Life in Verse: A Glimpse into the Ao-Naga Traditional Poetry

There is nothing new in something we would call part of the “Oral Tradition” and yet living in the 21st century, for someone of my generation, I am always astounded by the new things I discover in my quest for learning about my ancestors. My discoveries are “new” only for myself since people belonging to an older generation already possess lived experiences of the oral tradition. Recently, I was exploring the traditional poetry of the Ao Nagas and realized that Ao poetry is extremely artistic.

The “artfulness” of Ao poetry can best be explained by the variety of forms and also a unique form of poetry wherein a single song could be sung across twelve (12) tunes.1 These twelve tunes are listed by I. Temjen Jamir in his book Senti Nükjang as:

1. ZükiKensü2: This tune is applied when a young man enters the girls’ dormitory in order to woo the girl he has choosen.

2. Masem3Kensü: This tune is sung when a hunter, a woodcutter or a farmer is all alone on his way to the forest and he breaks the silence of the forest with a nostalgic tune to remember past memories or regrets or loss.

3. Ongjang4Kensü: This tune is used by two or more people who are working in their particular fields or who are within sight of each other as they wander in the forest. They echo each other’s songs and give befitting replies in similar echoing tune.

4. Ayim5Kensü: This crying or shouting tune is used by a group of people working together so as to boost each other’s spirits and to encourage one another to complete the task at hand.

5. Manglong6Kensü: This tune is sung by the village guards during the night time while they are keeping watch over the village jurisdiction.

6. Tsüksen7Kensü: A tune used while pounding rice.

7. Kongki8Kensü: A tune accompanied by musical instruments.

8. Yimlusür9Kensü: warriors sing in this tune while they make a procession through the village.

9. Arü10Kensü: Villagers sing in this tune during the Moatsüfestival when they play tug of war. They hold on to the vine and sing this tune of celebration.

10. Motsüng Arar11Kensü: People sing in this tune during harvesting.

11. Kimak12Kensü: The same song carries a different tune while visiting houses.

12. Mongpo13Kensü: A tune carried during the celebration of different seasons.

The essence of traditional Ao poetry is encapsulated in the old saying by the ancestors, “One speech, one song.” It’s called O ka, Ken ka. Here, adhering to Ferdinand de Saussure’s essay, The Object of Study,in”one speech” the signifier is a verbal prosaic expression wherebythere is a single signified conveyed through the prosaic expression in a literal context. In “one song” the signifier is an utterance in verse set to tune; a sung poem; a performance that has beauty since it appeals to the senses of the listener while there are multiple possibilities ofsignified since the song is open to many interpretations because the communication is done symbolically through the use of metaphors and metonymy, keeping the message ambiguous. Together, the speech and the song attaina higher level of signification, which is why the ancestors used the two in one breath, in one phrase, in one moment. The song is at once the concept bearer and a performance as well. The song is replete with lyrics that reinforce the previously uttered speech.

Structurally it is similar to the Haibun, a Japanese prosimetric literary form of combining prose and haiku, but in terms of its position in time and space, Haibun can be said to be limited to a conscious composition and a reading, without it pervading every sphere of daily life of a community.The Ao-Naga prosimetricoral form resides deep within the consciousness of the community, so much so that even today, during certain occasions like funerals and settling of debts, or counselling given by the elders to the younger generation, a song instinctively follows a speech. Moreover, the songs are an unlimited range of lines or stanzas, not the limited haiku of three lines following a standard meter.

This poetic form is neither an eulogy nor an ode alone. It cannot be classified as oratory since it is a performance not confined to orators only. Everyone is a poet. It is a folklife in verse. Spoken poetry and sung poetry came effortlessly, spontaneously and impulsively according to the need of the moment and according to the mood of the singer.14 A warrior returning home after battle may rest for a while on top of a smooth rock and, looking up at a wild orchid blooming beautifully on one of the branches of a tall tree may talk to the bird flitting among the leaves and branches of the tree and sing a song asking the bird to pluck the orchid and throw it to him so that he could wear it on his ears. This song freezes the moment in time. Later on, the same song is appropriated by other singers to represent the angst and frustration of young lovers who are unable to obtain the love and affection of their chosen one.

