Here are 25 half-lines of Somali poetry written in a metre known as masafo:
1.
ogaadeen ha ii dirin
2.
duul haad amxaaraa
3.
kaa dooni maayee
4.
amba waa ku daba geli
5.
dakanka iyo qaankee
6.
anaa been dabaadee
7.
galbeed uga dareershaan
8.
dalkaad adigu joogtiyo
9.
dar alliyo heshiis iyo
10.
mase waa dayoobeen
11.
dacalkaaga kuma shuban
12.
miyaan duudsiyaayaa
13.
doodaye maxaad oran
14.
daliilkii ku siiyaye
15.
miyaad iigu duurxuli
16.
dorraad adigu kama dhigin
17.
ma deldelin raggoodii
18.
deelqaadkan aad tiri
19.
diigaanyo ciidana
20.
wax ma kala dillaallaa
21.
duunyada ka qaadoo
22.
diinkiyo dugaaggiyo
23.
dildillaaca waaberi
24.
dibnahaaga kama qiran
25.
hobyo wixii ka soo degey
To help you understand the structure of masafo, here are 10 half-lines which were constructed from genuine masafo half-lines by random rearrangement of words within the halfline. Some of them might conform to the rules of the versification, but the majority do not:
26.
u anigaa lehe diin
27.
waad nimankaad ma diidi
28.
qoran daftarkaaga kuma
29.
fuushaan kaama dusha
30.
helo dabacayuun kulaan
31.
kuu miyuu tari wax dafir
32.
kuu daalasaayee nin
33.
shareecada dikrigiyo
34.
dumarkii furayaan ma
35.
ogaadee diyaar kuu
(a) Describe the structure of a masafo half-line.
(b) Here are 10 more masafo half-lines. Five of them are genuine, and five are obtained by random rearrangement. Which is which?
36.
war ismaaciil daarood
37.
dir miyaad wadaagtaan
38.
labadaad ka duudiye
39.
ka jannadaad daahiye
40.
adiga iyo deriskaa
41.
digaxaarka mariyoo
42.
ciid iyo doolo diraac
43.
nooma keeneen darka
44.
kala deyaayaa miyaan
45.
wuxuun kaa danqaabaan
—Alexander Piperski
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