Introduction
In the last unit, we discussed the narrative forms of oral literature. They are likened to prose form of written literature. In this unit you will learn more about the traditional poetic forms. The knowledge gained from this unit will help you not only in your studies but in your appreciation of the various types of poetry as you encounter them in real life at different traditional ceremonies.
3.1 Traditional Oral Poetry
Traditional Oral Poetry comprises performances in form of songs, chants or recitation in which the performer binds himself in advance to follow a certain regular rhythmic pattern. Under this we have folk songs which are songs with choric refrains in a call-and- answer-pattern. In most cases the song has alternating sole lines and verses that serve as the chorus or refrains. Some of them present coherent stories while some of them are just sung for entertainment. In Yoruba land, Ewi is a common term for poetry and it is sung at different occasions. So, there is the Ewi that is sung at weddings like the bridal poetry called Ekun Iyaw and Rara Iyawoo; the one for hunters is the Ijala; Oriki is for the praise of an individual, family and lineage; while the Iwi Egungun is for the Egungun masquerade and Orile for towns/race. Each poetic form has its own peculiar rhythm and occasion for rendition. They have professional poets who render poems to the accompaniment of music.
3.2 Musical Poetry
This is poetry in form of chant performed to the accompaniment of music. This includes various types of lyrical performances. The lyric is a short emotional poem in an expression of emotion which is composed to follow a particular rhythm. Here the word lyric is referred to in the modern sense as poetry which expresses intense emotion. There are two types of such of emotional expressions which are emotions of joy (rhapsody) and emotions of grief (elegy). Elegy is further divided into lament and dirge.
3.2.1. Lament:
This is personal elegy because it expresses personal grief without reference to any particular event. It could be about the tragic circumstances in the world at large or to other causes of grief in the individual’s personal life. The poet generally renders his laments ladened with philosophical statements. Laments are presented mostly when a person or group of people are oppressed or on cases of injustice.
3.2.2 Dirge/Elegy:
Is the type of elegy that is common at funeral/burial ceremonies and is usually musical. It also contains philosophical statements about the inevitability of death, the grief and other effects of death on the living.
3.2.3 Rhapsody
Rhapsody is the category of the musical type of joy. In this form of oral poetry the individual celebrates causes of happiness in his own personal life and in the world around him. It is a kind of chant usually common in minstrels. A man bursts into it when he is happy himself and the world. It expresses his sense of total well-being. It is also the kind of chants by maiden at moonlight plays and or at marriage ceremonies lullaby could also be categorized as rhapsody.
3.3 Invocative Poetry
This poetry addresses a second person in an attitude of veneration or respect. The addressee could be human, plants, animals or inanimate objects. This is one major category of invocative poetry that is found mainly all over Africa in form of praise. It comprises a series of praises or celebration of the achievement of the individual animal or objects. Also in the invocative poetry is the poetry of self-praise. Self praise poem as the name implies occurs in a situation where one sings his own praises while in the panegyric poetry accolades are lavished on the presumed deserved person/or animal/object. Here is an example of invocative poem from Yorubaland below:
Traditional Poetry
Salute to the Elephant
O elephant, possessor of a savings-basket full of money
O elephant, huge as a hill, even in a crouching posture.
O elephant, enfolded by honour; demon, flapping fans of war.
Demon who snaps tree branches into many pieces and moves on to the forest farm.
O elephant, who ignores “I have fled to my father for refuge”,
Let alone “to my mother”.
Mountainous Animal, Huge Beast who tears a man like a garment
And hangs him up on a tree.
The sight of whom causes people to stampede towards a hill of safety
My chant is a salute to the elephant.
Ajanaku who walks with a heavy tread.
Demon who swallows palm-fruit bunches whole, even with the spiky pistil-cells.
O elephant, praise named Laaye, massive animal, blackish-grey in complexion
O elephant, who single-handed causes a tremor in a dense tropical forest
O elephant, who stands sturdy and alert, who walks slowly as if reluctantly.
O elephant, whom one sees and points towards with all one’s fingers
The hunter’s boast at home is not repeated before the elephant.
