Say to the Tomb

By Bios Diallo

Translated from French by Emma Ramadan

Poet Bios Diallo connects Mauritania’s struggle to form a united national identity with similar conflicts elsewhere on the continent.

May 4, 2021

Mauritania Language Migration Identity

And
Say to the tomb, without pride
Here the poem ends
Here identities, prayers bleed
And, look
Here also the nation is reborn

And since a country has but one language
That of its future, of its people
I will brandish my own
Though full of holes

And since we won’t exile ourselves
Or harm our land
I will be, for my nation
The eternal shepherd.

And
Say to the tomb, without pride
Here the poem ends
Here identities, prayers bleed
And, look
Here also the nation is reborn

And since a country has but one language
That of its future, of its people
I will brandish my own
Though full of holes

And since we won’t exile ourselves
Or harm our land
I will be, for my nation
The eternal shepherd.

Et
Dites à la tombe, sans orgueil
Là finit le poème
Là saignent les identités, les prières
Et, voyez
Là aussi renaît la Nation

Et puisqu’un pays n’a qu’une langue
Celle de son avenir, de son peuple
Je sortirai la mienne
Même perforée

Et puisqu’on ne s’exile
Ne blesse sa terre
Je serai, pour ma Nation
Le berger éternel

Bios Diallo was born in Sélibaby, in the south of…

Emma Ramadan is a literary translator and recipient of the PEN Translation Prize, the Albertine Prize, and an NEA Translation Fellowship.