poème

Samuel Edward Krune Mqhayi (né le 1^er décembre 1875 et mort le 29 juillet 1945) était un dramaturge, essayiste, critique, romancier, historien, biographe, traducteur et poète xhosa, dont les œuvres sont considérées comme essentielles dans la normalisation de la grammaire de l'isiXhosa.

S. E. K. Mqhayi, Abantu Besizwe. Historical ad biographical writings, 1902-1944, edited and translated by Jeff Opland, Johannesburg, Wits University Press, 2001, p. 33-38 puis p. 38-44.

I Tambo kako Nibe

Nonibe’s Bone

Kwimilambo yakwa Xosa Akunguy’ omcinanana Tyume ndini lakwa Tyali Tambo ndini lako-Nibe. Ndikubona ndise Gqili E Gwadana nase Buwa, Xa upum’ ezintabeni Kwezo zakulo Xayimpi Kwa Mabombo ama Qocwa Ngezibaxa ezitatu. Eso siku Nomadolo Nase Hala ku Ngcongolo Neso siku Qabimbola Sinnecibi ngapezulu, Into yon’ enengxangxasi Yokupiliswa kwentlanga, Apo kupilisw’inkomo Ngosezantsi nopezulu. Tyume ndini lakokwetu Ekulele no Nomenti, Inzwakazi yakwa Bedle Ekwa kon’uyise-Zala Kwezo ndonga zako zintle, Manz’apole ngokwengqele, Edumile ngokuyola Kub’apum’ezi Ntabeni Pantsi kwenyawo zo Tixo Wakokwetu wakwa Xosa ; Ezimi kuz’ezo Ntaba Zase Gwali no Matole, Apo sanchwab’u Ntsikana Kumanz’abetyiwa nguye Apo safihla no Tyali Kumanz’abetyiwa nguye Mlambo-ndin’osebalini Lomz’omkulu wama Xosa Kuzazinge ngezemfazwe Kubutyolo ngezoxolo Kubulawu ngolwendiso Kubuqolo bemisito Nezazobe zama leqe – Wabinde’u Xego-dala Akuba kweso sigama – Yakoboka yenzakala.

You’re not the least of Xhosa rivers, Tyhali’s Tyhume, Nonibe’s Bone. At the Orange I see you, at Gwadana and Buwa, as you leave the mountains, Xayimpi’s mountains[1], among the Qocwa Mbombo, in three rivers branches: at Nomadolo, at Hala in Readsdale and at Qabimbola below a pool that formed cascades for the health of nations, where cattle are fattened above and below. Tyhume of ours, Where Nomenti lies, lovely lady from Bedle’s home, and her father-in-law[2], on your pleasant banks, cool, frosty water, famous for flavour, flowing from Mountains beneath God’s feet in the Xhosa homeland on which stand the Gwali an Amathole mountains where we buried Ntsikana[3] beside water he drank, where we buried Tyhali beside water he sipped. River with tales to tell of the great Xhosa nation in the press of war, denouncing the peace, in the perfume of marriage, the wedding feast fragrance, and in painting racing cattle – the old man choked up on completing the distance – all beaten and broken.