Oral Poetry from Africa
The Nigerian politician, poet and journalist Dennis Chukude Osadebay translated this Ibo poem for the journal African Affairs in 1949. The lighthearted tale of an orphan boy is described by D.C. Osadebay as being several centuries old.
O Lamb give me my salt,
Salt the market folks gave me…
Kambili is a Mandinka epic poem of the Wasulu hunters of Mali. The poem concerns a heroic hunter, Kambili, and it is set during the reign of the Imam Samori Toure in the 19th century.
Kambili the hunter spoke out,
“My Father, Kanji, he said: “Yes?” the reply…
An Ambo song, for men out in the bush hunting game. The Ambo are a tiny group in northern Zambia, numbering less than 3,500, and speaking a language related to Bisa. The father tells his son that the hunt is taking them too far for him to accompany them.
A little child has cried:
I’ll go with you, father…
An Acoli prayer from Uganda. We hear the words of a hunter perparing for the hunt and praying that his spear will be adequate.
The spear with the hard point,
Let it split the granite rock…
