Oral Poetry from Africa
An extract from a Yorùbá praise-poem from Nigeria. According to legend, Olu Oje was one of the first kings of the ancient Yorùbá city of Ilé-Ifẹ̀.
Offspring of Layimese who was invited to assume a chieftaincy title,
Because of a chieftaincy title he went to Oje…
An improvised recitation sung by a Yorùbá bride as she is escorted by musicians and relatives to her husband’s house. She speaks her mind about all the hopes and concerns that she has, whilst drummers announce her arrival.
Those who stand-let them stand well.
Those who stop-let them stoop well…
A Yorùbá funeral poem from Nigeria. Within a few lines the poem evokes the weight of bereavement, and contrasts the reverence in which some deaths are held with the unsentimentality of others.
I cannot carry it
I cannot carry it…
A collection of Yorùbá Oríkì (praise poems) for the Òrìṣà Ògún. Some of these were included in a previous post, but are included again here to illustrate how different Oríkì could be recombined in performance.
Ogun kills on the right and destroys on the right.
Ogun kills on the left and destroys on the left…
Ulli Beier describes Alajire as a manifestation of the Òrìṣà, Ṣọ̀pọ̀na, who is more commonly known as Ọbalúayé or Babalú-Ayé. This Òrìṣà is associated with suffering and diseases such as smallpox, leprosy and AIDS.
Alajire, we ask you to be patient,
you are very quick-tempered
Oshun, or Ọ̀ṣun in Yorùbá, is an Òrìṣà goddess associated with rivers and the marketplace. Medicines for fertility, wealth, love and intimacy are often attributed to her.
Brass and parrot feathers
on a velvet skin.
