Ìbà and Ìjúbà: Homage and Deference Conventions in Performance
The ritual, cosmological, and poetic conventions of paying homage before speech or performance in Yoruba oral verbal arts.
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The ritual, cosmological, and poetic conventions of paying homage before speech or performance in Yoruba oral verbal arts.
Ìbà (or the act of its invocation, ìjúbà) is the mandatory opening formula of deference and homage through which a Yoruba oral poet, chanter, priest, drummer, or dramatist formally acknowledges higher authorities before commencing a public performance . Through this verbal salute, the performer systematically credits divine forces, cosmic overseers, territorial spirits, deceased predecessors, living guild elders, and the assembled audience . It serves simultaneously as spiritual prophylaxis, an acknowledgement of inherited knowledge, and a formal social clearance that validates the speaker's right to take the floor .
The noun ìbà is pronounced with two low tones (ì-bà) . Morphologically, it belongs to the primary class of Yoruba nouns formed by prefixing a low-tone vowel nominaliser to a verb root, or functioning as a root substantive designating reverence, homage, submission, or acknowledgment of authority . In verbal syntax, paying homage is rendered as ṣe ìbà (to make homage) or contracted into the verb júbà (to pay homage, to defer to), which forms the action noun ìjúbà (the act of paying homage) through vowel prefixation . The verbal compound júbà has been analyzed by grammarians either as an elision of jú (to surpass or yield precedence to) and ìbà, or jí (to awaken/present) + ìbà, signifying the active surrender of artistic self-sufficiency in the presence of elders and divinities .
Tonality is decisive in distinguishing ìbà from close phonological neighbours :
Stripping the tone marks obliterates the vital distinction between invoking ancestral sanction (ìbà), describing a debilitating physical sickness (ibà), framing a counterfactual condition (ìbá), or addressing a civil magistrate (Iba) . In performed utterance, the initial syllable ì- is frequently lengthened by chanters into a solemn, sustained call (Ìbà oo!), which arrests public chatter and establishes an acoustic frame of ritual gravity before the first stanza of narrative or panegyric begins .
The structural requirement of paying ìbà is coeval with the earliest documented Yoruba oral compositions and institutionalised ritual performances . In the classical era of the Oyo Empire (c. seventeenth to eighteenth centuries), the conventions of ìjúbà were strictly enforced across royal courts, hunters' shrines, and masquerade fraternities . Court bards chanting rárà, royal akínyẹmí chanters, and the palace drummers of the Aláàfin were required to salute Ọlọ́dùmarè, the royal ancestors (ọba wàjà), and the head of the Ọ̀yọ́ Mèsì (the Baṣọ̀run) before delivering political panegyrics or historical chronicles (ìtàn) . In the court-sponsored Aláàrìnjó traveling puppet and masque theater, which arose within the royal Egungun ancestral masquerade lineages, the performance always opened with an ìjúbà song and dance sequence to placate palace authorities, the guild elders, and the mystical watchers of the night .
During the protracted nineteenth-century Yoruba civil wars and the collapse of Old Oyo (Ọ̀yọ́-Ilé), ìjúbà conventions became even more vital for traveling bards and displaced hunter-warriors (ọdẹ) . As military compounds emerged in Ibadan, Abeokuta, and Ijaye, performers moved across unstable frontiers where crossing political boundaries without paying proper vocal deference to the local warlords (balógun) and ancestral cults could result in execution, arrest, or accusations of hostile witchcraft . Ìjálá chanters at night hunts and warriors' rallies formalized the invocation of Ògún and the fierce mothers of the forest to protect their voices from sudden physical or occult paralysis .
With the advent of Christian and Islamic missionary evangelism in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, indigenous deference conventions met new institutional frameworks . Rather than disappearing, the deep grammar of ìjúbà was adapted into neo-traditional and syncretic performance genres . Yoruba Christian hymnographers and African Church movement leaders adopted the structural slot of the ìbà to frame invocations to God (Ọlọ́run Bàbá, Ọmọ, àti Ẹ̀mí Mímọ́) . Similarly, Yoruba Muslim cantors (Wákà and Sákárà performers) placed Islamic opening formulas (Bismillāh ar-Raḥmān ar-Raḥīm) directly into the rhythmic and structural slot historically occupied by ìbà Ọlọ́dùmarè .
