Rhapsodies of Life's Journeys and Other Poems and Proverbs
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by michael c. mbabuike
Price: $9.95
Book Website: http://afrstime@aol.com
276 Pages, Paperback, 6 x 9
ISBN-10: 0-9678460-3-X
ISBN-13: 978-0-9678460-3-3
a book of poems of memory trips third volume dealing with life's ups and downs and personal journeys of existence. The poems of part one deal mostly on ruminations and expressions of faith, beliefs, human activities and divine wonders and divine mercies, love and forgiveness of human weaknesses and shortcomings.These are poetics of hope and supplications. The second part contains the Mbabuike children's juvenilias of poems in different ages and various comprehensions of life's meanings by three of the children. These are poems of fun and music and merry-go-round. The third part of the book deals mainly with Igbo proverbs and philosophy of life and existence in the entire cosmos. The proverbs are usually based and coined after life's events, human behaviors, ordinary course of things and the general wisdom of the common people. The proverbs are said/written in mainly two different renditions of Igbo language emphasizing the two different dialects of Igbo looking and explaining the same mundane and mystic wonders and banalites. The translations are literary and interpretative meanings of the proverbs.This is partly a trip in nostalgia and a contribution to the preservation of Igbo patrimony , legacies and especially the spoken and also the written Igbo language.This section of the book does not lay any claims to perfection of the language and/or the English renditions of the sense, meaning and oratory skills of both languages which themselves are also international languages.Among the Igbo, proverbs are sine qua non of speech.
About The Author
The author michael c. mbabuike is an educator in the new york area where he is professor of the Humanities and Africana Studies at Hostos Community College of the City University of New York. A former chair of the dept of humanites and the College-Wide Senate, Mbabuike is still the coordinator of the Afriacana Studies Unit. He has served as two term president of the New York African Studies Association (NYASA).His works have been published by numerous scholarly journals in fields such as anthropology, the African family,literature, poetry, the African Diasporic issues,and social problems in minority communities.A family man who prides himself deeply in the blessings God has bestowed on him especially his two daughters and two sons.For Mbabuike poetry is also entertainment, history, philosophy but most importantly prayer and recognition of man's litlleness vis-a-vis the infinitie greatness of the divine. Mbabuike invites (possible readers) to come with him "through this...rigmarole of life, through rituals and ceremonies, rememberances of the past, of my childhood, of my village, of bushes, the forest, the yam fields, cassava plantations, and the market days...". His book on Senghor's poetry was published in 1989.
Reviews
Rhapsodies of Life's Journeys and Other Poems and Proverbs is in grosso modo a Mbabuike family journey through the poetics of life's events.In part one of the book, Mbabuike looks deep into his inner self and searches his soul while expressing his personal feelings about what goes on around him. In part two the reader finds an innocent joy in reading and singing the Mbabuike children's poetic ventures where they also express the marvels and wonders which they encounter in their young lives. Part three is devoted to Igbo proverbs and idioms which are astutely translated into literal and word by word English meaning , thus safe guarding an essential part of Igbo patrimony and linguistic legacies. Rhapsodies of...is a unique and attractive collection of poems , idioms and proverbs.This is a must read for all.
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