These three poems were originally performed orally and were collected and transcribed by various authors. They were eventually published, among other oral pieces, in a work titled Guide to Kulchur by Ezra Pound and were then reprinted with permission in Alcheringa.
These works originated from Africa and Siberia and were transcribed from oral performances. The first two poems, titled “On Arriving and Not Arriving” and “The Lioness Warns Her Cubs” were collected from the Hausa people of Sudan. The final work in this entry, titled “Praise Song of the Buck Hare,” was collected from the Teleuts in Teleuten, Siberia.
The first piece in this small collection of three, titled “On Arriving and Not Arriving,” was originally published in German in Eckhart V. Sydow's anthology titled Dichtungen der Naturvoelker. It originated from the Hausa of Sudan. The focus of this oral poem is on the idea of culture and what ties into true art. It speaks of the artist being able to enjoy and focus on the quality of their work. Those artists who must still pay active attention to the strain of the process of perfecting their art have not yet 'arrived.'
The second piece in the collection, “The Lioness Warns Her Cubs,” focuses on a lioness warning her offspring of the dangers of humans carrying weapons and of the hunting man who travels with dogs to help him on his hunt. The features of the lion cubs are also described in detail, such as their short ears, carnivorous appetites, and bloodred nostrils, like their mother's. The reader gains the impression that the lioness is 'speaking' to her cubs during or soon after a meal of antelope or other unfortunate mammal of the savannah with the blood still fresh on their faces and their bellies full.
“Praise Song of the Buck Hare,” the third work featured here, was collected from the Teleut people of Siberia and was also originally published in German in Sydow's anthology.
“Eckart Von Sydow.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eckart_von_Sydow#Publikationen_(Auswahl).
“Hausa People.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 17 Feb. 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hausa_people.
“Katalog Der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek.” DNB, Deutsche Nationalbibliothek, https://portal.dnb.de/opac.htm?method=simpleSearch&query=117387010.
Pound, Ezra. Guide to Kulchur. New Directions, 1968.
Project, Joshua. “Hausa in Sudan.” Joshua Project, https://joshuaproject.net/people_groups/12070/SU.
“Teleoples.” Zxc.wiki, https://de.zxc.wiki/wiki/Teleuten.
“Wilhelm Radloff.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 14 Dec. 2021, https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Radloff.
Contributors: