An Igbo prayer from eastern Nigeria. The names invoked, Agu, Okaibe, Ogbaugu and Ezenna, are the elder’s ancestors, to whom the kola nuts and the prayer are being offered.
Agu, my father, come:
Take kola and chew…
Oral Poetry from Africa
Filed Under: Poems of Gods & Ancestors
An Igbo prayer from eastern Nigeria. The names invoked, Agu, Okaibe, Ogbaugu and Ezenna, are the elder’s ancestors, to whom the kola nuts and the prayer are being offered.
Agu, my father, come:
Take kola and chew…
Filed Under: Praise-Poems
Filed Under: Praise-Poems
A Hausa praise poem (see also Rano), Bawa Jangwarzo was ruler (1777–1795) of Gobir, one of the seven original Hausa kingdoms. He is chiefly remembered today for sponsoring Usman dan Fodio (1754–1817), the Islamic reformer, who encouraged literacy and scholarship for both men and women, and who, after his expulsion from Gobir by Bawa’s successor, founded the city-state of Sokoto.
Causer of terror, chief of iron ore,
Son of Alasan, owner of the drum…
Filed Under: Protest & Satirical Poems
A Hausa example of something that happens across West Africa, but is not often recorded. A singer accosts a prominent person in public, in this case a merchant, and begins praising him. But the praises are ambiguous, and unless the singer is rewarded, they slip into savage satire.
There is no god but Allah,
this is the praise of Allah…
Filed Under: Poems of Gods & Ancestors
A Yorùbá Iwi poem from Nigeria. In a series of proverb-like metaphors, the poem comments on the advantages of variety in life.
Why do we grumble because a tree is bent
When, in our streets, there are even men who are bent?…
Filed Under: Praise-Poems
A Yorùbá Ìjálá (hunter’s poem) from Nigeria (see also Hunters’ Salutes). The poem describes vividly the buffalo’s attributes of speed and terrifying strength.
Buffalo, we salute you:
Butterfly of the savannah…
This site opens a window on something that will be new to most people, namely, the vast amount of superb poetry hidden away in the 3000 different languages spoken in Africa … More