In the mid-twentieth century, as professional traveling theater companies founded by Hubert Ogunde, Duro Ladipo, and Kola Ogunmola dominated Nigerian performance art, the ancestral ìjúbà was institutionalized on the modern proscenium stage as the "Opening Glee" . In Ogunde's seminal opera performances, the entire troupe would assemble on stage in glittering costumes to sing an elaborate ìjúbà saluting the patrons, city fathers, local spirit forces, and the theater audience before unfolding the plot . Duro Ladipo's historical dramas, notably Ọba Kò So, opened with formal ìbà invocations to Ṣàngó, Ọya, and the legendary ancestors of Yoruba kingship .
In the post-independence and contemporary eras, ìbà remains a structural necessity across modern Yoruba recording genres, including Jùjú, Fújì, and modern studio-produced Àpàlà . Jùjú luminaries such as Chief Commander Ebenezer Obey and King Sunny Ade, alongside Fújì icons like Ayinde Barrister and Kollington Ayinla, structured the opening tracks ("Side A") of their vinyl records and cassettes around extended ìjúbà sequences paying homage to God, industry pioneers, traditional rulers, and social patrons . In the contemporary digital age, Yoruba content creators on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok delivering oral poetry (ewì), folk tales, and cultural commentary routinely open their video broadcasts with condensed ìbà formulas, proving the stubborn persistence of this rhetorical protocol .
In the Afro-Atlantic diaspora, particularly in Cuban Lucumí (Santería), Brazilian Candomblé Ketu, and Trinidadian Orisha traditions, the ìjúbà (often written moyuba, mojuba, or iuba from mo júbà, "I pay homage") has been strictly preserved as the mandatory liturgy that opens every ritual, divination session, animal sacrifice, and batá drum celebration . Despite centuries of linguistic separation and creolisation, the diaspora moyuba maintains the canonical liturgical sequence, saluting Olodumare, the cosmic ancestors (egun), the elemental orisha, and the living priestly lineage (iyalocha and babalocha) .
The Yoruba universe is conceptualized as an interlocking web of spiritual agencies (ọ̀run) and terrestrial beings (ayé), saturated with power (àṣẹ) . Because human artistic assertion disrupts the cosmic atmosphere, the performer must untie potential knots of opposition before speaking . Olatunji and Babalola demonstrate that a standard comprehensive ìjúbà is not random; it systematically ascends and descends through six clearly defined cosmic and social tiers .
[ ỌLỌ́DÙMARÈ / ỌLỌ́RUN ]
(Supreme Deity / Source of Àṣẹ)
│
[ ỌLỌ́JỌ́ ÒNÍ / ILẸ̀ ]
(Lord of the Present Day / The Earth)
│
[ ÒRÌṢÀ & IRÚNMỌLẸ̀ ]
(Èṣù, Ògún, Ọ̀rúnmìlà, Patron Deities)
│
[ ÌYÁ MI ÒṢÒRÒNGÀ / ẸLẸ́YẸ ]
(The Cosmic Mothers / Elders of the Night)
│
[ ÒKÚ Ọ̀RUN / ANCESTORS ]
(Departed Guild Masters & Lineage Forebears)
│
[ LIVING GUILD ELDERS & AUDIENCE ]
(Olúwo, Baálé, Masters in Attendance, Public)
The performer begins at the apex of existence, acknowledging Ọlọ́dùmarè (also addressed as Ọlọ́run, Ẹlẹ́dàá, or Ọba Àjíkí) as the sovereign source of breath (ẹ̀mí), speech, and artistic competence . In Ifá and secular chants alike, this opening salutes the creator whose authorization precedes all human endeavor .
The speaker acknowledges Ọlọ́jọ́ òní (the metaphysical Controller of this specific day) to ensure that the current date does not bring catastrophe or misfortune . Simultaneously, homage is offered to Ilẹ̀ (the Earth / Onílẹ̀), the silent, primordial terrestrial matrix that supports the living and absorbs the dead . The performer chants that just as the earthworm never solicits the earth in vain (bí ekòló bá júbà ilẹ̀, ilẹ̀ a lanu), the speaker's footing upon the earth shall remain firm .
