‘Since Adam…’
Since Adam/your lip did eat of that Tree,
The Saviour/my heart has been hung up for Thee.
~Â Anonymous, trans. by Donald Levine
Editor’s note: A classic semenna warq (wax and gold) q’ene where two subjects are presented side by side and the second line puns on the verb, in this case tasaqala, which can mean is crucified or is anxious to be near. The poem is about Christ atoning for the sin of man, but is also a sensual love poem.
‘What use is tella? What use is tejj?’
What use is tella? What use is tejj?
When you see the enemy, serve him coffee!
~Â Anonymous, trans. by Donald Levine
Editor’s note: Tella is a watery beer and tejj is strong honey wine. This is a so-called merimer q’ene which puns on two possible meanings of a phrase, in this case buna adargaw (serve him coffee) and bun adargaw (reduce him to ashes), so the “gold†reading of the second line is: When you see the enemy, burn him to ashes!
‘Since Adam…’ and ‘What use is tella?…’ were both originally published in ‘Wax and Gold’, by Donald Levine(University of Chicago Press, 1965).
The other q’ene in this selection are versions by Chris Beckett of Ge’ez (Ethiopic) poems in ‘The Meaning of Quine: The River of Life’, by Kessis Kefyalew Merahi (Addis Ababa 2006).