A father and a son working in the fields together may hear the song of a bird calling out to them from the forest. The father would decide to go into the forest to shoot down the bird for a meal. However, the son would sing to him:

Apa künetsabang ko
Ongjirangkowazatemüli
Apa aojibawaza?
Molutiyongbangwaza
Arr and ashijatewa

(Father and I on the field/ There’s a bird on the tree branch/ What bird is that father? It’s the Molutiyongbang bird/ Seems like enemies, don’t go.)

Since the beginning of history, as far as memory dates back,15the Aos possessed a system of communicating and constructing meaning. From cooking in the kitchen to working in the fields, from wooing lovers to warfare, from festivals to funerals, poetry permeated all forms of communication. In short, folklife and poetry were one. The everyday motions of the folk were poetry in motion in real time. Till today, the Aos possess a rich legacy of poetry, though most of them still remain untranslated and undocumented.

Temsula Ao, in her book, “The Ao-Naga Oral Tradition”, remarks that poetry was so pervasive in the daily lives of the people that “it would not be an exaggeration to say that the poetic element forms the core of any discourse or narration in Ao folklore.” She goes on to add how “even greetings are exchanged in couplets.” (Ao, 14)

This form of prosimeter is a metanarrative of the communication acts, both literal and symbolic, of the Ao community. This poetry is not recollected in tranquillity. It is not a conscious, deliberate composition that adheres to various aspects of prosody and versification like the Greek classics or classical antiquity. There is no ownership. Everyone is a singer. The song transcends its momentary meaning and continues to be a message for all time to come. Even the songs sung during different occasions and festivals are derived from this kind of communicative performance.

The utility of this prosimetric literary form is firstly, to freeze the moment in time, secondly, imparting lessons to future generations and thirdly, to construct cultural markers of identity.

The style of prose is colloquial while that of the song is extremely specialized. As children grow up they become acquainted with this poetic language and become part and parcel of their communication. However, for the outsider, or for the modern day Aos, the language used in the songs need to be learned through the oral singers who are a dying population. Few songs in written form need to be paraphrased in the same language in order to be understood.

Classifying or constructing a term for such kind of folklore is problematic. At best, it needs to be recognized as a form of communication or a performance that is unique to a particular community. Venturing into the ethnography of speaking might perhaps open more vistas to understanding this phenomenon. Ruth Finnegan who has done extensive work on oral literature remarks that “Give the variety of contexts for oral poems, generalizations about their functions can be misleading”16(Finnegan, 125) and that “there are many continuing controversies and lines of possible development in the study of oral poetry.” (Ibid, 126) Nevertheless, one insightful perspective given by her on the composition and transmission of oral poetry speaks true for the traditional Ao poetry as well and that is the “oral-formulaic process” whereby she says that this process “depends on creation by the performer during the act of PERFORMANCE….poets varied and, in a sense, improvised their performances according to their own interests and skills and the demands of a particular occasion.

What was transmitted was not memorized texts at all but a stock of formulas at every level…on which poets drew from their own creative performances. This was a truly oral mode of composition-in-performance in which, unlike written texts, there was no concept of a correct version. Each performance was unique and authentic in its own right.” (Ibid, 121) Hence, it is not only the twelve tunes or the prosimetric quality that characterizes Ao traditional poetry. There is also the feature of boys and girls engaging in song battles to tease and put each other down as a form of courtship.

Like Frost says, “I have miles to go” and myriads of research to do before I can finally say I know my ancestors well, for you know less than nothing until you understand the culture, psychology, and philosophical foundations of a community even if you belong to the same community.

~ Dr Lanurenla

(Footnotes)
1 I. Temjen Jamir, an authority on Ao folk poetry talks about this in his book written in the vernacular, Senti Nükjang (2003).
2Züki means “girls’ dormitory and kensü means “tune”.
3Masem means “nostalgic”.
4Ongjang means “Forest Echo”.
5Ayim means “cry/shout”.
6Manglong means “surrounding the body”.
7Tsüksen means “pounding rice”
8Kongki means “musical instrument”
9Yimlusür means “procession in the village streets”
10Arü refers to a particular vine that is used during the traditional tug of war game.
11Motsüng Arar means “Threshing and drying grains”
12 Kimak means “visiting houses”
13Mongpo means “seasons”
14It has been noticed, however, that this is a diminishing activity; that the younger generation are slowly losing the poetic spirit or ‘touch’.
15Documentation is a modern activity only.
16Finnegan, Ruth. “Oral Poetry” in Ed. Bauman, Richard. Folklore, Cultural Performances, and Popular Entertainments. Oxford University Press. 1992