This is a small, modest, and unassuming book. On the cover, men and women sit beneath a great tree, listening to a storyteller. The title reads Ethiopian Folk Poetry Recreated — a quiet promise of voices from the past, retold with care. The author, Hailu Araaya, is a notable figure in Ethiopia — a former linguistics lecturer and dean of the Institute of Language Studies at Addis Ababa University, and an opposition politician who has endured both hardship and imprisonment. Drawing on oral traditions passed down through generations, the book gathers 206 folk poems originally composed in Amharic by unknown authors, and presents them alongside free English translations. “These translations are, in a sense, ‘explosive,’” he writes, “in that they try to bring out as many of the feelings evoked by the original folk poems.”
The collection captures the simple, direct couplets, blending humour, sorrow, moral wisdom, and lyrical intimacy. Ranging from serious to light-hearted, often irreverent or subversive, the poems reflect the full spectrum of human experience, exploring themes of love, loss, faith, work, and the passage of time.
Dr. Hailu Araaya’s interest in folk poetry has long been recognized in scholarly circles. While teaching English at the Bahir Dar Polytechnic Institute in the late 1950s, he became fascinated by the wealth of oral literature that abounds across the country, passed down from generation to generation through spoken tradition. He encouraged his students to collect folk poems from their villages during summer vacations. His PhD dissertation, completed in 1972, was titled “Ten Semantic Categories Most Recurrent in Ethiopian Folk Poetry: Their Socio-linguistic Bases” and focused on Amharic oral poetry. This was followed by his mimeographed work, Ethiopian Folk Poetry Recreated (1978, Department of English, Faculty of Arts, Addis Ababa University), presented in English.
The latest edition, printed by Abrhot Printer, appears to be a republication of the earlier work, though it is noted as “translated in 2013.” Upon examining several poems, it is clear that both the original texts and their translations had already appeared in the previous edition. Nevertheless, given the cultural significance of this work, its availability is most welcome. It reflects a broader commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting Ethiopian oral literature through affordable, if sometimes low-quality, editions.
As the author reminds us, there is a vast wealth of folk poetry among the many nationalities of Ethiopia. He expresses the ardent hope that this small collection will serve as an initial step toward recording and anthologizing the rich folk poetry traditions of all the country’s other communities. The author provides explanations at the bottom of the pages, including cultural and religious terms, as well as brief sketches of the individuals and places mentioned.
Some of the classic poems have been transformed into songs, paired with chord progressions and resonant voices. Through melody, these timeless verses speak directly to us — a testament to the creative process through which enduring poetry is reborn in the art of songwriting. It is refreshing to see them now translated into English.
ተይኝ አላልኩም ወይ አላልኩም ወይ ተኳኩሎ ሜዳ
አይን ወረተኛ ነው ያመጣል እንግዳ።
How many times have
I pleaded with you
To abandon your venturous ways?
Those gaudy make-ups,
Those gaudy walks.
Those sublte looks.
I fear that which might follow,
For the eye is fickle
And favours who are those strangers.
አሳ አበላሻለሁ አባይ ቤት አባይ ዳር ነው ቤቴ
ዶሮ መረቅማ ከወዴት አባቴ።
I have a home on the bank of Abbay.
Come and feast with me on abundant fish
But if you ask me for chicken and chicken broth, my love,
Then I am lost.
Some of them are less well known and rarely appear in contemporary songs. As the glossary notes, one of these poems was said to have been composed by “a poor man who was on his way to fight against the invading soldiers of Fascist Italy.”
እንደራበኝ፣ እንደሞረሞረኝ
ከጠገበው ጋራ ልሞት ነው መሠለኝ።
Perennially poor,
Perennially ravaged by hunger
I sense the end of my days;
For I see that I shall fall in battle
With those who dwelt in comfort,
And with those who are battened on the fat of the land.
On a final note, the book requires some corrections and editing. Certain Amharic and English versions are misaligned—for example, number three in Amharic appears as number five in English. Additionally, the poem listed as number 196 is duplicated as number 200.
