Swahili poetry

Burundian musician

Utenzi or utend̠i is a form of narrative poetry in Swahili. Its name derives from the fact that it usually describes heroic deeds, like the medieval European gesta (lit. "deeds"). Utendi, plural tendi, meaning "act" or "deed", is derived from the Swahili verb ku-tenda "to do". Well-known examples of utenzi are the Utendi wa Tambuka by Bwana Mwengo (one of the earliest known literary works in Swahili, dated 1728), the Utenzi wa Shufaka, and the Utenzi wa vita vya Uhud (the epic of the battle of Uhud) compiled around 1950 by Haji Chum. Reciting utenzi is a popular pastime on weddings and other c