Christian Frederick Louis Leipoldt (1880–1947)

Abstract This chapter contains newly crafted translations and International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) transcriptions of twenty-nine poems by Christian Frederick Louis Leipoldt. The first four poems are from the work Four Loitering Ditties: “The Curly-Haired Lad,” “Secretary-Bird,” “On My Old Ramkie Guitar,” and “Good-for-Nothing and Sod-Off.” The chapter concludes with twenty-five free-standing poems. Poems include: “The Sea Is Wild,” “The Little Star,” “Dingaan, the Zulu,” “Claim of the Spark,” “I Sing of the Wind,” “Whistle, Swift, Sing and Whistle,” “Give Me a Wedding Ring,” “In a Hole Beneath the Sickle Bush,” “ Japie,” “The Choice from the Best,” “Trek, Trek Along the Meandering Road!,” “African Corn Lilies You Tremble and Shiver,” “Come Dance with Me!,” “The Whining Little Cricket in the Attic,” “A Little Springtime Song,” “A New Song to a Familiar Tune,” “The Month of October,” “Sing, Little Finch, Sing!,” “Sing to Me Again,” “Like a Bubbling Finch Freeing Its Heart,” “Tirelli, Lirelli, La,” “A Weeping Song,” “The Garden Rose Among the Tulips,” “From the Lotus Land Where the Lilies Grow, Song of Mali, the Slave,” and “Show Me the Place.” Composers include Judith Brent-Wessels, Eva Noel Harvey, Rosa Nepgen, Arnold van Wyk, Hubert du Plessis, and others. Musical settings include various voice types. Illuminating footnotes enhance the reader’s comprehension of the unique biodiversity of the Southern African landscape and multicultural distinctiveness of its people. Lyric diction recommendations are provided for best practices for singing in Afrikaans. Topics include love, longing, Zulu history, the enslaved, comedy, dancing, birds, seasons, and nature.