The Coranna

The Coranna

Original Text
Thomas Pringle, African Sketches (London: Edward Moxon, 1834): 16-17. 010097.e.63 British Library
1Fast by his wild resounding River
3Still drives his heifers forth to feed,
5A rover still unchecked will range,
6As humour calls, or seasons change;
7His tent of mats and leathern gear
8All packed upon the patient steer.
9'Mid all his wanderings hating toil,
10He never tills the stubborn soil;
11But on the milky dam relies,
12And what spontaneous earth supplies.
13Or, should long-parching droughts prevail,
14And milk, and bulbs, and locusts fail,
15He lays him down to sleep away
16In languid trance the weary day;
17Oft as he feels gaunt hunger's stound,
19Lulled by the sound of the Gareep,
20Beneath the willows murmuring deep:
21Till thunder-clouds, surcharged with rain,
22Pour verdure o'er the panting plain;
23And call the famished Dreamer from his trance,
24To feast on milk and game, and wake the moon-light dance.

Notes

2] Coran: "The Corannas, Koras, or Koraquas, are a tribe of independent Hottentots, inhabiting the banks of the Gareep, or Great Orange River. They are naturally a mild, indolent, pastoral people, subsisting chiefly on the milk of their goats and cows, and by occasional hunting .... not a few of the Corannas have recently become bands of robbers; and in conjunction with Bergenaars and other banditti have committed many deplorable ravages upon the Bechuana tribes, and sometimes on the Colony" (Pringle's note, p. 504). Back to Line
4] gorrah: "... one of the few rude musical instruments peculiar to the Hottentot race .... It consists merely of a slender stick, or bow,on which a string of catgut is strained. But to the lower end of this string, a flat piece, of about an inch and a half long, of the quill of an ostrich, is attached .... This quill, being applied to the lips, is made to vibrate" (Pringle's note, pp. 504-05). Back to Line
18] famine's girdle: "In seasons of long continued drought, the Corannas are occasionally reduced to extreme destitution; and are then forced, like the Bushmen, to subsist on wild roots, ants, and locusts. On such occasions, they are accustomed to wear a leathern band bound tightly around their middle, which they term `the girdle of famine'" (Pringle's note, p. 505). Back to Line
Publication Start Year
1827
Publication Notes
See "The Koranna," George Thompson, Travels and Adventures in Southern Africa, ed. Vernon S. Forbes (Cape Town: Van Riebeeck Society, 1967): I, 123. DT 756 .T47 1967. Also London: H. Colburn, 1827. DT 756 .T47 1827A Robarts Library
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition
RPO 2000.
Form