The ironsmith is praised by his wife In Praise of the Ironsmith. The farmer is praised as a challenge to him to work even harder In Praise of the Farmer. Women are praised as girls, wives, mothers and mothers-in-law, while one of the most vividly detailed of these Praise-Poems is addressed by Bahima women to their herds of cattle In Praise of Cattle.


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The Praise-Poem, then, takes many different forms. Above all, it is concerned with character, with the huge variety of human beings and with the place of the individual in society and in history.

Xhosa Praise Poetry

African Poems Oral Poetry from Africa. Next To a Young Lady. The descendants of Muchinadzo seem to acknowledge that Chikanga may have provoked those who murdered him due to his anti-social behaviour Chikanga appears to have been a talented cattle thief , but regard themselves as unfairly associated with his crimes. Whilst these various dynasties are all referenced in the Shumba Murambwi Praises, the heart of the poem glorifies the Lion Shumba , the totem animal that the Mhari adopt to represent their clan.

The lion seems to be universally recognised as a emblem of courage, nobility, ferocity and supremacy in the popular imagination, but what makes the poem particularly vivid is that the Mhari were directly familiar with the lion in its natural habitat. The clan has tracked, hunted and fought with lions and thus glorify the animal with an intimate familiarity of its behaviours and habits whilst also invoking these qualities to define their tribe. The poem expresses gratitude to the ancestors of the clan and to the lion who triggers awe and shock when met face-to-face in the wild.

Majara Majara , Sefela , Sotho. The Basotho have been selling their labour to South Africa first on the railways, then in the diamond mines of Kimberley and the gold mines of Johannesburg since the days when Moshoeshoe successfully repulsed attempts to absorb his mountain kingdom. Today, labour migration is the pervasive reality of Basotho life, involving 80 per cent of men and an unknown number of women for long periods of their working lives.

The trains have been described as a manifestation of the mythical snake diety, Khanyapa.


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    • The shaking, writhing movements of the carriages compared to the dances of possessed spirit mediums. The following poem was recited by thirty-four year old migrant poet Majara Majara aka Ngoana Rakhali and collected by David Coplan.

    Chapter 12. Poetry of Praise, Poetry of Blame

    Lithoko are praise poems from Lesotho, which is today a landlocked country surrounded by South Africa. These may be sung to praise chiefs such as Moshoeshoe the founder of the Sotho kingdom, there are also, lithoko tsa makoloane , praises performed at initiation rites and lithoko tsa bafo , the praises of male commoners.


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      • The following self-praises of one commoner, Kola Khoali, was documented by Hugh Tracey in during his recording tour in Be quiet and listen to celebration, Mixed with cries of weeping…. African Poems Oral Poetry from Africa. Praise-Poems Page 1 of 7. He is one who hates to see an enemy return victorious He delivers old and young from the ravages of war… More. Angry one, of Dlamini. The historical and socio-cultural context of Shona Praise Poetry The belief in totemism and recitation of clan praise poetry is a tradition whose history dates back to the initial stages of Shona culture.

      Shona verbal artistry, evolved in tandem with the culture that gave rise to it.

      Introduction to Praise-Poetry – African Poems

      With particular reference to Shona praise poetry, its rhythm echoes from the apex of Shona civilisation particularly in the socio-cultural history of the ruling dynasties associated with the Great Zimbabwe state - , Mutapa state - s , Torwa state - s and Rozvi state s - s. On the bottom, it reverberated in every homestead, village and chiefdom, making the entire Shona socio-cultural life a rhythm of laudatory remarks. Praise poetry was part and parcel of the belief in and celebration of totemism. In a typical traditional Shona life, praise poetry graced daily life. No day would pass without it being recited.

      It is not known exactly when totemism began in Shona society. What is clear is that it was adopted in the mythological times of Shona culture. According to Shona oral traditions, the adoption of totemism is associated with the earliest known ancestor of the Shona people, Mambiri A. This took place in a mythical place called Guruuswa, which was located somewhere north of the Zambezi River in southern Tanganyika.

      As the early Shona grew in number and marriage became difficulty, due to the fact that they practiced the custom of exogamy marrying only outside one's clan , there was need to adopt a second totem. In contemporary Shona society there are at least 25 identifiable totems mitupo with at least 60 principal names zvidawo.

      However, there are more sub-genres which include madetembedzo evasikana verudzi praises of unmarried girls of the clan , madanha nemarevereve praises for love-making , madetembedzo okutenda vana praises for thanking children for rendering good service , madetembedzo emamiriro erudzi boasts uttered in the name of the clan to warn its detractors or enemies of the consequences they may if provoked , nhetembo dzehondo war-song of the clan , nhetembo dzemhuka yemutupo praises of the totemic animal , nhetembo dzokunyaradza mwana lulluby praises for calming a crying child and nhetembo dzevari pasi praises in honour of the clan's spirits A.

      Praise Poetry

      However, in this paper we will only refer to the main genre of Shona praise poetry, that is, clan praises. It is a group of agnatically related kinsmen and women who trace their descent from a common founding ancestor A. The founding ancestor is called sikarudzi progenitor or creator of the clan. In most clan praises the name of the sikarudzi is constantly made reference to.