If I wanted to write a poem in Yoruba how could I do that best? Let's say I wanted to use rhyme, Yoruba rhymes are only a few (if I don't take into account tones): a, e, e, i, o, o, u, an, on, un. Well, if you say it only rhymes when we got same pitch than it becomes a bit more challenging. And do I chose my words so that the tone of the whole poem form kind of a melody? 

Could maybe somebody write a poem in Yoruba and explain how s/he has done it? Thanks! 

A simple rhyme would be:

Ma se eleyii si mi
wait for me
ah!!! ori e'n yii
olori buruku osi

Ulli Beier writes about Yoruba poetry that it does not have metre since there is “no important difference in the length of vowels nor a marked difference in between stressed and unstressed syllables”. He directs us to the second Odu Journal in which E. L. Lasebikan argues that tone imposes a pattern on Yoruba poetry, e.g. alternating lines ending on the same tone. However, there are only few cases in which such a regular pattern is present. Common techniques used in Yoruba poetry are: metaphors, similes, onomatopoeia, repetition, alliteration, humour, irony, pathos and bathos (but not rhyme). It can be played on the drum using the three tones of the language: low (do), mid (re) and high (mi). It is more intelligible to a native speaker than utterances pronounced with a wrong pitch pattern.

Please bring this discussion to the new Yorubaland web site : http://www.yorubaland.org