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Jane Pilkings
The praise-singer is a man who accompanies Elesin and acts as his conscience and spiritual guide. After Elesin is gone, the praise-singer will be the one responsible for singing about Elesin so that future generations remember him and know who he was. He and Elesin appear to be extremely close and the praise-singer is sad to lose Elesin to the afterlife; he offers to accept Elesin back with open arms if the gods and dead kings on the other side don't properly honor Elesin. As Elesin's moral compass, the praise-singer offers warnings about taking a bride and spending so much time with women, and he leads the dancing and chanting as Elesin dances closer to death.
The Praise-Singer Quotes in Death and the King’s Horseman
The Death and the King’s Horseman quotes below are all either spoken by The Praise-Singer or refer to The Praise-Singer. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act 1
Quotes
Praise-Singer: They love to spoil you but beware. The hands of women also weaken the unwary.
Elesin: This night I'll lay my head upon their lap and go to sleep. This night I'll touch feet with their feet in a dance that is no longer of this earth. But the smell of their flesh, their sweat, the smell of indigo on their cloth, this is the last air I wish to breathe as I go to meet my great forebears.
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Ah, companions of this living world
What a thing it is, that even those
We call immortal
Should fear to die.
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Praise-Singer: I say you are that man who
Chanced upon the calabash of honour
You thought it was palm wine and
Drained its contents to the final drop.
Elesin: Life has an end. A life that will outlive
Fame and friendship begs another name.
What elder takes his tongue to his plate,
Licks it clean of every crumb? He will encounter
Silence when he calls on children to fulfill
The smallest errand! Life is honour.
It ends when honour ends.
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Act 3
Quotes
But will they know you over there? Have they eyes to gauge your worth, have they the heart to love you, will they know what thoroughbred prances towards them in caparisons of honor? If they do not Elesin, if any there cuts your yam with a small knife, or pours you wine in a small calabash, turn back and return to welcoming hands.
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The Praise-Singer Quotes in Death and the King’s Horseman
The Death and the King’s Horseman quotes below are all either spoken by The Praise-Singer or refer to The Praise-Singer. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act 1
Quotes
Praise-Singer: They love to spoil you but beware. The hands of women also weaken the unwary.
Elesin: This night I'll lay my head upon their lap and go to sleep. This night I'll touch feet with their feet in a dance that is no longer of this earth. But the smell of their flesh, their sweat, the smell of indigo on their cloth, this is the last air I wish to breathe as I go to meet my great forebears.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Ah, companions of this living world
What a thing it is, that even those
We call immortal
Should fear to die.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Praise-Singer: I say you are that man who
Chanced upon the calabash of honour
You thought it was palm wine and
Drained its contents to the final drop.
Elesin: Life has an end. A life that will outlive
Fame and friendship begs another name.
What elder takes his tongue to his plate,
Licks it clean of every crumb? He will encounter
Silence when he calls on children to fulfill
The smallest errand! Life is honour.
It ends when honour ends.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 3
Quotes
But will they know you over there? Have they eyes to gauge your worth, have they the heart to love you, will they know what thoroughbred prances towards them in caparisons of honor? If they do not Elesin, if any there cuts your yam with a small knife, or pours you wine in a small calabash, turn back and return to welcoming hands.
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Explanation and Analysis:
