Berber Odes: Poetry from the Mountains of Morocco

by Michael Peyron (Editor)

The Berber tribes of the mountains of Morocco provide one of the great and inspiring survival stories of our times. They have occupied their mountain homelands since before the dawn of history, and travelers have long marveled at how their music, dance, rock carvings, jewelry, tattoos, pottery, embroideries, and carpets are all impregnated with the wild soul of their landscape. Michael Peyron, who has taught, explored and researched the history of the Berbers for the last fifty years, has gathered together the first collection of English translations of traditional Berber odes.

Genres: Poetry, Morocco

128 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2010

Reviews

[Aiste · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was a very difficult read due to complexity of language, lack of explanations about names/places (or pronunciation of them) mentioned in poems. I think it is a type of poetry that should be left for the spoken manner, as they lose their charm. However, there were a couple of poems that I did enjoy and it was pleasurable read. Choose this book if you are as aware of history and background of Berbers as the author is.

[Sam Mills · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tiny volume. Wish the translation had been more skillful, less strained and arch.