This Is not Free Verse! A Stylistic Study of Kezilahabi’s Poems

This article focuses on the question of free verse from an inductive point of view, moving from the particular case of Kezilahabi’s texts (their structure and style) to the question of free verse in Swahili modern poetry and its terminology. Thus, the article overcomes the fixed division between traditionalist and reformist ideas, which has characterized Swahili critics ever since Kezilahabi published his first collection of poems, Kichomi (1974). Through the analysis of a few poems (mostly from Kichomi and Dhifa, 2008), the hybrid, new forms of Kezilahabi’s poetry, aspects of his poetics, and his place in the history of Swahili poetry are shown.

keywords: hybrid form, swahili poetry, free verse, mtiririko, style