MZUZU UNIVERSITY

CENTRE FOR OPEN DISTANCE AND e- LEARNING

FACULTY OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE, CULTURAL AND CREATIVE STUDIES

TO : RON SICHALI

FROM : STARFORD MALIKO

REG NO : BEDLDL 43819

COURSE TITLE : CHICHEWA POETRY

COURSE CODE : ALLE 2302

LEVEL : TWO

SEMESTER : THREE

ASSIGNMENT NO : ONE

TASK : DISCUSSING HOW THE POEMS " NASIWELO AND

"UNALIDI NASIWEMA" IN KUIMBA KWA MLAKATULI
BY MALUNGA REFLECT THE AUTHOR'S
UNDERSTANDING ABOUT WHAT POETRY IS AS
PRESENTED IN HIS POEM "NDAKATULO MCHIYAN?".

DUE DATE : 12th JULY, 2022.

HOW THE POEMS “NASIWELO” AND “UNALIDI NASUWEMA” IN KUIMBA KWA
MLAKATULI BY MALUNGA REFLECT THE AUTHOR’S UNDERSTANDING ABOUT
WHAT POETRY IS AS PRESENTED IN HIS POEM, “NDAKATULO NCHIYANI?”

Kuyimba Kwa Mlakatuli is a collection of poems written by Benedicto Malunga. In this

collection of poems, Malunga has one titled “Ndakatulo N’chiyani” which specifies elements
of poetry and also its functions. Among the aspects of poetry mentioned in this poem is that
poetry is about a literary work in which the expression of feelings, ideas and thoughts is given
by the use of distinctive style and rhythm. One of the styles Malunga mention is that it contains
brief sentences with no clear meaning. Another thing is that poetry serves a purpose of
entertainment and awakens the consciousness of those who do wrong. Also, he contrasts poetry
from other genres of literature such as stories and proverbs. Therefore, this essay will discuss
how Malunga’s understanding of poetry is as presented in his poem, “Ndakatulo N’chiyani” is
reflected in the poems “Nasiwelo” and “Unalidi Nasuwema”.

One of the aspects of poetry which is mentioned in “Ndakatulo N’chiyani?” is that poetry
contains words or sentences with cryptic meaning, that is, the meaning is unclear and requires
a deep analysis to decode or deduce the meaning of the poem. He highlights that poetry
“ndimawu ophiphiritsa” or “zining’a zakukwa ndinso mawu ozuna.” These aspects of poetry
can be observed in “Nasiwelo” and “Unalidi Nasuwema”. In “Nasiwelo”, the author compares
the beauty of Nasiwelo as a ripening fruit as the fruit is personified metaphically:
Mtima wanga uyenerekadi
Kusonthokera iwe chipatso
Chakupsa chakupsa pakati pa zowezuka
Maso pokuona achita mbee ngati mtombera…

In this stanza, “iwe chipatso” (you are a shoe) points to Nasiwelo as a metaphor and the stanza
depicts how the persona in the poems yearns for her. The stanza is not direct as it expresses
admiration of Nasiwelo as a beautiful woman.

Similarly, the same expressions are used in the poem “Unalidi Nasuwema” as Malunga
demonstrates his understanding of poetry in his description of the beauty of “Nasuwema”:
Mithenga yakukhumbira kukongola kwako
M’magazi athu owira ndi unyamata.

In these lines, the reaction of boys to the beauty of Nasuwema is depicted as hot blood which
also is shown in “Nasiwelo” where it is said that “ntimawu suleka kulirira iwe.” (My heart does
not stop crying for you) These expressions in the two poems demonstrate that the author
understands poetry very well.

Furthermore, the use of similes also illustrates that the author has a deep knowledge of poetry.
In “Ndakatulo N’chiyani”, the author characterises poetry as having
Zifanifani zonona ndimatanthawuzo
Ntchedzero zosankhidwa mofatsa ndinso mosamala,
Ziganizo zosanjidwa mwaliwuma.

