Oral Poetry from Africa
The nineteenth century Swahili poet Sheik Abdallah (d. 1820), wrote a poem called ‘Song of Liyongo’, in five-line stanzas, and are probably the oldest ‘text’ presented on this website.
Oh! much, much, I begin with many,
as well as going forward to finish,
child of good things…
A Nandi children’s song from Kenya, a humorous word-chain that links together all aspects of the children’s future life.
Who will throw goat’s dung at me?
What will you do with goat’s dung?..
A song from the Kipsigis people of the Kericho highlands in south-west Kenya, celebrating the beauty of the landscape. The description is almost entirely in terms of the singer’s cattle and of the scene’s colours.
We live at the field of Kagipsirich,
We live where the calf, the calf plays with the calabash…
An Embu pounding song from north eastern Kenya, close to Mount Kenya. Pounding songs are sung by women using mortar and pestle to pound grain to flour, the thud of the pestle providing the songs’ rhythm (see also Pounding Songs). In this poem the singer pounds malted-millet grain to be made into millet beer for her husband, Mwaniki.
Let me pound beer, pound it for Mwaniki:
He is the one who drinks dilute beer…
A song from the Embu region of Kenya, sung by women at work on their farms.
Ululate for me, my time for going home is not yet,
I shall go home as the sun sets…
Two separate prayers of the Nandi people, who live in the highlands at the edge of the Great Rift Valley in Kenya. These are songs that would be recited at dawn to Asista, the Sun god, along with offerings of beer and milk.
Asista, give us health!
Asista, give us raided cattle!..
