Oral Poetry from Africa
A Kamba lullaby from Kenya for singing babies to sleep. The singer calls her child ‘Mama’ as a form of endearment by which a child is addressed as a parent.
Mama, child’s mother, don’t cry like a poor person.
You have come to me, you are crying more than I used to…
A Kamba girls’ song from Kenya, danced at weddings when the bride is being escorted to her new home. The singer, little Kitanga, tells the bride Mulau and all her friends that it is time to stop grieving over Mulau’s departure.
Change heart,
we have wept enough over losing you, ee you!
