I share here a poem by the Cameroonian poet Elolongue Epanya Yondo about his beautiful native island of Jebale, Cameroon. Note that Elolongue Epanya is the uncle of another great Senegalese-Cameroonian poet David M. Diop known for his amazing poem “Afrique / Africa“. Jebale (Jébalè or Djebale) is an island on the Wouri River, in Douala, Cameroon. It is also one of the places whose kings signed on 15 July 1884, a treaty of protectorate with German merchants from the firm Jantzen & Thormählen, thereby agreeing to the infamous Germano – Duala Treaty signed 3 days earlier on 12 July 1884 by King Bell and others. In 1884, Jebale was then known as Jibarret.
As you read Yondo’s words, you can imagine the beauty of his homeland, this island, Jebale, on the Wouri river. Jebale is known as the “emerald island, flamboyant jewel” on the Wouri estuary, on the coast of Cameroon. The author cites well-known coastal rivers of Cameroon, the Bimbia creek, the Sanaga River, the Dibamba river, the Kwa-Kwa river, and also notes other islands of the Littoral, Malimba and Suellaba. In this poem, the author anchors his words in the rich tradition of the coastal Sawa people as he cites the Miengu and the Mbeatoe, those big shrimps known as Camarões which led to the name of the country Cameroun via the Wouri River – Rio dos Camarões. For those who have visited Jebale, it is indeed an emerald island, mostly known as a small fishing village; however in the eye of Elolongue Epanya Yondo, it is his love, the one he cannot wait to come back to, from exile. Enjoy!
This poem was published in Paris on February 25th 1972, in revue Présence Africaine, numéro 84 (4e trimestre 1972), re-published in Anthologie Africaine: Poésie Vol2, Jacques Chevrier, Collection Monde Noir Poche, 1988, and translated to English by Dr. Y. Afrolegends.com .
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Jebale by Elolongue Epanya Yondo
| ‘Jébalè’
A mon neveu David Morsamba Diop. Jébalè mon île d’émeraude Joyau flamboyant au confluent De la gorge altière du Wouri Je me souviens De tes nattes verdoyantes Fouettant en cascade L’haleine salée du littoral Jébalè mon île d’émeraude Terre dont le souffle Des Miengu et des Mamy-Wata Féconde le cycle des Mbéatoè Enigmatiques hommes d’eau Qui sèment l’abondance Jébalè mon île d’émeraude Je cherche dans les fissures du temps Dans la gueule écumante de la baie du Biafra tous les replis d’eau qui mangèrent goutte à goutte un chapelet d’îles jaillies des entrailles de l’océan comme des gerbes de nénuphars Jébalè mon île d’émeraude Je cherche dans l’écume poreuse Les cônes bleu-gris Dont la beauté effervescente Arrachait des soupirs De lame de fond a l’océan Tombé en pâmoison Jébalè mon île d’émeraude Je cherche le chemin du retour Du maquis de mon long exil A travers l’île des buffles Que fixait hier La pointe multicolore de Suellaba Je cherche sur tes flancs Le point de repère de l’estuaire subjugué Lançant à l’assaut de l’esprit gardien De la crique du Bimbia A l’île Malimba Du Wouri coiffé de palétuviers A la Dibamba des grandes profondeurs De la Sanaga hydre immense A la bouche silencieuse de la Kwa-Kwa… Des gueules d’eau déchaînées Et des bras de mers insaisissables Pour pénétrer ton mystère Consacrant ta légende des légendes Jébalè mon île d’émeraude Terre première de mon enfance Dont le sel fermente ma mémoire Je grave ton image impérissable Sur la grève qui se moire Au miroir d’un ballet lumineux Du flux et du reflux Qui propagent ton nom Par la voix claire des clapotis. |
‘Jebale’
To my nephew David Morsamba Diop. Jebale my emerald island Flamboyant jewel at the confluence Of the haughty Wouri gorge I remember Your green braids Whipping in cascade The salted breath of the coast Jebale my emerald island Land whose breath Of the Miengu and the Mamy-Wata Fertilizes the cycle of the Mbeatoe Enigmatic men of water Who sow abundance Jebale my emerald island I search through the cracks of time In the foaming mouth Of the Biafra bay All the folds of water Which ate drop by drop A rosary of islands Sprung from the bowels of the ocean Like sheaves of water lilies Jebale my emerald island I search in the porous foam The gray-blue cones Whose effervescent beauty Drew out sighs Of groundswell from the ocean Fallen into a swoon Jebale my emerald island I am looking for the way back From the maquis of my long exile Through the buffalo island That set yesterday The multicolored tip of Suellaba point I am looking on your sides For the landmark of the subjugated estuary Launching the assault of the guardian spirit From the Bimbia creek To the Malimba island Of the Wouri dressed with mangroves To the great depths of the Dibamba To the Sanaga immense hydra To the silent mouth of the Kwa-Kwa… Ramps of water And the elusive arms of the sea To penetrate your mystery Consecrating your legend of legends Jebale my emerald island First land of my childhood Whose salt ferments my memory I engrave your imperishable image On the shore which shines In the mirror of a luminous ballet Of ebb and flow Which spread your name By the clear voice of the ripples. |
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