Ajanaku looks back with difficulty like a person suffering from a sprained neck. The elephant has a porter’s-knot without having any load on his head.
The elephant’s head is his burden which he balances.
O elephant, pause named Laaye, “O death, please stop following me”
This is part and parcel of the elephant’s appellation.
If you wish to know he elephant, the elephant who is a veritable ferry-man
The elephant whom honour matches, the elephant who continually swings his trunk, His upper fly-switch,
It’s the elephant whose eyes are veritable water-jars
O elephant, the vagrant par excellence
Whose molar teeth are as wide as palm-oil pits in Ijesaland.
O elephant, lord of the forest, respectfully called Oriiribobo
O elephant whose teeth are like shafts
One tooth of his is a porter’s load, O elephant fondly called Otiko
Who has a beast-of-burden’s proper neck
O elephant, whom the hunter sometimes sees face to face
O elephant, whom the hunter at other times sees from the rear
Best who carries mortars and yet walks with a swaggering gait
Primeval leper, animal treading ponderously. (Translated by A. Babalola)
Self Assessment Exercise.
What qualities of invocation does this poem possess?
3.3.1 Self Praise
Praise poetry is in form of praises of another person and also a praises of oneself. The former is the panegyric treated below in 3.3.2. and the latter presents poems in praise of oneself. In it, the individual, or masquerade, chants own praise. This genre is found all over the country. In Awka for instance a masquerade like the Agaba, Okwomma or Idu praises itself with names that portray its prowess. For example, a masquerade refers to itself as “the dry meat that fills the mouth; the wind that that cannot be trapped” and many more. Some warriors or noblemen do the same thing sometimes. We find such also in Tess Onwueme’s The Reign of Wazobia the Regent praises herself as “ … the masquerade /Who dances the hot steps of the new day,
The finger that laps the soup when it is hottest…”(130). Also in Yoruba land, there is an Oriki in which the individual praises himself as we find below
Emini Akinmogun ma sa
Arija ma sojo
Apogun pote
Apote pogun
Ogbagba agbote mole gba, gba, gba a
Anjounu eyan ti o nsun nile,
Ti o fun nba ara re leru (from Dr. Olu Akeusola, the Otunba Akinrogun 1 of Oni Land).
The translation:
I am Akinrogun, the royal warrior that can never refrain from war
That can never be intimidated by any conflict
That crushes wars and uprisings 2cc
He who wields the sledgehammer that destroys confrontation completely. A spirit-like person that sleeps at home and is afraid of himself.
3.3.2 Panegyric
In the traditional Nigerian societies, especially among the Hausas and Yorubas, the royal courts that flourished were characterized by wealth, power and pleasure. Poets were part of the court retinues and their main specialty in poetry rendition was panegyric as they compose elaborate praise poems to eulogize their kings and other noblemen. Apart from royal households, the Oriki in Yoruba landis used to praise an individual, a family or a lineage. Poets who specialize in them render them as the occasion demands. In the Oriki, The individual is praised with accolades and his ancestry is traced. Each family has an Oriki and each community has its own oriki too. According to O. A Adewale, he has two versions of individual Oriki, In his father’ lineage, his Oriki starts with “son of an Elephant”. The elephant here symbolizes wealth, majesty/royalty. In the one from his mother’s side, he is addressed as Son of a lion which depicts bravery and fearlessness. The Oriki has an ability to intoxicate the addressee. This intoxication is seen as some people as possession. This is because sometimes when the praises is being rendered the addressee may be carried away by the accolades that he give out more that is expected to the poet. Some panegyric poems could be classified as heroic poems when they recount the exploits of heroic deeds of an individual, gods, families or communities
3.4 Didactic
This form of poetry teaches moral, spiritual and philosophical lessons. It offers advice or provides moral instruction on the moral codes of the society. It teaches mainly the young ones on how to comport themselves and how to be responsible citizens of the society.
