A new poem by Amore David Olamide, part lamentation, part evocation of the spirit of an ancestor to come forth from the grave.
Igbo biribiri, Okunkun biribiri
The commiserator of fallen trees…
Oral Poetry from Africa
Filed Under: Modern Poetry in Oral Manner
A new poem by Amore David Olamide, part lamentation, part evocation of the spirit of an ancestor to come forth from the grave.
Igbo biribiri, Okunkun biribiri
The commiserator of fallen trees…
Filed Under: Modern Poetry in Oral Manner
Filed Under: Poems of Gods & Ancestors
The annual Ọ̀ṣun-Òṣogbo Festival takes place in the capital city of Osun State in Nigeria and lasts fourteen days. The festival celebrates the discovery of the large river in Òṣogbo by Prince Ọlároóyè in the 18th century. Oba Ọlároóyè was a prince of the city-state Iléṣà, about 20 kilometers from Òṣogbo, who had led an exploratory expedition due to water-shortages in Iléṣà. Yorùbá mythology describes the expedition encountering a powerful goddess, Ọ̀ṣun, dwelling within the river who granted permission to these pioneers to settle near the river.
Aládékojú, I am calling on you
Hail My Beloved Mother Aládékojú…
Filed Under: Poems of Gods & Ancestors
The following Oríkì praising the Orisha Èṣù Ẹlégbára, is from Ayọdele Ogundipẹ’s comprehensive academic study, Èṣù Ẹlégbára: Chance, Uncertainty in Yorùbá Mythology. The poet is Mùtíù Adélékè, described as a forty-ish trader from Ile-Olunlọyọ in Ibadan state, Nigeria.
Leisurely, I will trail after you with music,
He who creates man and never forgets him.
I will follow you leisurely with music…
Filed Under: Modern Poetry in Oral Manner
Whilst the following poem by Samuel Olugbeminiyi principally concerns the Òrìṣà Ṣàngó, it is also a retelling of the most well-known myth about the Yorùbá goddess Ọba and her rivalry with the goddess Ọ̀ṣun for Ṣàngó’s affections.
Elempe’s people accorded Torosi’s son with native intelligence,
He was possessed with bits of four hundred deities…
Filed Under: Poems of Gods & Ancestors
Previous poems about Ògún, the Yorùbá god of blacksmiths, hunting and warfare, have praised this Òrìṣà as a terrible but necessary god. Terrible in that he is the personification of war, necessary in that he represents victory through conflict.
It is now high time for me to say as follows:
It is the god Ògún that I worship…
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