NE NYAKULILA NINE

Niti nizingwe nine, Ne nyakulila nine
Wangu wasunama

Mtaba wa nyuka nga n’chimphuza chiliye msindo
Chimfule chaya tashala tumba pamtete
tumba na bana bansiwa pazuba
Nga akapontha akamilwa manzi muli wanda
Vizo vasankhantika, wangu wasunama
Nivine tyani mazya, iyo ninsongwe ya maliro

Niti nizingwe nine, Ne nyakulila nine
Wangu wasunama

Ne kapontha natamana
Nakamilwa manzi muli matizye

Wangu watangula kuya kumzizi
kumsili kunisali, Kufumave muswe chiliye nam’tende
nashala mpofu, nitauke tyani Lupande akaleta?
Nipite tyani mulinsenzi, usiku muli kapamphansi
Mwezi waya kumfunzi, chisaniko changu chazima,
Musinzo watambalala, ne nayangalala
naba chibebe, ne bwato uliye nkafi

Nazingwa nine, Ne nyakulila nine, Wangu wasunama

Nipandekoni mano ne,
Nakamilwa manzi muli wanda

The world’s multitudes will mourn with me
Storms of tears will burst the earthly river banks
Raising high the tides of every lake and sea,
Yet, they will never drown my sorrow!
Not today; no thanks, not tomorrow
Tears will never fill my yawning canyon of grief
For my beloved who now lies stiff

For after the funeral is done and gone
My dearly beloved interred to eternity
My bereavement shall still be intact, not even halved
My heart heavy-laden to the bream
My mind, wishing to awaken out of this eerie dream
My tongue ruefully praying in a silent scream

Pakuti Niti nizingwe nine, Ne nyakulila nine
Wangu niye wasunama

Nazingwa ne natamana
Nakamilwa manzi muli matizye

Nikumvwa msowa koma muli nanthungulu
Kuti wangu wasunama, soyasuka, sonimvwa
Naita navupa, misozi yakama, lizu yalama
Nthungulu naituluwizya, mwe mwakwasu
Si nthungulu iweme, inga nibani watemwa?

Nazingwe nine, Ne nyakulila nine
Wangu wasunama

Nashala neka ne
Nakamilwa manzi muli wanda

Mtima wa fina nachitinthi ngan’mkumbi yam’zambwe
Misozi m’menso yalokwa ingan’milochi m’mainza
Nalabantha kupula kaleza, naimba nsongwe nsiku zapaka,
Sunulala, nulila m’zuba na usiku, mkuya nsiku
Koma yayi, wangu wasunama mphela

Niti nizingwe nine, Ne nyakulila nine
Wangu wasunama

Njavyeni kulila mwe
Nakamilwa manzi muli matizye

I look into the teary eyes of the mourners
Thinking, who knows my loss better than I do?
Who among them has lost theirs to the monster too?
Like the dew that comes with the breeze at dawn
When the sun rises, won’t they all too soon be gone
And I just remain a flitting image in their minds
Fading away at every moment in new things they find
Eventually dusting me off their memory shelf with time
Yet to me I am, and will still be for years to come
The most bereaved by my most dearly beloved

Pakuti ne nyakulila nine! Niti Nizingwe nine
Ni wangu wasunama

Nipandekoni mano ne,
Nakamilwa manzi muli wanda

The whispers in my ear, contained in the wind
That’s blowing past me this day, speaking to say
‘the loneliness I fear, the longing in my mind,
the yearning for that touch, the solace I cannot find’
Exceeds all the pity I can summon, c’mon

Asukulu echiti, ‘We mwana, uku niye kukula,
Kosa, upole mtima, koma kaze n’kaze, osaluba’
You are the only hope for tomorrow!

Ne nyakulila nine, pakuti wangu niye wasunama
Nine nakamilwa pa chitowo