Africa, my Africa
Africa of proud warriors in ancestral savannahs
Africa of whom my grandmother sings
On the banks of the distant river
I have never known you
But your blood flows in my veins
Your beautiful black blood that irrigates the fields
The blood of your sweat
The sweat of your work
The work of your slavery
Africa, tell me Africa
Is this you, this back that is bent
This back that breaks
Under the weight of humiliation
This back trembling with red scars
And saying yes to the whip under the midday sun
But a grave voice answers me
Impetuous child that tree, young and strong
That tree over there
Splendidly alone amidst white and faded flowers
That is your Africa springing up anew
Springing up patiently, obstinately
Whose fruit bit by bit acquires
The bitter taste of liberty.
© David Diop
More about this author:
- Read another poem by this same author here on Poéfrika
- Wikipedia page
- On Kintespace
- On Pambazuka (in French)
- Amazon page
8 comments:
powerful, enjoy!
kai c.,
yes, very strong. I was reminded of this by all this talk of the slave trade and reparations or no reparations. Unfortunately David Diop died young in a plane crash, a book manuscript of poems we'll never read in his luggage.
hello,
Whoever translated this poem in English made a big mistake:
David Diop wrote in french:"Et se couche sous le poids de l'humilité "
in english the translation is "And lie down under the weight of humility"
not "Under the weight of humiliation"
Please correct this as soon as possible.
Thank you
I am actually his great grand dahghter
Do read more David Diop at kintespace.com:
"David Mandessi Diop: Aux Mystificateurs"
(http://kintespace.com/p_daviddiop3.html)
"David Mandessi Diop: To the Bamboozlers"
(http://kintespace.com/p_daviddiop2.html)
This is a very good translation, but it is true that is sould be HUMILITY and not HUMILIATION. Also you skipped a sentence. L`esclavage de tes enfants
translates as
THE SLAVERY OF YOUR CHILDREN.
Thanks for taking the time to translate and post this landmark poem.
Afrique mon Afrique
Afrique des fiers guerriers dans les savanes ancestrales
Afrique que chante ma grand-mère
Au bord de son fleuve lointain
Je ne t'ai jamais connue
Mais mon regard est plein de ton sang
Ton beau sang noir à travers les champs répandu
Le sang de ta sueur
La sueur de ton travail
Le travail de I'esclavage
L'esclavage de tes enfants
Afrique dis-moi Afrique
Est-ce donc toi ce dos qui se courbe
Et se couche sous le poids de l'humilité
Ce dos tremblant à zébrures rouges
Qui dit oui au fouet sur les routes de midi
Alors gravement une voix me répondit
Fils impétueux cet arbre robuste et jeune
Cet arbre là-bas
Splendidement seul au milieu des fleurs
Blanches et fanées
C'est I'Afrique ton Afrique qui repousse
Qui repousse patiemment obstinément
Et dont les fruits ont peu à peu
L'amère saveur de la liberté.
First point, yes: "The slavery of your children" is missing. It should be: "The work of your slavery / the slavery of your children. / Africa, tell me Africa"
Second point, the original word is indeed "humilité", which should translate into "humility" and not "humiliation."
Thanks for pointing those out, folks.
Thanks for posting such comment,actualy this poem has prescribed in our sylabous,n i hope this will help me a lot ,again thanks
I LOVE AFRCA. DODORIMA!!!
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