Oral Poetry from Africa
A San lament from South Africa, sung by Xaa-ttin for the death of his friend the magician and rain maker Nuin-kui-ten. The halting rhythms of the English translation, and the image of the bow string which no longer vibrates, are perfectly expressive of grief. The song was originally recorded in the 1870s.
They were the people, those who
broke the string for me…
A Hausa praise poem (see also Rano and Bawa Jangarzo). Daura, one of the ancient Hausa kingdoms, suffered a succession dispute in 1806, leading to the creation of three separate states.
You boy, take heed of the groundnut that sprouts a second year!
The old one, he can make spells…
A Zulu song about a young migrant worker who has left home to seek jobs in Johannesburg and the search made by his siblings to find him.
We were sent by our parents
To search for our father’s child…
A ChiSena prayer to Chauta (God) from southern Malawi. The prayer is led by an elder, with the people responding in chorus.
Chauta we beseech you, we beseech you!
You have refused us rain, we beseech you!…
Another attack on the damaging effects of labour migrancy to South Africa. In this extract from a Tswana Praise Poem, the poet appeals movingly to Chief Molefi Kgafela, who ruled 1929–1936, to bring home all the young men and women from Cape Town, Natal, Johannesburg and Rustenburg.
Seek the strays, child of the Makuka,
Bring home the human strays…
