by Martin Orwin ( Modern Poetry in Translation, New Series, No.17, 2001 ).
Anyone who has come in contact with Somali culture will be aware of the central role poetry plays in that culture. For as long as we know, poetry has been the core form of cultural expression and is the basis upon which some other forms have been developed, in particular Somali theatre. Traditional life in the eastern Horn of Africa, where the Somalis live, has poetry woven into its fabric. Many of the day-to-day tasks which people carry out in the countryside have poetry associated with them in the form of work songs, each type with its own metrical structure and associated tunes.
A young girl might sing songs about the sheep and goats she is tending, weaving into such a song her feelings for the animals and what they mean to her family; a young man may praise his camels in a watering song, a woman tease her neighbour in a mat-weaving song and so on. Many such worksongs are of common heritage, but it is also the case that people compose their own lyrics reflecting concerns and events in their own lives. All these types of poems are generally described in Somali as hees and are part of what might be termed Somali folklore. In addition there is poetry which is composed by poets with the intention that the poem be heard more widely as a comment on something of importance to the community, whether that be the immediate kin or the whole Somali nation. Such poetry is termed maanso in Somali and is characterised by the fact that any particular composition is always associated with the poet who composed it and that anyone reciting the poem must do so with the aim of reciting it word for word as the poet composed it.
This verbatim memorization is a particularly important characteristic of the oral poetic heritage of the Somalis and such poetry is generally held in higher esteem than the hees type.It is important to bear in mind that Somali poetry is still primarily experienced through listening rather than reading; there has been some publication of collections of important poetry (mostly of poets from the past), but these are not widely distributed at all. The language was first written in an officially recognized script in 1972 and, prior to that, poetry was, with a very few exceptions, composed, retained and performed solely in oral form. Most poetry composed today is still essentially oral, although instead of memorization playing the major role in its dissemination, cassette tape and radio broadcast are more prominent. Cassettes are particularly important and the recording of performances of poetry and subsequent duplication of the tapes is very widespread and is not regulated through copyright laws.
The identity of the poet must always be made clear however and plagiarism and inaccurate recitation of a maanso poem are frowned upon and would lead to the ridicule of anyone trying it on. The matter of oral versus written poetry has become further blurred in recent years when we understand that some poets now use writing in the composition of their poetry. Hadraawi composes using writing and when performing his own poetry does so by reading a written text. There are other poets who continue not to use writing at all and who retain their poems in their heads and pass them on through recitation and recording on cassette.Maanso poetry is very much of its place and time. A great amount of poetry which is composed by people throughout the Horn of Africa (as well as in the diaspora) relates to events in the life of the poet and in his or her community. Thus as time goes by poets are constantly addressing new situations, and since there is no instituted way in which poetry is preserved, it is easily lost. Little poetry is remembered from before the turn of the century, but now, given the technology of cassette recording and also the development of writing, poetry is more readily kept for posterity. Work was undertaken towards preserving the poetry of some of the most important early poets by Somali poets and scholars in the 1960s and 1970s and there are now some published collections of such early poetry.
Of recent poets, few have published works. Hadraawi's collected poems (1970-1990) were published in 1993 in Norway (1), an important contribution to Somali literature.Another consequence of the importance of the context of composition is that some poems are very difficult to understand if one is not aware of the people and events involved. Some poems, however, are composed on general themes and this makes them more readily accessible to a wider audience and allows them to be understood through translation with a minimal amount of associated annotation. Such are both of the poems presented here.
The last two decades in the Horn of Africa have been times of great upheaval, culminating in the early Nineties in horrific violence in some parts of Somalia and the consequent displacement of a great number of people throughout the world. Much of the poetry which has become widely known over these years has been concerned with this and some imaginative and powerful poems have been composed. As has been the case throughout Somali history, some of this poetry is partisan, supporting or denigrating according to the allegiance of the poet. Poetry which becomes most widely known, however, tends to be that which deals with the situation as a whole and speaks to a wider section of society. As a result of these political upheavals, many people have found their way to the United Kingdom where there is now a large Somali community. Poetry remains an important part of that displaced community's life and the concerns of the people are naturally reflected in it. For some, a nostalgic reflection through the appreciation of the poetry of past times is important.
