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The Praises of Ogun
Overview
An oríkì (a poem or praise song in Yoruba tradition) in honor of the deity named Ogun. Translated by Jerome Rothenberg (called a “working” rather than a translation) from a French translation by Pierre Verger.
Commentary
This oríkì highlights Ogun's capacity to kill people (“he kills the husband in a fire / he kills the wife in her foyer”) or to otherwise be connected to blood (“Ogun sticks a bloodcovered hat on head”). Ogun is also connected to male sexual potency and some degree of town-building or domesticity.
Context
This poem is an example of Yoruba praise poetry called oríkì.
Ogun is one of the Orisha, deities in the Yoruba religion. The number of Orisha varies by source, but there are always several hundred to over one thousand. This poem calls him “orisha number three.”
A note preceding the working indicates that “Ogun must be praised by all those who use iron.” He is also generally connected to physical combat, the woods, and roads, all of which feature in this oríkì.
Bibliography
Brooks, Robin. “Manifestations of Ogun Symbolism in Paule Marshall's Praisesong for the Widow.” Journal of Africana Religions, vol. 2, no. 2, 2014, pp. 161–183. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.5325/jafrireli.2.2.0161. Accessed 16 June 2021.
