Language and Style in Ọbasa’s Poetry

Denrele Adetimkan Obasa (1878-1948) was a great Yoruba poet in his own ́ right. It was he who provided ‘the link between traditional beliefs and writing in the modern vein.’2 The three volumes of Yorùbá poetry produced by him between 1927 and 1945 had a great impact not only on the adults who wer...

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Main Author:	Afọlabi Ọlabimtan (deceased)
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Published:	LibraryPress@UF 2021-12-01
Series:	Yoruba Studies Review
Online Access:	https://ojs.test.flvc.org/ysr/article/view/130073
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author	Afọlabi Ọlabimtan (deceased)
author_facet	Afọlabi Ọlabimtan (deceased)
author_sort	Afọlabi Ọlabimtan (deceased)
collection	DOAJ
description	Denrele Adetimkan Obasa (1878-1948) was a great Yoruba poet in his own ́ right. It was he who provided ‘the link between traditional beliefs and writing in the modern vein.’2 The three volumes of Yorùbá poetry produced by him between 1927 and 1945 had a great impact not only on the adults who were impressed by the wealth of traditional sayings in his poems, but also on the school children who were made to learn some of the poems by heart.3 In this paper I intend to answer the question: In what does Obasa’s greatness as ̣ a poet consist? In the Ìjúbà (prologue) to Iwe ̀ ́ Kinni ́ ́ Awo ̀ n Ake ̣ wi, he writes: ̀ O di odụ ́n mó ̣kànléló ̣gbò ̣n nísisiyi (AD 1896) ti mo ti be ́ ̀ ̣re si ̀ ś aạ ́yan kíko -̣́ jo ̣ àwon o ̣ ̀ ̣rò ̣ ogbo ̣ ́ ̣n àtaiyebáyé ti àwon baba n ̣ ́là wa, tí i máa hán jade nínú orin, ègè, rárà, ìjálà, ìpesạ ̀, àròfò ̣, oríkì, ìlù, fèrè àti àgbékà ò ̣ro ̣̀ won…̣ (Obasa 1927: i) (For the past thirtyone years (1896-1927) I have been assembling Yorùbá traditional sayings which embody the wisdom of our fore-fathers. Tese sayings are found in songs and in various forms of Yorùbá poetry; egè, ̀ rará , i ̀ ̀jála, i ́ pè sạ , à rò ̀fo, ori ̣̀ ́ki, and in the language of the drum and the ̀ fute.)
format	Article
id	doaj-art-4c01760b54a54560ac2e1c7a4fe4525f
institution	Kabale University
issn	2473-4713 2578-692X
language	English
publishDate	2021-12-01
publisher	LibraryPress@UF
record_format	Article
series	Yoruba Studies Review
spelling	doaj-art-4c01760b54a54560ac2e1c7a4fe4525f2025-02-07T13:45:12ZengLibraryPress@UFYoruba Studies Review2473-47132578-692X2021-12-0151Language and Style in Ọbasa’s PoetryAfọlabi Ọlabimtan (deceased) 0University of Lagos Denrele Adetimkan Obasa (1878-1948) was a great Yoruba poet in his own ́ right. It was he who provided ‘the link between traditional beliefs and writing in the modern vein.’2 The three volumes of Yorùbá poetry produced by him between 1927 and 1945 had a great impact not only on the adults who were impressed by the wealth of traditional sayings in his poems, but also on the school children who were made to learn some of the poems by heart.3 In this paper I intend to answer the question: In what does Obasa’s greatness as ̣ a poet consist? In the Ìjúbà (prologue) to Iwe ̀ ́ Kinni ́ ́ Awo ̀ n Ake ̣ wi, he writes: ̀ O di odụ ́n mó ̣kànléló ̣gbò ̣n nísisiyi (AD 1896) ti mo ti be ́ ̀ ̣re si ̀ ś aạ ́yan kíko -̣́ jo ̣ àwon o ̣ ̀ ̣rò ̣ ogbo ̣ ́ ̣n àtaiyebáyé ti àwon baba n ̣ ́là wa, tí i máa hán jade nínú orin, ègè, rárà, ìjálà, ìpesạ ̀, àròfò ̣, oríkì, ìlù, fèrè àti àgbékà ò ̣ro ̣̀ won…̣ (Obasa 1927: i) (For the past thirtyone years (1896-1927) I have been assembling Yorùbá traditional sayings which embody the wisdom of our fore-fathers. Tese sayings are found in songs and in various forms of Yorùbá poetry; egè, ̀ rará , i ̀ ̀jála, i ́ pè sạ , à rò ̀fo, ori ̣̀ ́ki, and in the language of the drum and the ̀ fute.) https://ojs.test.flvc.org/ysr/article/view/130073
spellingShingle	Afọlabi Ọlabimtan (deceased) Language and Style in Ọbasa’s Poetry Yoruba Studies Review
title	Language and Style in Ọbasa’s Poetry
title_full	Language and Style in Ọbasa’s Poetry
title_fullStr	Language and Style in Ọbasa’s Poetry
title_full_unstemmed	Language and Style in Ọbasa’s Poetry
title_short	Language and Style in Ọbasa’s Poetry
title_sort	language and style in obasa s poetry
url	https://ojs.test.flvc.org/ysr/article/view/130073
work_keys_str_mv	AT afolabiolabimtandeceased languageandstyleinobasaspoetry

Language and Style in Ọbasa’s Poetry

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