For others the development of new forms and use of new language is a major part of their cultural life in expressing their new experience and in assimilating new influences from the communities around them. The use of language in poetry is a matter of concern to many who now live in the UK. Younger people are sometimes unable to understand the language used in some of the poetry of the great modern poets, let alone the great poets of the past, because of the prevalence of the use of vocabulary which has its roots in the traditional pastoral way of life. The most widely known poetry comes from those whose The two poets whose work is represented here have both been resident in the UK during the 1990s. Although Hadraawi has now returned to the Horn of Africa, whilst living in London he made a number of public appearances reciting his poetry. His poetry has been widely known since the early seventies and has provided an important commentary on the life and political situation in the eastern Horn of Africa from those times to the present day.
Cabdulqaadir, who still lives here, is from a younger generation of poets, but his manipulation and skill in addressing matters via the traditional pastoral imagery is appreciated by those who have heard his poetry. Samadoon is particularly appreciated for these qualities.There are two formal features which are compulsory in Somali poetry: metre and alliteration. Metre is vocalically quantitative with a particular metrical pattern being defined in terms of the number and patterning of long and short vowels. Each genre of poetry (of which there are many) has its own particular metrical template.
As for alliteration, there is an alliterative word in every line or half-line, according to the genre, and the same alliterative sound is sustained throughout the whole poem.
For example in the poem Samadoon, an example of a genre known as gabay, there is at least one word in every half-line beginning with the sound 'd'; in Jacayl Dhiig Ma Lagu Qoray, as the metre is different (it is a Jiifto metre type in a poem genre known as hees (2), there is an alliterating word in each line, 'dh', (a retroflex plosive). A sensitivity to these formal features is most important in any attempt at translation, but how are they to be acknowledged and reflected in translation? This is a common enough decision to be made in poetry translation, but there are two factors which need to be borne in mind when considering this question for Somali. On the one hand these formal features define the piece of language as being poetry and on the other, given the skills of a good poet, the imposition of such strict features on the language used provides one means of developing movement in the domain of the poem as a whole. This is certainly the case in each of these poems.
In Samadoon, for example, although each of the the 179 lines of the original has the same metrical and alliterative structure, as is prescribed by convention, Cabdulqaadir skilfully weaves the strictures of the form with other facets of language structure and style such as syntax, repetition, additional alliteration etc, to develop the ideas and emotions in the poem and to bring a wider sense of phrasing to the tone of the poem as a whole.
This is also the case in Jacayl Dhiig Ma Lagu Qoray where it is achieved in particular through the series of negative questions which flow across the strict metrical lines.How, then, is one to deal with this in translation? The gabay line is 20-21 vowel units long, the Jiifto metre of Jacayl Dhiig Ma Lagu Qoray on the other hand has 9 vowel units and this difference in length has been reflected straightforwardly in line length in the translation. Some attempt at the use of half lines has also been made in the translation of the gabay Samadoon.
I have chosen not to keep to a strict metre in the English, but have tried to use a style which presents a rhythm in keeping with the phrasing and movement in the original poems as I perceive it. One major aspect of the translation has been to try in some way to reflect the aural nature of the poem. Given that Somali poems are not essentially written pieces but are composed to be heard (even though writing was used in the composition of both of the poems presented here), I have tried to move away from certain aspects of the written form, hence the lack of punctuation.
It is hoped that the words speak simply for themselves, as they need to in the Somali original in recited form, and that the line divisions are enough to supply the whole with some structure to aid understanding. Such rhythmic and line structure is clearly perceivable in any performance of the original Somali versions of these poems and is not therefore here an imposition of the written form.I wish to thank Hadraawi and Cabdulqaadir for their assistance in helping me to understand their poems and also William Radice and the editors for some valuable comments on draft translations.1- Maxamed Ibraahim Warsame 'Hadraawi', Hal-Karaan. Den Norske Somaliakomiteen, Kleppe, Norway, 1993.2- The term hees in addition to referring to the work songs and dance songs as mentioned above is also used as a term for modern poetry which is performed in a singing style to instrumental accompaniment.
