Asefru

The asefru (pl. isefra) is a poetic composition of the Berber literature of

Kabylia Kabylia ('' Kabyle: Tamurt n Leqbayel'' or ''Iqbayliyen'', meaning "Land of Kabyles", '','' meaning "Land of the Tribes") is a cultural, natural and historical region Historical regions (or historical areas) are geographical regions which ...

. It is a sort of short sonnet with a ternary structure, formed by three

strophes A strophe () is a poetic term originally referring to the first part of the ode in Ancient Greek tragedy, followed by the antistrophe and epode. The term has been extended to also mean a structural division of a poem containing stanzas of varying ...

of three verses each. The

rhymes A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds (usually, the exact same phonemes) in the final stressed syllables and any following syllables of two or more words. Most often, this kind of perfect rhyming is consciously used for a musical or aesthetic ...

follow the pattern AAB AAB AAB, while the length of the three verses of each strophe is 7 + 5 + 7 syllables. It is a relatively new

meter The metre (British spelling) or meter (American spelling; see spelling differences) (from the French unit , from the Greek noun , "measure"), symbol m, is the primary unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), though its pref ...

compared to those from traditional poetry, probably born around the middle of the 19th century, and the poet who has indissolubly linked his name to this type of composition is

Si Mohand Si Mohand ou-Mhand n At Hmadouch, also known as Si Mhand, (Icerɛiwen, Tizi Rached, about 1848 - Ain El Hammam, 28 December 1905) was a widely known Berber-Amazigh poet from Kabylie in Algeria. Called the "Kabyle Verlaine" by French scholars, his wo ...

. The asefru is usually read or recited but can also be sung, and numerous examples of isefra sung are present in the repertoire of different Kabyle singers, such as Taos Amrouche (for example ''Vaste est la prison'', Vast is the prison),

Slimane Azem Slimane Azem (September 19, 1918 – January 31, 1983) was an Algerian singer and poet, born in Agouni Gueghrane (kabylie region),that composed hundreds of songs in more than 40 years of artistic life. A great connoisseur and admirer of the po ...

(''Effɤ ay ajrad tamurt-iw'', Grasshopper, leave my country) or

Malika Domrane Malika Domrane (born 12 March 1956 in Tizi Hibel) is an Algerian singer, originally from Kabylie. Life Domrane began to sing in her high school choir in Tizi Ouzou. In 1969 she won a gold medal at festival in Algeria. After graduating as a n ...

(''Nnehta'', Sighing). An example of asefru (Si Mohand): {{Verse translation, lang=ber-Latn, Ggulleɣ seg Tizi-wuzzu armi d Akfadu ur ḥkimen dg' akken llan A neṛṛez wal' a neknu axiṛ daεwessu anda ttqewwiden ccifan Lɣ^werba tura deg uqerru welleh ard a nenfu wala leεquba ɣer yilfan , I swear, from Tizi Ouzou up the Akfadou's pass none of those shall command me I break but I do not bend I'd rather be damned there where pimps govern Emigration is my destiny God, better is the exile than the law of Pigs Algerian literature Poetic forms Berber culture Kabylie