society.
Now I will chant a salute to my Ogun:
O Belligerent One, you are not cruel…