Homage is paid to the divine forces that govern human enterprise . Foremost among them is Èṣù, the divine messenger, linguist, and keeper of the crossroads (oríta), who must be placated first so he does not disrupt the performance, tangle the chanter's tongue, or provoke violent altercations among spectators . Following Èṣù, the performer salutes the specific patron deity of their genre: hunters salute Ògún (the master of iron and verbal brilliance) , masqueraders salute the ancestral power of Egúngún , diviners salute Ọ̀rúnmìlà (the witness of destiny) , and court poets salute Ṣàngó or the specific royal deity of the realm .
No public vocal act can safely proceed without paying deference to the mystical female elders, known variously as Ìyá mi Òṣòròngà, Àwọn Ẹlẹ́yẹ (the owners of the birds), or Àgbàlagbà Oru (the elders of the night) . In Yoruba cosmology, the Mothers hold the ultimate power over biological fertility, artistic fluidity, and physical ruin . If a performer arrogantly displays virtuosity without saluting their inscrutable authority, they risk having their voice struck dumb, suffering sudden disorientation, or collapsing in disgrace . The performer appeases them with precise praise formulas (apani má hagùn, "they who kill without leaving remnants of medicine") .
The artist traces their artistic lineage back to the founding masters of the craft who now reside in the spirit world (òkú ọ̀run) . A chanter reciting hunters' ìjálá or masquerade ẹ̀sà names the deceased virtuosos from whom specific verses, metaphors, and melodic turns were learned . This establishes that the current singer does not claim divine omniscience, but stands upon an unbroken chain of human and ancestral practice .
Finally, the performer descends into the immediate social space, bowing before the living masters of the guild (olúwo), the political rulers (ọba and baálẹ̀), the household heads, and the gathered spectators . The performer explicitly requests license to speak in the presence of elders, invoking the foundational proverb: Ọmọdé kì í júbà kí ibà pa á ("A youth who pays homage never dies of fever / suffers spiritual ruin") .
The structural form, vocal manner, and thematic vocabulary of the ìjúbà vary according to the specific demands of each Yoruba oral genre .
In ìjálá, the hunters' genre consecrated to Ògún, the ìjúbà is delivered in the characteristic high-pitched, tense vocal mode marked by tremolo and wide melodic leaps . Babalola documented that master ìjálá chanters divide their performance into distinct thematic suites, of which the ìjúbà is the mandatory prelude . The chanter salutes Ògún (Ògún lákayé, ọsin ìmọlẹ̀), invokes the fierce animals of the forest, lists the legendary hunters of old (such as Àrẹ Àgò or local guild pioneers), and asks the elder hunters present in the gathering for permission to loose their poetic arrows . If two competing ìjálá chanters meet at a funeral or guild assembly, the junior chanter must yield the floor and deliver an ìjúbà saluting the senior chanter by name before attempting any independent chanting .
In the ancestral masquerade chants of Oyo (ẹ̀sà or ìwì), the vocal production is pitched high, marked by deliberate vowel lengthening (notably the terminal vocable [ooo]), and delivered through the masquerade's disguised, supernatural voice . Oludare Olajubu showed that every ẹ̀sà performance follows an unalterable four-part structure :
In the ìjúbà phase, the ẹ̀sà chanter specifically salutes the three historical lineages that founded the Egúngún society: Igbó, Ọ̀gbọ́n, and Olúkòkò . By saluting these roots, the masquerade confirms that its manifestation is legitimate and anchored in canonical ancestral authority .
Before a Babaláwo casts the sacred palm nuts (ikin) or manipulates the divining chain (ọ̀pẹ̀lẹ̀), and before chanting the stanzas of ẹsẹ Ifá in the responsorial ìyẹ̀rẹ̀ mode, he must recite a rigorous, ritualised ìjúbà . Wande Abimbola recorded the core liturgical figures who must appear in this invocation :
In Ifá, the ìjúbà is not aesthetic ornamentation; it is the formal key that unlocks the divinatory mechanism . Without reciting ìbà, the consultation (dáfá) is deemed spiritually deaf, and the verses that appear upon the divination tray (ọpọ́n Ifá) are stripped of their diagnostic efficacy (àṣẹ) .