3.5 Narrative
This includes the epics, it is a specie of heroic narrative poetry which celebrates the achievements of a hero. Usually, the epic presents the emergence of an individual as a champion in the society against the background of evil in the society. History is celebrated in another category of narrative poetry. In this kind of narrative poetry, the major character is that community itself. Other characters are a galaxy of personalities associated with the development of the community. This is called historical narratives.
There is also the mythological verses which recount myths. Myth as seen in unit one, is specific account concerning gods or super-human beings and extra-ordinary events or circumstances in a time that is altogether different from that of ordinary human experience. Every myth presents itself as authoritative, always an account of facts, no matter how completely different they may be from the ordinary world. Myth occurs in the history of all human traditions and communities and is a basic constituent of human culture. This poetry that presents exclusively one aspect or another of the peoples myth may be described as mythological poetry e.g. The Fulani myth of creation tells how the world was created from a drop of milk.
The Fulani Creation Story
At the beginning there was a huge drop of milk.
Then Doondari came and he created the stone.
Then the stone created iron;
And fire created fire;
And fire created water;
And water created air.
Then Doondari descended the second time.
And he took the five elements
And he shaped them into man
But man was proud.
Then Doondari created blindness, and blindness defeated man
But when blindness became too proud,
Doondari created worry, and worry defeated sleep;
But when worry became too proud,
Doondari descended for the third time,
And he came as Gueno, the eternal one.
And Gueno defeated death.
3.7 Ritual Poetry
This comprises of recitations and speech forms is verse that are spoken chanted or recited in magical or religious contexts. They include all kinds of prayers, divination chants, oracle chants, curses or malediction chants, and incantations by magicians. A good example is presented below:
Breaking Kolanut
God the Creator
Who lives on high
And his eyes cover the whole ground
Who lives under the ground
And no dirt soils him;
Who lives in the waters
And is dry;
Who moves with the winds
The wind is never seen by eyes –
And yet air is everywhere,
I come with greetings
And with pleadings!
GOD THE TRYST MAKER
Who makes tryst with men,
Makes appointments with them
Where and when he pleases,
And they cannot escape!
God who creates and who destroys
Who beats up human beings
And consoles them;
Crushes them and remains their friend;
Who brings and who takes away,
And who creates
Before the created knows,
At down we open our doors and our mouths,
At night we close our doors
But not our minds!
It is KOLA I bring!
It’s all I can offer!
A little baby
Can only hold its mother
As far as its hands can go!
KOLA is small
And yet is big!
Like the sacrificial food,
It is more important that it goes round
Than that it fills the stomach
Our fathers’ fathers
And their fathers before them –
All our ancestors –
Saw all the fruits of the land
But thy chose kola
As the prime substance for hospitality
And for offerings:
What an old man lying down has seen,
Has the young man ever seen better
Though he perches on the highest tree?
Of all food on earth,
Only kola
Is not cooked by water and fire
But by spoken word!
The rich can afford it! And the poor can afford it;
And kola is the biggest offering
Men bring to you GREAT GOD
To whom the swallower of what swallows an elephant
And with an hippopotamus tucked into its mouth
And palmyra as chewing stick,
Whistles freely,
Is smaller than spittle!
It is not that kola
Is the sweetest food on earth,
Or that it fills the stomach fastest;
But it’s only with kola
That we pray for life.
And whoever brings kola
Brings life,
And brings health,
And brings prosperity,
And brings peace,
And children,
And what we shall feed them with!
For it’s YOU, God
Who brings kola
And ordains its manner of breaking.
The KOLA
Is like a mound in the middle of the arena,
On which we stand and speak in the assembly
Of people, and of spirits,
And our ancestors,
And YOU Great God
The TRYST MAKER,
And the words reach the ears they’re made for!
So our fathers’ fathers’ fathers
Hear my voice!
God hear my voice!
I am a little innocent child who washes his stomach only!
But your eyes see me
And you can judge;
If I’ve ever touched the wife of a relation
Or seen the nakedness of a sister;
If I’ve ever stolen what belongs to any human being
Or oppressed a widow or cheated an orphan;
Or borne false witness, or spoken calumny;
If I’ve killed any human being
With knife or spear,
Or arrow or rope,
Or poison or witch-craft,
If I‘ve done any of these things,
May this our land
And the Mother Earth EAT ME!
