Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Chronology
- Photographic Section
- Introduction: Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o: Reflections on His Life of Writing
- Ngũgĩ at Work
- Part I Serenades & Beginnings
- 1 Hyperbolic Praise Poetry for Ngũgĩ @80 … In Imitation of African Orature
- 2 A Song at Dawn (for Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o)
- 3 Ngũgĩ in Eritrea
- 4 Up From Makerere: On the Publication of Weep Not, Child
- 5 Encountering Ngũgĩ at Leeds: An Interview with Peter Nazareth
- 6 The Book that Made Me: On Weep Not, Child
- 7 Note from a Literary Son
- 8 What is in a Name?
- 9 In Exile: Between Britain & Kenya
- Part II Memories, Recollections & Tributes
- Part III Working with Ngũgĩ
- Part IV The Writer, the Critic & the World
- Part V The Other Ngũgĩ
- Appendixes
- References
- Bibliography of Ngũgĩ's Primary Works
- Works Cited
- Notes on Contributors
- Index
1 - Hyperbolic Praise Poetry for Ngũgĩ @80 … In Imitation of African Orature
from Part I - Serenades & Beginnings
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 27 July 2019
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Chronology
- Photographic Section
- Introduction: Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o: Reflections on His Life of Writing
- Ngũgĩ at Work
- Part I Serenades & Beginnings
- 1 Hyperbolic Praise Poetry for Ngũgĩ @80 … In Imitation of African Orature
- 2 A Song at Dawn (for Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o)
- 3 Ngũgĩ in Eritrea
- 4 Up From Makerere: On the Publication of Weep Not, Child
- 5 Encountering Ngũgĩ at Leeds: An Interview with Peter Nazareth
- 6 The Book that Made Me: On Weep Not, Child
- 7 Note from a Literary Son
- 8 What is in a Name?
- 9 In Exile: Between Britain & Kenya
- Part II Memories, Recollections & Tributes
- Part III Working with Ngũgĩ
- Part IV The Writer, the Critic & the World
- Part V The Other Ngũgĩ
- Appendixes
- References
- Bibliography of Ngũgĩ's Primary Works
- Works Cited
- Notes on Contributors
- Index
Summary
Opening Cycle and Point of Entry
Hodi! Hodi!
Knock! Knock!
Gũkũ nĩkwaũ?
G?kũ nĩkwaũ?
Gũkũ nĩkwaũ?
Menye nĩguo njarie cararũkũ
Wũĩ, wainaga!
Whose place (home) is this?
Whose place (home) is this?
Whose place (home) is this?
I want to know so that I can speak bluntly
Yes, singer/dancer that used to be!
Nĩkwa mũrata
nĩkwa mũrata
Nĩkwa mũrata
Aria, nakuo kwaria nĩkwendana
Wũĩ, wainaga!
It is a friend's (place) home
It is a friend's (place) home
It is a friend's (place) home
Speak, for to hold dialogue is to love
Yes, singer/dancer that used to be!
Mũrata ũrĩkũ?
Mũrata ũrĩkũ?
Mũrata ũrĩkũ?
Mũini wĩ ngumo nĩwa arata aingĩ
Wũĩ, wainaga
Which friend?
Which friend?
Which friend?
A famous singer/dancer has many friends
Yes, singer/dancer that used to be
Nĩkwa wa Thiong'o
Nĩkwa wa Thiong'o
Nĩkwa wakinĩ
Wĩgwaku mũciĩ; aria cararũkũ
Wũĩ, wainaga
It is wa Thiong'o's place (home)
It is wa Thiong'o's place (home)
It is an age-mate's place (home)
You are in your own home; speak bluntly
Yes, singer/dancer that used to be
With permission to enter the homestead, the poetess's imagination grows wings
Words trip over her tongue, impatient for the moment of utterance
Hyperbole seizes the license to decorate plain words with extra lacy language
Now only the feet drag with the weight of age as dancer after dancer enters as if claiming territorial ownership of space: as if swearing to eclipse all competition
First Cycle (one score): Entry into the Dance Arena
Wũi wakwa-ĩ! (Oh my!) I, dancer/singer that used to be!
Where shall I find the feet to enter this competition-bound dance arena
where younger, more nimble dancers are sworn to make a shadowy fool of me
stomping the yielding ground that readily surrenders to their aggressive youthful energy?
Oh, who will lend me youthful feet to enter the arena, I, dancer/singer that used to be,
to celebrate my age-mate, the son of Thiong'o, on this his eightieth birthday?
Of a truth, ancient proverbial wisdom did not lie: wainaga nĩeroragĩra!
(Sh/e who once danced/sang can turn into a spectator)!
But, refusing to turn into a spectator, I dancer/singer that used to be, vow to call upon the spirit of rebellion to possess every inch of my body.
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- NgugiReflections on his Life of Writing, pp. 25 - 34Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2018