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Swahili Poems
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10187 |
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Section : |
CULTURE
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8 / 1986 |
3,794 Words |
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Foreword and translations by Lyndon Harries
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It is difficult to estimate the output of poems written at the present time in the traditional manner, not least because they are private property meant for private use and are handwritten. There is, however, a considerable output of Swahili rhymed verses appearing regularly in roman script in the vernacular press. In papers like Mambo Leo, the omission of this regular feature would arouse strong protests from many readers who are not themselves Swahilis. Even though the demand for space for Swahili articles on contemporary subjects is a very pressing one, Swahili poetry maintains an entrenched position in the popular press, especially in Tanganyika.
The verse appearing in roman script in the vernacular press is not usually of such a high standard as poems written in the Swahili-Arabic script, but at least it shows a strong desire to retain the tradition of verse composition that the Swahilis have practiced for at least 300 years. Basically, the tradition is Arabian. It is well known that the Swahili people have incorporated into their way of life much that is of Arabian origin. The first attempts to paraphrase an Arabic poem into Swahili were made for reasons not exclusively literary. The Arabian, and therefore the Islamic content of Swahili life, has always been for the Swahilis a matter of prestige. The true Swahilis of the coast prefer, in fact, to be known as Arabs. Verse composition after the Arabian pattern involved the question of pride in Swahili origins; it revealed knowledge of Arabian life and of Islam, a sure guarantee for the highest prestige among the Swahili people.
It is true that versification in Swahili is practiced today in roman script by many who cannot claim Swahili blood, but usually they are Muslims. Religion is the bond that gives them the right to share a medium of expression that has its origin in Islam. It is not religious verse that they write for the popular press, but the medium employed indicates familiarity with the Swahili way of life, which is fundamentally Islamic.
This wider modern practice of Swahili versification has led to a departure from its earlier intention - to express the spirit and the practice of Islam. Today the medium is employed for more secular ends. Any news item may be the subject of a few verses, but this is in the tradition established during the nineteenth century by writers like Muyaka bin Haji of Mombasa, who brought poetry out of the mosque and into the marketplace.
In this article we only reproduce poetry written around the end of the nineteenth century. Modern Swahili poetry requires separate presentation.
It would be wrong to attempt an assessment only from a study of the texts provided here. Many of the poems were meant to be sung or intoned and have a social and religious value that the bare texts may not reveal. Poems of the nineteenth century were often written to suit an immediate historical situation. It may be that even after the most diligent investigation we cannot recapture the exact implication of a verse because we may not be able to reconstruct the exact situation. There are hundreds of short Swahili poems in the Library of the School of Oriental and African Studies in London which still defy interpretation partly because no one is able to provide the context in which the poem was written.
The early poems were written as much for the eye as
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