Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Pidgin Poem

Party people in da house! How far? Una ears don dey itch? Well nutin spoil, I get some small okele for una. Wetin I wan give una today na sometin wey cross my mind wey I don apply to music befor. So today, I wan write una poem. But because I never perfect my own poem, I go give una translation of a popular poem. Dis na the poem wey Chinua Achebe get im title for im popular book "Things Fall Apart", but na only the first stanza i go translate. Abeg make una helep me read am.

The Second Coming
By William Butler Yeats (1921)

1st Stanza (English)

Turning and turning in a widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity

Translation into original pidgin English

As e dey turn, as e dey turn na im the tin dey scatter
The fowl e no fit hear the person wey get am;
Effrey tin come dabaru, the centre no fit holo again;
Na only confusion na im come dey dis wee world,
Na so the river wey be like blood dey vex,even e don drown the ceremony of the people wey be like pikin no sabi anytin;
The people wey better pass nko dem don tire while the ones wey no better at all na dia power come plenty pass.

End of translation

I try abi i no try? If una get a better translation oya foreward am to me. Ogadi later!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

toski my man,

u try well - di tin be say, dis na poetic english so e require poetic pidgin, abi how u see am?

bobs poetic pidgin na sometin wey waffi pesin go fit translate propa as na dem ppl yarn pidgin pass, but all in all, nice attempt.

if any other topic surface, i no run to comment.

make e be nah