I Will Pronounce Your Name by Leopold Sédar Senghor,

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I will pronounce your name, Naëtt, I will declaim you, Naëtt!

Naëtt, your name is mild like cinnamon, it is the fragrance in which the lemon grove sleeps,

Naëtt, your name is the sugared clarity of blooming coffee trees

And it resembles the savannah, that blossoms forth under the

masculine ardour of the midday sun.

Name of dew, fresher than shadows of tamarind,

Fresher even than the short dusk, when the heat of the day is

silenced.

Naëtt, that is the dry tornado, the hard clasp of lightning

Naëtt, coin of gold, shining coal, you my night, my sun!…

I am your hero, and now I have become your sorcerer, in order to

pronounce your names.

Princess of Elissa, banished from Futa on the fateful day.