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Muyaka: 19th Century Swahili Poetry
The nineteenth century saw the rise of a written poetic tradition that moved toward the secular, with everyday issues of social and political interest captured in verse. Perhaps the most notable poet whose works exemplified this trend was Muyaka wa…
Utendi wa kutawafu Nabii. English and Swahili A poem concerning the death of the prophet Muhammad = Utendi wa kutawafu Nabii: a traditional Swahili epic, with transliteration, translation, and notes on the reading of Swahili manuscripts in Arabic script for advanced students
Utendi wa kutawafu Nabii, a characteristic example of the utenzi tradition in its early expression, commemorates the life of the prophet and includes his final message to the faithful before being visited by the angel of death. The poem exemplifies…
Utenzi wa zinduko la ujamaa [Poems of the establishment of ujamaa]
Utenzi wa zinduko la ujamaa is one of several political poems written in the 1970’s following the union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar under one government to form the Republic of Tanzania. The author describes the establishment of the socialist system…
Kieleso cha insha [Model essays]
Shaaban Robert is credited with introducing the essay (insha) into Swahili Literature.
Siku ya Watenzi wote [ The day of all creators]
In his last novels, such as the two above written shortly before his death in 1962, Robert became more reformist in principle and critical of his times. Utubora mkulima is an attack on capitalist society and its evils. Perhaps as a sequel in this…
The Poetry of Shaaban Robert
Shaaban Robert was, above all, a poet. As noted on the back cover of this volume, “. . . the poems appearing here cover the entire spectrum of human existence: youth and old age, morality and religion, politics, the beauty and signification of…