But if none of these is my guilt
And my fellow-man would afflict me
Because of anger of the heart or anger of the eye,
Then let whoever comes to kill me
KILL HIMSELF!
Anybody who says he must see me and my household
With evil eyes
Let his eyes perish in the seeing!
Any person who says an innocent house-hold
May not sleep
Make him roost with the chicken
I pray for the good of the people in the bush,
And the good of those at home;
For the good of those in the hills
And the good of those in the valleys;
For the good of those at work
And for the good of those at play,
But if a man I can standby does not standby me
Let what kills traitors kill him
If a spirit I can vouch for does not vouch for me
Let what kills spirits killit.
If anybody would bring poison into this house
Let his polluted hand enter his mouth!
Let no guest bring evil to his host;
On his departure
May no hunch grow on his back.
Let a rat not dare to eat the bag of a medicine-man
And let the medicine-man not dare curse the rat.
It is said that an innocent man,
Guiltless of any sin big or small
Crosses the waters on a piece of calabash;
That it’s with a snail’s good tongue
That the snail moves over thorns.
So I’II keep clean my hands;
You will defend me from cows:
A man cannot wrestle with a cow.
If I must suffer for my offences
It is just;
If for the guilt of my children
I’II bear it –
The mouth speaks what earns the jaw a slap.
A man’s head shakes the ant’s nest.
His trunk suffers for it.
What is good is what we want.
I have not asked you to give that to me only:
Eating everything alone is bad eating!
If the kite perches,
Whichever denies the other the right to perch.
May its wings break.
GOD
May we never be in need and find no helper.
A man who has friends is greater than a wealthy man!
Give our wives fruitfulness –
One blow, one fall.
Give us children
And give us the means to feed them.
Let any of us or our children
Who goes out to work
Come back
With plenty of money,
And come back safe.
Let any weed that brushes us
On our departure
Brush against us on our return –
It is not an evil weed.
When we are at the back,
Let evil be in front;
And when we are in front
Let evil be behind
Let no illness come
And let no doctor cure.
Let no one be ill
And let no one heal.
But I have not spoken and it is final
You have the yam;
And YOU have the knife.
To whomsoever you give
And in whatever measure, he will eat!...
I break the KOLA NUT
(Traditional Poetry from the Igbo by Lawrence Emeka)
3.7 Casual Poetry
These are poetry of incidental and non-serious type found in various situations in social relationships. A good example is greetings to welcome the new moon, as is seen in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart. Some of the casual poems are found in the hawker’s song used to sell merchandise and many others.
4.0 Conclusion
In the traditional communities songs are rendered virtually at every occasion especially during festivities festivals and ceremonies. These songs are poems and they permeate every aspect of the Nigerian life and culture. They derive their names from the different occasions during which they are performed. The poems are presented appropriately to suit each occasion. A dirge for instance cannot be rendered during a wedding ceremony. The composer in the traditional society is aware of this fact and composes appropriately.
5.0 Summary
This unit has introduced you to oral traditional poetry. You have also learnt the different forms of poetry and occasions they derive from. You have learnt too that some of the traditional songs you are familiar with are forms of poetry. You will now be able to classify and appreciate them appropriately.
6.0 Tutor Marked Assignment
List five types of oral poetry and the occasions where they will be performed appropriately.
7.0 References/Further Reading
Chukwuma, Helen (1994) Igbo Oral Literature: Theory and Tradition. Abak: Belpot.
Finnegan, Ruth (1977) Oral Literature in Africa Kenya: Oxford University Press.
Senanu K. E, and T. Vincent (ed) (1988). A Selection of African Poetry (New Edition).
Harlow Essex: Longman.
Onwueme, Tess (1993) Three Plays: The Broken Calabash, Parables for a Season, The
Reign of Wazobia. Detroit: Wayne State University Press
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