#862: Haitian song Choucoune: Dorce replies

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From:LAKAT47@aol.com

<< Can someone clarify something for me? Is Choucoune's English translation  
 Yellow Bird or Little Bird?
 
 Did Oswald Durand write the lyrics originally as a poem in l940 ?  >>
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I am answering you with information from my Haitian Anthology history bood, 
Libete.  Oswald Durand wrote the poem Choucoune in 1880.  It was the first 
major poem writen in Kreyol.  It was later put to music and became a popular 
song.  

In the poem, Choucoune is a woman's name, an object of love found and lost.  
The man is talking to the birds about her.  I don't think Choucoune 
translates to either yellow bird or little bird.  The song has a chorus that 
starts, "ti zwazo.." which is little bird.  The English words to the song are 
not a translation of the poem I do not believe.  It is Yellow Bird and is 
sung to a calypso beat.........I remember hearing Harry Belafonte sing it but 
I never knew it was a Haitian song until I heard it sung in Kreyol at the 
Oloffson!  I would like to know more about the two songs and how they compare 
to the original poem if anyone has that information.

sincerely,

Kathy Dorce'