Nou Pase Kay Etranje
Nou pase kay etranje
Nou jwenn pitit nou
Ap bale papòt
Nou chita nan salon etranje
Nou wè tablo nou
Kwoke sou mi
Nou tande mizik nou ap sot nan gagann yo
N’antre nan kizin etranje
Nou jwenn toutrèl nou
Ap kuit nan chodyè yo
Yo ta chode toutrèl lavi-n
Yo ta toufe zwezo bèlte-n
Men gen moun ki pase
Chodyè-a dekouvri
Toutrèl vole l’ale
Translator’s Glossary
|
WORD
|
DEFINITION
|
POSSIBLE SYNONYMS
|
|---|---|---|
| ap bale (participle) | our beautiful, our...of beauty, our glorious, our gracefulto cleaning an area by brushing away dirt or litter | sweeping, cleaning, wiping, dusting, mopping |
| ap kuit (participle) | to heat up on the stove | cooking, boiling, simmering, frying, heating, sizzling, stewing |
| ap sot (participle) | referring to the direction of origin | coming from, traveling from, flowing from, originating from |
| bèlte-n (adj.) | belonging to the speaker and one or more people and pleasing the senses or mind | our beautiful, our...of beauty, our glorious, our graceful |
| chita (v.) | to adopt or be in a position in which one’s weight is supported by one’s backside rather than one’s feet | sit, take a seat, perch, rest, squat, grab a chair |
| chode (v.) | to injure with very hot liquid or steam | scald, cook, steam, blanch, char, heat, scorch |
| chodyè (n.) | a container, typically rounded or cylindrical, used for cooking | pot, cauldron, stewpot |
| dekouvri (adj.) | characterized by not having a lid | uncovered, opened, lidless |
| etranje (adj.) | belonging to a person who comes from a country other than one’s own or is unfamiliar | of a foreigner, a foreigner’s, a stranger’s, foreign, alien, an outsider’s, a settler’s |
| gagann (n.) | the part of the body used to speak and sing | throat, windpipe, mouth |
| gen (v.) | denoting the existence or arrival of something or someone | there is, here comes |
| jwenn (v.) | perceive by chance or unexpectedly | find, discover, observe, notice, spot, encounter, come across, run into |
| kay (n.) | the place where one lives permanently | home, house, household, residence, abode, homestead |
| ki (pron.) | used to introduce a clause giving further information about a person or people previously mentioned | those that, who |
| kizin (n.) | a room or area where food is prepared and cooked | kitchen, canteen, cookery, kitchenette |
| kwoke sou (phrase) | suspended from or attached to a surface | hanging on, fixed to, attached to, displayed upon, nailed to, covering |
| l’ale (adv.) | to or at a distance from a particular place, person, or thing | away, off, from here, from there, elsewhere, far off, far away |
| lavi-n (adj.) | not dead | alive, living, live, mortal, animate |
| men (conj.) | used to introduce something contrasting | but, yet, however, still, nonetheless, nevertheless, despite that, all the same |
| mi (n.) | the sides of a building or room | walls |
| mizik (n.) | a sound perceived as pleasingly harmonious | music, song, melody, singing, tune, harmony, refrain |
| moun (n.) | unknown or unspecified person | someone, a person, some soul |
| n’antre (pron. + v.) | from the verb meaning “to come or go into a place” | from the verb meaning “to come or go into a place” |
| nan (prep.) | expressing the state of being enclosed or surrounded by something else | in, within, inside, into |
| nou (pron. / adj.) | 1. pronoun—used by the speaker to refer to him or herself and one or more other people 2. adjective—belonging to or associated with the speaker and one or more other people | we; our, of ours |
| papòt (n.) | the space surrounding or immediately in front of a door | threshold, entrance, doorway, floor, doorstep, entryway, gateway |
| pase (v.) | to move across or through | pass(es) into, enter(s), walk(s) into, go(es) into, set(s) foot in |
| pitit (n.) | sons and/or daughters | children, kids, offspring, little ones |
| salon (n.) | a reception room in a large house | salon, living room, sitting room, lounge, drawing room, parlor, gallery |
| ta (v.) | expressing a desire or objective | would, are trying to, intend to, want to |
| tablo (n.) | works of art | paintings, pictures, artwork, sketches, canvases, compositions |
| tande (v.) | perceive sound with the ear | hear, make out, overhear, discern |
| toufe (v.) | to cause to die from lack of air or inability to breathe | choke, smother, suffocate |
| toutrèl (n.) | a bird with a small head, short legs, and a cooing voice | dove, turtledove |
| vole (v.) | moves through the air | flies, soars, flutters, sails, takes flight, takes off |
| wè (v.) | perceive visually with the eyes | see, find, discover, spot, catch sight of, glimpse |
| yo (pron. / adj.) | 1. pronoun—used to refer to two or more people or someone of unspecified gender 2. adjective—belonging to or associated with two or more people or someone of unspecified gender | they; their |
| zwezo (n.) | warm-blooded, egg-laying animal distinguished by the possession of feathers, wings, and a beak | bird, fowl |
Artistic Elements
About Free Verse
Free verse is a literary device that can be defined as poetry that is free from
limitations of regular meter or rhythm and does not rhyme with fixed forms. Such
poems are without rhythms and rhyme schemes; do not follow regular rhyme
scheme rules and still provide artistic expression. In this way, the poet can give his
own shape to a poem how he/she desires. However, it still allows poets to use
alliteration, rhyme, cadences or rhythms to get the effects that they consider are
suitable for the piece.
Bio
Boadiba is the pen name of a Haitian author, poet, translator, and performance artist. While her birth date is unknown, we do know that she immigrated to the United States in the 1980s. She lives in Oakland, California, but continues to visit Haiti regularly. When the massive earthquake hit the island in 2010, she was there visiting family. She wrote about that experience in what she called an “earthquake diary.”
Haitian Creole is a French-based language and the first language of most Haitians. The word creole comes from a Portuguese word for “person”—particularly a servant raised in one’s house, but today it refers to the language generated by hundreds of years of contact between European settlers and their African slaves.