In rárà, the undulating, drawn-out praise poetry performed by professional minstrels for noble patrons, the ìjúbà focuses heavily on civil, territorial, and political hierarchies . The rárà artist salutes the king (Ọba), the local quarter chiefs (ijoyè), the historical founders of the city, and the master chanters who hold the praise names of the surrounding lineages . The chanter uses the ìbà to frame themselves as a humble servant of the court, deflecting accusations of flattery or greedy solicitation by showing that praise is a sacred duty owed to inherited nobility .
Yoruba oral literature scholarship has engaged in intense debate regarding the primary function of ìbà. Three major interpretative schools have emerged:
Scholars such as Adeboye Babalola and Jide Timothy-Asobele interpret ìbà as an indigenous Yoruba system of citation, intellectual property, and copyright protection . Because oral poetry is fluid and chanters draw heavily from a shared repertoire of lineage panegyrics (oríkì) and mythological verses, quoting a predecessor's poetry without acknowledging their name is regarded as verbal theft (olè ọ̀rọ̀) . Under this reading, ìjúbà is the ethical mechanism by which an oral artist formally gives credit to their teachers and predecessors before claiming artistic autonomy or receiving monetary compensation .
In contrast, Olatunde Olatunji, Rowland Abiodun, and Babatunde Lawal argue that the intellectual property thesis imposes Western legalistic concepts onto a deeply sacred, ontological act . They contend that ìbà is primarily metaphysical insurance and spiritual prophylaxis . Performance in Yoruba thought is an act of releasing living àṣẹ into a contested spiritual realm . If the cosmic Mothers (Ìyá mi), the deity of disruption (Èṣù), or the spirits of dead masters are not pacified and acknowledged first, they will actively sabotage the performance by causing memory loss, physical fainting, snapping drum heads, or sudden sickness . Homage is an appeasement ritual disguised as verse .
A third perspective, articulated by Karin Barber and Ọlábíyì Yai, views ìbà as a sophisticated rhetorical strategy of social clearance and spatial negotiation . In her study of oríkì in Okuku, Barber notes that public utterance is inherently hazardous because it brings historical conflicts, lineage secrets, and living rivalries into immediate public space . The performer uses ìjúbà to construct a safe performance arena: by declaring humility before all factions, living and dead, the speaker disarms potential hostility from the audience . Ọlábíyì Yai adds that ìbà embodies the Yoruba concept of àròbá (oral transmission as an endless dialogue), wherein every artist acknowledges that they are not the originators of language, but temporary continuators of an infinite collective discourse .
The following transcribed performance texts illustrate the structural realization of ìbà across canonical genres.
Recorded across multiple genres; documented by Olatunji (1984) and Abimbola (1977).
Ìbà Ọlọ́run Ọba Àjíkí, Ìbà Ọlọ́jọ́ òní, Ìbà Ilẹ̀ tórí mi dúró lé, Ìbà Èṣù Ọ̀dàrà, ọkùnrin oríta, Ìbà Ògún onílé owó, olọ́nà tútù, Ìbà Ìyá mi Òṣòròngà, apani má hagùn, Ìbà Àkọ́dá, ìbà Àṣẹ̀dá, Ìbà babá, ìbà yèyé, Ìbà olúwo, ìbà ojùgbọ̀nà, Ìbà gbogbo àgbà tí ń bẹ nílé yìí. Kí n wí tẹnu mi, kí n má kùnà, Ọmọdé kì í júbà kí ibà pa á.
Homage to God, the King whom we wake early to praise, Homage to the Lord and Master of this very day, Homage to the Earth upon which my feet and destiny stand, Homage to Èṣù Ọ̀dàrà, the formidable keeper of the crossroads, Homage to Ògún, lord of prosperity and opener of smooth paths, Homage to my ancestral Mothers, Òṣòròngà, who strike decisively without trace, Homage to Àkọ́dá, homage to Àṣẹ̀dá, Homage to my father, homage to my mother, Homage to my primary master, homage to my guiding tutor, Homage to every elder assembled in this house. Let me speak the utterance of my mouth without faltering or failure, For a child who pays due homage never suffers ruin.
Translator: Olatunde Olatunji (with minor grammatical adjustments for standard orthography).
This chant systematically mobilises the complete spiritual and terrestrial hierarchy of the Yoruba cosmos to grant safe passage to the speaker's vocal act . It acknowledges that human speech is vulnerable to misinterpretation, cosmic disruption, and physical failure unless sheltered under the umbrella of ancestral and divine authorization .
