As I promised earlier, here is the translation to the poem. Now, I am no Yoruba expert, but from my translations sha, you should get the full gist of the poem. Abeg, if anyone out there in blogville can assist with translating better, holler o!
Miss Fly High and
Myne Whitman , both of you need to love me for this! It was kinda hard trying to make sense of it in English. :D
Isé ni òògùn ìsé [Work is the medicine for poverty]
Múra sí isé re òréè mi [Work hard my friend]
Isé ni a fi í di eni giga [Work is what we use to elevate (think in terms of importance, relevance, etc) ourselves]
Bí a kò bá réni fèyìn tì, Bí òle là á rí; [If we have noone to lean on, we appear lazy]
Bí a ko réni gbékèlé, [If we have noone to rely/depend on]
À tera mó isé eni [We will work harder]
Ìyá re lè lówó lówó [Your mother might have money]
Bàbá sì lè lésin léèkàn [Your father might have horses]
Bí o bá gbójú lé won [If you depend on them]
O té tán ni mo so fún o [You will disgrace yourself, I tell you]
Ohun tí a kò ba jìyà fún [Whatever we did not suffer/work hard to earn ]
Kì í lè tójó [It will not last]
Ohun tí a bá fara sisé fún [Whatever we work hard for]
Ní í pé lówó eni [Is what lasts long]
Apá lará, ìgùnpá nìyekan [Your arms are relatives, your elbows are siblings
I think this is just trying to tell you that you only have yourself pretty much. ????? help here abeg! ]
Bí ayé n fé o lónìí [The world may love you today]
Bí o bá lówó lówó [While you have money]
Ni won á máa fé o lóla [They will love you tomorrow]
Tàbí tí o bá wà ní ipò àtàtà [When you hold a position of importance]
Ayé á yé o sí tèrín-tèrín [The world will honor you with smiles/laughter]
Jé kí o di eni n ráágó [Wait till you become poor]
Kí o rí báyé ti í símú sí o [And watch how the world will look down on you]
Èkó sì tún n soni í dògá [Education also elevates people to higher positions]
Múra kí o kó o dáradára [Work hard towards your education]
Bí o sì rí òpò ènìyàn [Even when you see lots of people]
Tí wón n fi èkó se èrín rín [Who are laughing/not being serious about their education]
Dákun má se fara wé won [Please do not emulate/copy them]
Ìyà n bò fómo tí kò gbón [An unwise child will meet his/her suffering]
Ekún n be fómo tó n sá kiri [Tears await a child who is unserious]
Má fòwúrò seré, òréè mi [Do not play with your youth]
Múra sísé, ojó n lo. [Work hard, time is running by]
Omo, I try for una o! Thank you, thank you, thank you in advance :D I know these are probably not the textbook translations but I try small for una jare.
Posts
