"Translated from the Acoli by the author who has clipped a bit of the eagle's wings and rendered the sharp edges of the warrior's sword rusty and blunt, and has also murdered rhythm and rhyme."
—Okot p'Bitek on translating his own epic poem Song of Lawino into English.
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p'Bitek originally wrote the poem in his native language of Acoli. It was written in rhyming couplets and had a regular meter, both of which were sacrificed when he translated it into free verse for publication in English, hence his apology and/or lament.
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