We are the men of soul
men of song we measure out
our joys and agonies
in paces of the dance.
Beware, soul brother, beware,
for others there will be
lying in waiting, leaden-footed, tone deaf,
passionate to despoil the devour.
Take care then, mother’s son, take care,
lest you become a dancer disinherited in mid-air
hanging a lame foot in air like the hen
in a strange unfamiliar compound.
Protect this patrimony to which
you must return when the song is finished
and the dancers disperse;
Remember also your children
for they in their time will want a
place for their feet when they come of age
and the dance of the future is born for them.
Chinua Achebe
Albert Chinualumogu Achebe was a Nigerian novelist, poet, professor, and critic. His first novel Things Fall Apart (published in 1958) was considered as the most widely read book in modernAfrican literature. He was born in Ogidi on 6 November 1930 and died in Massachusetts, USA on 21 March 2013.
men of song we measure out
our joys and agonies
in paces of the dance.
Beware, soul brother, beware,
for others there will be
lying in waiting, leaden-footed, tone deaf,
passionate to despoil the devour.
Take care then, mother’s son, take care,
lest you become a dancer disinherited in mid-air
hanging a lame foot in air like the hen
in a strange unfamiliar compound.
Protect this patrimony to which
you must return when the song is finished
and the dancers disperse;
Remember also your children
for they in their time will want a
place for their feet when they come of age
and the dance of the future is born for them.
Chinua Achebe
Albert Chinualumogu Achebe was a Nigerian novelist, poet, professor, and critic. His first novel Things Fall Apart (published in 1958) was considered as the most widely read book in modernAfrican literature. He was born in Ogidi on 6 November 1930 and died in Massachusetts, USA on 21 March 2013.
We miss a man like this, in a time like this
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