Choucoune (poem)
Encyclopedia
"Choucoune" is an 1883 poem by Haiti
an Oswald Durand
. Its words are in Haitian Creole and are the lyrics to the song "Choucoune
" which was later rewritten in English as "Yellow Bird", the title based on the words "ti zwazo" from the Durand poem.
Durand's inspiration for the poem was a "marabou
" woman named Marie Noel Belizaire who was nicknamed Choucoune; she was running a restaurant in Cap-Haïtien
when her path crossed with Durand's with a resultant romantic liaison. In the poem Choucoune desserts the poet for a Frenchman's favors; reportedly the real Choucoune and Durand parted because of the poet's serial philandering. Marie Noel Belizaire is said to have died in her seventy-first year in 1924 having spent the last portion of her life in her native village of La-Plaine-du-Nord as a beggarwoman who was widely recognized as the subject of Durand's poem.http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Soc/soc.culture.haiti/2006-03/msg00068.html
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
an Oswald Durand
Oswald Durand
Oswald Durand was a Haitian poet and politician. Durand is said to be "to Haiti what Shakespeare is to England and Dante to Italy." Among his most famous works are Choucoune, a lyrical poem praising the beauty of a Haitian woman, and Chant National, a lyrical historic poem which became as popular...
. Its words are in Haitian Creole and are the lyrics to the song "Choucoune
Choucoune (song)
"Choucoune" is a 19th century Haitian song composed by Michel Mauleart Monton with lyrics from a poem by Oswald Durand. It was rewritten with English lyrics in the 20th century as "Yellow Bird."-Choucoune:...
" which was later rewritten in English as "Yellow Bird", the title based on the words "ti zwazo" from the Durand poem.
Durand's inspiration for the poem was a "marabou
Marabou (ethnicity)
Marabou is a term of Haitian origin denoting multiracial admixture. The term describes the offspring of a person of mixed race: black African/European and East Indian ancestry, born in Haiti. The East Indians arrived in Haiti from other Caribbean islands...
" woman named Marie Noel Belizaire who was nicknamed Choucoune; she was running a restaurant in Cap-Haïtien
Cap-Haïtien
Cap-Haïtien is a city of about 190,000 people on the north coast of Haiti and capital of the Department of Nord...
when her path crossed with Durand's with a resultant romantic liaison. In the poem Choucoune desserts the poet for a Frenchman's favors; reportedly the real Choucoune and Durand parted because of the poet's serial philandering. Marie Noel Belizaire is said to have died in her seventy-first year in 1924 having spent the last portion of her life in her native village of La-Plaine-du-Nord as a beggarwoman who was widely recognized as the subject of Durand's poem.http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Soc/soc.culture.haiti/2006-03/msg00068.html