The poem “Africa”, being a prominent in Diop’s poetry collection, typifies the philosophy of the negritude movement. It was originally written in French but later translated to English.
The French version has 24 lines while the English version has 23 lines.
Ok, lets go over both versions...
Africa Translated version
Africa my Africa
Africa of proud warriors in ancestral savannahs
Africa of whom my grandmother sings
On the banks of the distant river
I have never known you
But your blood flows in my veins
Your beautiful black blood that irrigates the fields
The blood of your sweat
The sweat of your work
The work of your slavery
Africa, tell me Africa
Is this your back that is unbent
This back that never breaks under the weight of humilation
This back trembling with red scars
And saying no to the whip under the midday sun
But a grave voice answers me
Impetuous child that tree, young and strong
That tree over there
Splendidly alone amidst white and faded flowers
That is your Africa springing up anew
springing up patiently, obstinately
Whose fruit bit by bit acquires
The bitter taste of liberty.
Africa Original language version
Afrique mon Afrique
Afrique des fiers guerriers dans les savanes ancestrales
Afrique que me chantait ma grand-mère
Au bord de son fleuve lointain
Je ne t’ai jamais connue
Mais mon regard est plein de ton sang
Ton beau sang noir à travers les champs répandu
Le sang de ta sueur
La sueur de ton travail
Le travail de l’esclavage
L’esclavage de tes enfants
Afrique dis-moi Afrique
Est-ce donc toi ce dos qui se courbe
Et se couche sous le poids de l’humilité
Ce dos tremblant à zébrures rouges
Qui dit oui au fouet sur les routes de midi
Alors gravement une voix me répondit
Fils impétueux cet arbre robuste et jeune
Cet arbre là -bas
Splendidement seul au milieu de fleurs blanches et fanées
C’est l’Afrique ton Afrique qui repousse
Qui repousse patiemment obstinément
Et dont les fruits ont peu à peu
L’amère saveur de la liberté.
Lets take a brief look into the history of the poet;
David Diop was born in Bordeaux, France, of a Senegalese father and a Cameroonian mother.
He had his primary education in Senegal. He started writing poems while he was still in school, and his poems started appearing in Présence Africaine since he was just 15.
Several of his poems were published in Léopold Senghor’s famous anthology, which became a landmark of modern black writing in French. He died in a plane crash, at the age of 33, in 1960.
His one small collection of poetry, Coups de pilon, came out from Présence Africaine in 1956; it was posthumously published in English as Hammer Blows, translated and edited by Simon Mpondo and Frank Jones (African Writers Series, 1975).
***REVIEW***
In the opening lines, the poet persona identifies himself with Africa and affirms the peaceful coexistence of the black people before the colonial incursion. The poet’s use of possessive pronoun in the appositive phrase to the word/noun “Africa” confirms this identification.
Africa/ my Africa
By the powers of imagination,Diop here calls forth three stages in Africa’s
history:
*the pre-colonial days of proud warrior tribes,
- the colonial experience of
subjugation and humiliation,and - post colonial freedom and soverignty.
The first seven lines present an idealised image of Africa. then follows a realistic picture of
Africa’s experience of bitterness, despair and mockery under colonial rule.
The last 8 lines present a future of hope built on some of the realistic elements of colonial
experience: Africa as a young tree patiently springing up and gradually acquiring
the bitter taste of liberty.
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