In these lines, Malunga says that poetry contains similes and these are carefully selected so as
not to distort the meaning. The author demonstrates this in “Nasiwelo” and “Unalidi
Nasuwema”. In both poems, “Nasiwelo” and “Unalidi Nasuwema”, similes permeate
throughout them. In “Nasiwelo”, the beauty of Nasiwelo is compared to many things. For
instance, the persona says that “thupi lako la see ngati dzila” [your skin is as smooth as an
egg]. Other similes that have been used by Malunga to show that he understands are as
follows. Firstly, to interpret or show how the beauty of Nasiwelo has impacted the persona,
the uses similes like
Ngakhale undiyinge ngati ntchentche
Ine sindilabada
Chifukwa ndimakukonda
Umo ntchezi ikondera msipu.
These lines show how knowledgeable the author is in his use of similes in poetry. The same
use of similes can be noted in “Unalidi Nasuwema” as the author says:
Masiku ano ndimakumbuka ubwana
Wokoma ngati panda uja
Ndi chikhumbiro
Chozama ngati muzu wa pombo.

It is easy to notice in these lines the use of similes to give a more tangible description of how
the persona desired “Nasuwema” when he was a child. Poetry, as Malunga highlights, uses
brief sentences and this can be well noted in the stanza above as use of the word “chikhumbiro”
shortens what otherwise could have been an elaborate sentence. All these are distinctive
features of poetry and this gives a clear indication that the poem reflects how deep the author’s
understanding is in poetry.

Malunga also says that poetry is very different from other genres of literature. He asks:
Zisiyana pati ndi nthano ndakatulozi?
 Zisiyana motani ndi miyambi izozi?
Zidasemphana pati ndi nkhani?

In these lines the author wants to show how different poetry is from “nthano”[folktales],
“miyambi” [proverbs] and “nkhani” [stories]. Providing the difference, the author says that it
is because poetry “ntimaganizo tachidule”. This implies that poetry portrays thoughts that are
presented in brief and straight to the point. This also indicates that poetry is very short since
thoughts are shortened. This aspect can be easily identified in “Nasiwelo” and “Unalidi
Nasuwema.” It can be noted that “Unalidi Nasuwema” is a story of Nasuwema but it is
presented in brief. How the whole society reacted when Nasuwema was beautiful to the point
where her beauty is spoiled and lost in cosmetics. All the age groups, “mkhalamba”, “ana” and
“anyamata” are mentioned in this poem to represent the whole society as it laments the change
in Nasuwema. On the other hand, Nasiwelo is indeed presented in brief as it explains the
reasons why the persona at last made up his mind to get what he wants no matter what. This is
emphatically said in the following lines:
Tsono ndalimba ntima.
Nduwira yaukafanikhale ndivala….
Mpakana utandilora.

Instead of giving more details of how the persona is going to achieve what he wants, he is brief
and to the point. Malunga here demonstrate that he has a good knowledge of poetry.

Lastly, as the author mentions in “Ndakatulo N’chiyani”, the purpose of poetry is to entertain
“okonda mtendere ndi chilungamo.” This fact can be easily seen in “Nasiwelo” and “Unalidi
Nasuwema” where the vivid description of beauty in Nasiwelo and Nasuwema may entertain
readers and literary devices are employed to attract attention to the reader and to get entertained.
Hence, Malunga’s understanding of poetry is depicted here as he writes the poems
purposefully.

In conclusion,, “Nasiwelo” and “Unalidi Nasuwema” reflect the elements of poetry that
Malunga highlighted in “Ndakatulo N’chiyani” some of which are that poetry is a brief
narrative and straight to the point. In this case, poetry is different from stories, proverbs and
folktales, since poetry is short. In the use of literary devices such as similes, poetry is careful
so as to emphatically catch the emotion of the persona. Therefore, it can be noted that Malunga
has a good understanding of how poetry is structured and its purpose.