Nkosikasi's Keys
One of my earliest memories from school was a poem that Mrs
Smit gave us to learn. For an 8 year
old, it was certainly a very daunting task to be able to recite the poem
without prompting or looking at the words.
The poem has stuck in my head for 50 years because it so closely
resembled the going’s on in my own home.
My mother had a bunch of keys.
From the pantry to the bedroom, all cupboards and doors that held
anything of value was locked up, including the things that we used daily, such
as sugar and toilet paper. My mother
would lose her keys, time and time again, and the question asked was “Has
anyone seen my keys?”
I do not know whether every school child at that time learned
this poem, but I do know that every child brought up in the Transkei 50 – 60 years
ago will remember it. I am sure that today this poem would be seen
as being politically incorrect – those were the days when we did not have to
think of synonyms to use in case we might cause offence to another.
There's rummaging in cupboards and there's hunting high and low;
And what is the excitement and hurry if you please?
The answer is "They're looking for Nkosikasi's Keys."
And what is the excitement and hurry if you please?
The answer is "They're looking for Nkosikasi's Keys."
"Wherever have they got
to?" she says with wrinkled brow.
" I left them on the table and they've simply vanished now."
So cook must leave his baking and the houseboy's on his knees,
A-searching under things to find Nkosikasi's Keys.
" I left them on the table and they've simply vanished now."
So cook must leave his baking and the houseboy's on his knees,
A-searching under things to find Nkosikasi's Keys.
She says she can't explain it, just
how they disappear;
Perhaps when she went visiting she may have left them there;
So hurry, send the picannin at once to Mrs. B's
To ask if she has chanced to find Nkosikasi's Keys.
Perhaps when she went visiting she may have left them there;
So hurry, send the picannin at once to Mrs. B's
To ask if she has chanced to find Nkosikasi's Keys.
N'kos comes in and mutters
"What, lost your keys once more|!"
"Where do you think you put them?" and "Are they in the store?"
Advice is all he offers and helpful words like these,
"Why ever do you want to go and lose the cussed keys?"
"Where do you think you put them?" and "Are they in the store?"
Advice is all he offers and helpful words like these,
"Why ever do you want to go and lose the cussed keys?"
N'kosikas is crying, she doesn't like
to tell,
But now she feels quite certain that she dropped them down the well;
And all the while the broody is sitting at her ease
On thirteen tiny chickens and Nkosikasi's keys!
But now she feels quite certain that she dropped them down the well;
And all the while the broody is sitting at her ease
On thirteen tiny chickens and Nkosikasi's keys!
By Hylda Richards
Some memories are worth remembering
for a lifetime. Every time my mother
asked where her keys were, I would start reciting it until she was driven crazy
and would take a swipe at me with the kitchen cloth.
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11 comments:
Do I remember having to learnd that poem? And years later I gave it to my own classes to learn. We even did it one year as a choral verse for a concert. A group of Gr 10 boys. They wee reluctant at first. But oh did they enjoy it in the end. It was so enjoyed, that we performed it a few times thereafter for a number of occasions.
Yes - good memories and although politically correct today, it has stayed in my head for more than 50 years.
I attended the Committees Drift Primary School from 1977-1982, and in one of the first three years, when Auntie Sukie (Erasmus) was our teacher, she taught us this poem. It came into my mind this evening and I thought I'd try and find it - how delightful to find your reminiscence of it! Thank goodness for the Internet!
Wow. Thank you. I also learnt this school but somany years later I could only remember the first line. Loved this poem.
Glad it brought home some happy memories
Learned this poem in 1962 in Worcester!
As a class, we had to recite this poem.
We were all 10 years old and the teacher, a Mrs Wells, was a tyrant. The poems had to be word perfect otherwise she shouted at the pupil. That was back in 1964 in Rhodesia [Zimbabwe now.]
One got extra points if emphasis was placed on the correct words.
I suppose that listening to 20 plus children reciting the same poem my have driven her a bit mad.
I remember learning this poem at school in the late 1960's. I have never thought about it until today when I woke with just the words 'Nkodikasi's keys' running through my mind and decided to try and look it up. Thank you.
I remember this very well and was shocked when I Googled, and there it was.
I can't remember, it may have been in a little home school room in Ubombo that I first hear it
Thanks for posting
We did this for the Eisteddfod at Krugersdorp Convent early '70's. I LOVED it. When I mislay anything, particularly my keys or glasses, I still start reciting it. Thought to look it up as I had forgotten many of the words. Thank you. Still love it even if it isn't PC anymore...One must just enjoy it and understand, that when it was composed, we lived in different times.
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