There is a sort of rhyme made by the final syllable, which is generally the same in each line throughout the piece. Thus the 'Dance Song' at p. 473 has zi for the final syllable, and that at p. 480 has ma. In the 'Poem of Liongo,' which is one of the best known and most famous of all Swahili poems, the first four lines of each stanza rhyme together, and the final syllable of the stanzas is identical throughout the poem. The 'Utenzi on Job' exhibits another form of versification. In all these cases, however, the rhyme is to the eye more than to the ear, as all the final syllables being unaccented, the prominent sounds often destroy the feeling of rhyme. I suppose this system of identical endings is copied from the Arabic, of which the accentuation is very different.
The two chief kinds of poetry are the Dance Songs and the Utenzis. It is the custom to meet about ten or eleven at night and dance on until daybreak. The men and slave women dance, the ladies sit a little retired and look on. I have a roll about two yards long containing songs for one evening, of which two are printed at p. 473, the rest are in a similar style. The first figure is danced by a single couple, the second by two couples: the names refer to the sort of steps in which they are danced. Each piece takes a long time to sing, as most of the syllables have several notes and flourishes or little cadences to themselves.
The Utenzis are religious poems. One, of which I had a rough copy, was composed of an account of the sufferings after death of those who break the Ramathan fast, and omit the regular forms of prayer. Another was an account of a dispute between Moses and Mohammed as to which was the greater, ending of course in the triumph of the latter. I should have been glad to have exhibited the
