Poem
Mbuyiseni Oswald Mtshali
HIGH AND LOW
Glorious is this worldThe world that sustains man
like a maggot in a carcass.
Mighty is the sea
de-salted by the carapace in the eye of the fish.
Hallowed is the star,
effulgent in the firmament,
a pearl in the stomach of the mussel sky.
Majestic soars the eagle, golden winged above the
low life.
Black is the hole of the poet,
A mole burrowing from no entrance to no exit.
© Translation: 1971, Mbuyiseni Oswald Mtshali
From: Sounds of a Cowhide Drum
Publisher: Renoster, Johannesburg, 1971
Sounds of a Cowhide Drum was first published in English in 1971 by Lionel Abrahams. The 2012 re-issue of the book carries a simultaneous translation of the poems into Zulu.
From: Sounds of a Cowhide Drum
Publisher: Renoster, Johannesburg, 1971
PHEZULU NAPHANSI
PHEZULU NAPHANSI
Udunyisiwe lomhlabaUmhlaba owondla umuntu
Njengesibungu esidunjini.
Lunamandla ulwandle
oluvovwe itswayi wuqhembu
esweni lenhlanzi.
Icwebile inkanyezi
egqamile emkhathini,
imbade esiswini sesibhakabhaka gebhezi.
Ngobukhosi ukhozi
lwenyuka ngamaphiko egolide
phezu kwempilo ephansi.
Umnyama umgodi wembongi,
Imvukuzane evukuza ingekho
intunja yokungena nentuba yokuphuma.
© 2012, Mbuyiseni Oswald Mtshali
From: Sounds of a Cowhide Drum / Imisindo Yesigubhu Sesikhumba Senkomo
Publisher: Jacana Media, Johannesburg
From: Sounds of a Cowhide Drum / Imisindo Yesigubhu Sesikhumba Senkomo
Publisher: Jacana Media, Johannesburg
Poems
Poems of Mbuyiseni Oswald Mtshali
Close
HIGH AND LOW
Glorious is this worldThe world that sustains man
like a maggot in a carcass.
Mighty is the sea
de-salted by the carapace in the eye of the fish.
Hallowed is the star,
effulgent in the firmament,
a pearl in the stomach of the mussel sky.
Majestic soars the eagle, golden winged above the
low life.
Black is the hole of the poet,
A mole burrowing from no entrance to no exit.
© 1971, Mbuyiseni Oswald Mtshali
From: Sounds of a Cowhide Drum
Publisher: 1971, Renoster, Johannesburg
Sounds of a Cowhide Drum was first published in English in 1971 by Lionel Abrahams. The 2012 re-issue of the book carries a simultaneous translation of the poems into Zulu.
From: Sounds of a Cowhide Drum
Publisher: 1971, Renoster, Johannesburg
HIGH AND LOW
Glorious is this worldThe world that sustains man
like a maggot in a carcass.
Mighty is the sea
de-salted by the carapace in the eye of the fish.
Hallowed is the star,
effulgent in the firmament,
a pearl in the stomach of the mussel sky.
Majestic soars the eagle, golden winged above the
low life.
Black is the hole of the poet,
A mole burrowing from no entrance to no exit.
© 1971, Mbuyiseni Oswald Mtshali
From: Sounds of a Cowhide Drum
Publisher: 1971, Renoster, Johannesburg
Sounds of a Cowhide Drum was first published in English in 1971 by Lionel Abrahams. The 2012 re-issue of the book carries a simultaneous translation of the poems into Zulu.
From: Sounds of a Cowhide Drum
Publisher: 1971, Renoster, Johannesburg
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