The Wounded Soul of a Black elephant/L'ame Blessee d'un Elephant Noir : & A Prayer to the Ancestors/& Priere aux Ancetres

"I spent my childhood, like most children brought up in the Congolese bush, among women. Their talk, their songs, their lullabies, their tales, their tears and even their quarrels sprinkled with parables, were all imbued with poetry." For Gabriel Okoundji this childhood was the source of his inspiration - and this fine translation conveys his sense of wonder at the stars, the rain, the wind, the relationship of Man and the natural world. He sees his poetry as an interpretation, an adaptation of the oral poetry which exists naturally in many African societies. "The harmonious integration of Man in the world is my raw material." This book contains two series of poems, some short, some longer, all rich in imagery and imbued with the atmosphere of rural Africa. It also contains a fascinating account of Gabriel's contact with Peter and how this translation and publication came about.