Oral Poetry from Africa
The following love poems are very different from the Shona poems previously posted on this site. These are erotic love poems sung only in the bedroom, by husband and wife.
Thank you, you of the girdle at the delicate place!
Well done, Zebra!
Hail you, The Giver of consent!
Thank you, Ms-giver-by-the-gourd!..
A previous Shona clan praise published here was of the Shumba Murambwi, whose totem is the lion. The following clan praise is of the Tembo-Shumba, the “Zebra-Lion”, a mythical totem animal that serves as the emblem of the Mutasa people, whose homestead is Manyikaland in eastern Zimbabwe.
Thank you, Zebra.
Thank you Chiwara,
Hornless beast of the wilderness,
The Well Dressed One…
A Shona song, sung by women to accompany the stamping or pounding of maize into flour (see also Pounding Songs).
You who are at the men’s meeting place,
The amount of sadza in the hand should be fine…
One variety of praise poetry common across Africa are praises for one’s own clan. The Shumba Murambwi praise poem celebrates the ancestors and lineage of a Shona clan from Zimbabwe. Whilst recorded by Hodza in 1985, many of the allusions to events, personages and places within this poem are provided by Alec Pongweni from his fascinating book The Oral Traditions of the Shona People of Zimbabwe.
Thank you, The Rejected One
Thank you, the Lion…
A prayer to Mwari (God) and the ancestors at a time of drought among the Zezuru, one of the groups making up the Shona people of southern and south-eastern Zimbabwe.
Tovela, our great father,
We have a petition for rain…
Another version of the praises of the Shava clan of the Shona people of Zimbabwe (see also Thank You, Shava). Clan Praises are addressed not to specific kings as in the Zulu tradition, but to the whole lineage. At the heart of the praise is the totem associated with the clan, in this case the Eland. Museyamwa is one of the dynasties within the clan.
Thank you, my Support!
Thank you eland, my dear tawny one…