It is recited at the absolute beginning of rituals, formal oratorical assemblies, divination sessions, and musical performances . It serves as the opening key that unlocks the performer's access to the public floor .
It enforces cosmic balance and generational humility . It explicitly checks arrogance (ìgbéraga), reminding the community that individual talent is an inherited trust rather than an autonomous personal conquest .
In predominantly Islamic Yoruba contexts, the first line is replaced with Bismillāhi R-Raḥmāni R-Raḥīm, mo júbà Ọlọ́run Ọba; in Christian settings, it opens with Ìbà Ọlọ́run Olódùmarè, Ìbà Jésù Kristi, Ìbà Ẹ̀mí Mímọ́ .
The phrase Ọmọdé kì í júbà kí ibà pa á relies on a master tonal pun between the verb júbà (high-low, to pay homage) and the noun ibà (mid-low, fatal fever/calamity) . Stripping the tones flattens the metaphysical relationship into nonsense .
The epithet apani má hagùn applied to Ìyá mi literally means "one who kills without leaving enough residue to scrape into medicine," signifying absolute spiritual sovereignty that cannot be undone by ordinary counter-charms . English terms like "witches" fail utterly to convey the revered, cosmic judicial authority embodied by the Mothers .
Recorded and transcribed by Adeboye Babalola (1966) from Seedu Olaberinjo of Offa.
Ìbà mi o, ìbà Àkọ́dá, Ìbà Àtẹ́tẹ́sẹ̀ tí ò wùrun. Ìbà Àkọ́dá, Mo rí ba bàbá mi, Ìbà Àṣẹ̀dá, Mo rí ba bàbá mi o. Ìbà Ògún Oníré, Ọkùnrin ogun tí ń gbóko nígbà àìrọ̀gbọ̀nsì. Ẹ jẹ́ kí n rí tiwá wí lónìí o, Kí pípè tí mo pe Ògún má jẹ́ ẹ̀bi fún mi.
My homage is paid! Homage to Àkọ́dá! Homage to the Sole of the Foot that never grows hair! Homage to Àkọ́dá, I take refuge in the homage of my father. Homage to Àṣẹ̀dá, I take refuge in the homage of my father! Homage to Ògún, King of Ire, The warrior of battle who inhabits the deep forests in times of unrest. Grant that I may find fitting words to chant today, That this invocation I address to Ògún may not bring guilt or ruin upon my head.
Translator: S. Adeboye Babalola (adapted with standard Yorùbá orthography).
The chanter aligns himself with the primordial pioneers of hunters' knowledge and divinatory wisdom, paying homage to the foot that steps upon the perilous forest soil, and petitioning Ògún to accept the performance without demanding a sacrificial penalty .
Used exclusively by hunters (ọdẹ) and Ògún devotees at the opening of guild festivals, funeral vigils for deceased hunters (ìrèmọ̀jé), or wrestling assemblies .
Hunters handle dangerous spiritual medicines (oògùn) and iron implements; an error in invoking Ògún can bring physical accident or accidental firearm discharge . The ìbà acts as a ritual seal against mystical backfire .
Some hunters insert specific clan praises of their guild teachers (e.g., Ìbà Láfíyàn, Ìbà Ọdẹ́wálé) immediately following the salute to Ògún .
The phrase Àtẹ́tẹ́sẹ̀ tí ò wùrun relies on the rhythmic alternation of high and mid tones to evoke the tough, barren skin of the foot enduring thorny forest undergrowth .
Àtẹ́tẹ́sẹ̀ tí ò wùrun ("the sole of the foot that grows no hair") is an archaic metaphorical epithet for human endurance and the terrestrial contact point between the hunter and the earth . Translating it merely as "the foot" loses the vivid bodily imagery of barefoot trekking through jagged bush .
Documented by Oludare Olajubu (1970) and Olatunji (1984).
Mo júbà lónìí o, Kí n tó máa kọrin mi. Ìbà Igbó, ìbà Ọ̀gbọ́n, Ìbà Olúkòkò, baba ẹ̀sà. Ìbà Alápìíni, olórí awo, Ìbà Ọ̀jẹ̀ gbogbo tó wà lode yìí. Mo ní bí ewúré bí mọ, A júbà fún eléwúré; Bí àgùntàn bí mọ, A júbà fún elágùntàn. Bí mo ti dé lónìí, Mo júbà àwọn tí ń bẹ níwájú, Kí n tó kọrin tí ń bẹ lẹ́nu mi.