Such poetry may be composed in one of a number of metrical styles. Cabdulqaadir Xaaji Cali Xaaji Axmad
Translated by Martin Orwin
Cabdulqaadir Xaaji Cali Xaaji Axmed, born following independence in northern Somalia in 1962, is one of the younger generation of Somali poets. He was educated at intermediary and secondary level in Hargeysa until 1982. He taught for a year before leaving to join the Somali National Movement (SNM) base in Ethiopia. In 1987 he joined the SNM's radio station, Radio Halgan (Radio Struggle), and while working there he began to compose poetry.The poem translated here was composed and first performed in London in 1995 after he had moved to the UK in 1990. It is a powerful comment on the civil war and the destruction of much of Somalia at the hands of the previous military regime and the various militias.
Its first public hearing was at a poetry reading in the East End organized by the Multicultural Arts Consortium at which Hadraawi also recited his latest poem of that time (Dabahuwan). Samadoon is composed as an oral epistle to a friend of the poet, Hirsi (Xirsi in Somali), who is entreated to pass on the message to the people. Most of the text comprises that which Hirsi says to the people.
This poem is of a type known as gabay, which is a genre used to deal with serious subjects. Each line in the Somali follows the gabay's metrical pattern which divides the line into two half lines, each of which must incorporate an alliterating word. The poem makes great use of pastoral imagery and allusions to the countryside, the plants and livestock. Some usage is in a negative sense:
For instance, the originial Somali line: Inaad delewo haaneed tidhaa Adi dantaa maahahas been translated as: giving them the milking responsibility it's not in your interestA literal translation of the line would read:that you say 'Delewo' at the haan side it's not in your interest
Delewo is the proper name of a camel and haan refers both to the container used when milking and to the side of the camel which is milked by the person who is holding that container. This person would be the more experienced one of the two milking the camel, and the one, therefore, who takes the greater responsibility for preventing any loss of milk. It is this basic idea which I have tried to bring out in the translated line. It is not as detailed an image, nor as powerful a statement as the original line in the context of the poem, but one which hopefully renders both some of the image's substance and its role in the poem.
Explanation of some of the Somali terms and other allusions in the poem may be useful to the reader.aloe - this plant is known for its bitterness and is a metaphor here for malignancy.bull elephant - here this is a name given to Hirsi.
Barre - the former president and dictator of the military regime of Somalia, ousted in 1991.'d' - the sound of alliteration in the original Somali poem; in the original it is given its Arabic name daal.Daabad - the proper name of a burden camel; such proper names are often used in Somali poetry to represent the animals generically. Daylo - a name given to a female sheep with a half black head as opposed to the full black head of most sheep; used here generically.Awl, Daydad, Dirirad - sub-seasons in the Somali system of weather lore (Awl is spelt Cawl in Somali).Dayr - the main rainy season in the Somali territories and when the rains are good a time of plenty.dihi - a type of pasture plant which grows in salty areas (spelt in Somali: dixi).duur - this is a herbaceous plant with a long stalk.
Deleb, Diirran, Doorran - are names of camels, again used generically; Deleb refers to a game played with small sticks, the other two mean 'eager' and 'chosen' respectively. Koofil and Doofil - Koofil is the Somali pronunciation and spelling of Corfield who was a commander of the Camel Corps in British Somaliland, killed in 1913 in battle and the subject of a very famous poem by Sayyid Mohamed Abdille Hasan, the Dervish leader he was fighting. Here Koofil stands for the British imperialists and Doofil is a play on the sound of Koofil but using the poem's alliterative sound ('d') to represent the Italian imperialists. Go'e - literally means 'the one who is dying' and is used as an insult. I have not found a correspondence in English, and feel that the tone of the original word is appropriate in this context. Chosen, Outstanding, Support - where these are presented towards the end of the poem with initial capitals they refer to camel names. The names represent camels which in turn represent the poem.
The camel is the most important animal in Somali pastoral society and is often used in poetry as a symbol for what is valued. Here the meanings of the names themselves are also of significance in the context and have therefore been translated.
Samadoon Hirsi