Wouldn’t it be nice to be a bird? To take off and fly away, carefree? What comes to mind when observing a bird: a great sense of freedom; freedom to come and go, freedom to sing, no worries for tomorrow, and freedom to just be. Beauty also comes to mind, but liberty always prevail as one of the main descriptors. I recently stumbled upon this poem by Cameroonian author Claude-Joseph M’Bafou-Zetebeg, ‘The Free Bird’ which describes so well that sense of freedom which most of us aspire to. The author focuses on a bird, and describes the freedom the bird enjoys, the lightness, which is greater than all fortunes. I present here ‘L’Oiseau en Liberté‘ by Claude-Joseph M’Bafou-Zetebeg, published in Anthologie Africaine: Poésie Vol2, Jacques Chevrier, Collection Monde Noir Poche, 1988, and translated to English by Dr. Y. Afrolegends.com . Enjoy!
‘L’Oiseau en liberté’ / ‘The Free Bird‘ de Claude-Joseph M’Bafou Zetebeg
| L’oiseau qui passe là-bas,
L’oiseau léger Qui bat des ailes Et fend l’air là-bas à l’horizon, N’a rien à lui au monde, Mais comme il est joli En liberté ! Et c’est en chantant Qu’il vit sur la branche, Le bel oiseau voyageur Qui rythme les saisons. Car rien ne vaut la liberté : C’est la plus digne De toutes les fortunes, La liberté dont jouit l’oiseau Qui vit sur la branche ! La liberté au feu sacré, La liberté naturelle, O la sainte liberté Dont devrait jouir Tout être Dans sa facture naïve ! |
The bird that passes by,
The light bird, Who flaps its wings And splits the air over there in the horizon, Has nothing of its own in the world, But how pretty it is In liberty! And it is by singing That it lives on the branch, The beautiful traveling bird Who punctuates seasons. ‘Cause nothing beats freedom: It is the most worthy Of all fortunes The freedom enjoyed by the bird, That lives on the branch ! Freedom in the sacred fire, Natural freedom, O the holy freedom That every being should enjoy In its naive craftsmanship ! |
African Heritage 