I pay homage today, Before I begin to raise my song. Homage to the lineage of Igbó, homage to the lineage of Ọ̀gbọ́n, Homage to Olúkòkò, the founding father of the Ẹ̀sà chant. Homage to Chief Alápìíni, supreme head of the ancestral mystery, Homage to all members of the Ọ̀jẹ̀ masquerade guild present in this gathering. I say: when a nanny-goat gives birth to a kid, It defers to the owner of the goat; When a ewe gives birth to a lamb, It defers to the owner of the sheep. Just as I have arrived today, I pay homage to those who have gone before me, Before I loose the songs that are stirring in my mouth.
Translator: Oludare Olajubu (with orthographic standardization).
The masquerade chanter anchors their art within the three founding guilds of Egúngún performance (Igbó, Ọ̀gbọ́n, Olúkòkò) and uses domestic agricultural metaphors to argue that artistic offspring (new verses) belong ultimately to the ancestral owners of the guild .
Delivered as the opening stanza of an ẹ̀sà or ìwì performance at Egúngún festivals, lineage memorial celebrations, or civic competitions between rival masquerade troupes .
The Egúngún cult is strictly regulated; unauthorized chanting or failing to salute the Alápìíni (the highest-ranking Egúngún chief) can result in formal guild sanctions, expulsion, or ritual stripping of the costume .
In eastern Yoruba regions (Ekiti and Akoko), where Egúngún Arókin or Egúngún Adó operates, references to Alápìíni are substituted with regional masquerade titles such as the Ẹlẹ́jẹ̀mù or Olúu .
The parallelism of lines 7-10 (Bí ewúré bí mọ... Bí àgùntàn bí mọ...) utilizes tonal matching between eléwúré and elágùntàn, establishing an auditory rhyme that reinforces the natural inevitability of homage .
Ọ̀jẹ̀ is the formal title for initiated lineage members of the Egúngún society . In casual English, it is often translated merely as "masquerader," which misses the complex socio-political status of the hereditary guild .
Proverbial canon; documented by Owomoyela (2005) and Olatunji (1984).
Ọmọdé kì í júbà, Kí ibà pa á. Àìjúbà lẹsẹ̀ ń ti awo.
A child who pays homage Never falls victim to debilitating fever. It is the failure to pay homage that causes an initiate's feet to falter.
Translator: Oyekan Owomoyela (adapted with expanded gloss).
Deference guarantees immunity; acknowledging hierarchy and ancestral legacy clears the spiritual obstacles that cause a novice's enterprise to fail .
Cited to rebuke an ambitious young performer who attempts difficult speech without clearance, or spoken by a narrator before tackling a delicate historical topic to preempt criticism .
This proverb constitutes the philosophical bedrock of Yoruba generational continuity, validating junior talent while strictly preserving senior authority .
Bí ọmọdé bá júbà bàbá rẹ̀, ọjọ́ orí rẹ̀ a gùn ("If a child pays homage to his father, his days upon earth shall be long") .
The deliberate play between the high tone of júbà and the low tone of ibà forms an acoustic antithesis that binds safety to submission .
Ẹsẹ̀ ń ti awo literally means "the feet push the initiate," a Yoruba idiom for slipping, losing one's memory, or failing disastrously during a ritual ordeal .
The hunters' chant associated with Ògún, its vocal manner, the ìjálá artist and how he is judged, the contest setting, and what the chant does as self-portrait and as praise of animals.
The chanted poetry of the Egúngún masquerade, its lengthened-vowel vocal signature, the altered voice that marks it as the speech of the dead, and its descent into the Aláàrìnjò travelling theatre.
The secular chanting genre of praise, who the rárà singer is and how the performance is shaped by the audience paying for it, and the accuracy that makes rárà more than flattery.
How proverbs behave when they are embedded in chanted and sung genres rather than used in conversation, and why a quoted proverb changes what a performance is doing.
How Yoruba oral artists are trained, which genres are open to whom, how gender divides the field, how performers are paid, and the named artists the scholarship documents.
What incantation is as a genre, the theory of language it assumes, why naming and etymology carry force in it, and the tonal and word-play devices it depends on. A description and analysis, not a manual.