Elmi Boodhari
Elmi Boodhari (, ) (1908 – 1940) was a Somali poet and pioneer in the genre of Somali love poems. He is known among Somalis as the "King of Romance" (Boqorkii Jacaylka). He was born near the border between Ethiopia and Somalia in 1908 and hailed from the Eidagale sub-clan. Poetry. He is known in the Somali world for his love poems that he wrote to a girl named Hodan Abdulle that he fell in love and met in Berbera. Boderi was working at a bakery shop in the port city of Berbera when he fell in love with Hodan  Abdi. Bodari began to write her romantic poems, and in one of his poems he spoke of once seeing Hodan’s naked body, which was considered a serious offense in those times given and still is, in addition to several other elements that stood in the face of him marrying her. Hodan got married and it is said that he died from the resulting heartbreak. Elmi Boodhari differed from the poets of his generation in that he eschewed the popular theme of Tribal war and vengeance in Somali poetry, instead wholly focusing on love and composing all his poems for  Hodan, which was seen as highly unconventional and scandalous, for this reason he was ridiculed by society. Author Mohamed Diiriye in his book "Culture and Customs of Somalia", writes: Boodhari also faced alienation and ridicule from his fellow Eidagale kinsmen and composed the following verse: but the braves of Daud are ridiculing me Mohamed Diiriye commenting on the above verse writes: It was enough that Hodan's relatives were infuriated and felt that their daughter's name had been soiled by a man who was proclaiming in public his love for her, but Boodhari also had to face the fury  of his kinsmen, the Daud, who all together disowned him for spending his days pining for one woman when they could get him a girl as beautiful or more beautiful than she. Boodhari tried in lament to remind his kinsmen that the wounds of the heart merit the same attention as the wounds of the flesh. Selected poem. She is altogether fair: Her fine-shaped bones begin her excellence; Magnificent of bearing, tall is she; A proud grace is her body’s greatest splendor; Yet she is gentle, womanly, soft of skin. Her gums’ dark gloss is like unto blackest  ink; And a careless flickering of her slanted eyes Begets a light clear as the white spring moon. My heart leaps when I see her walking by, Infinite suppleness in her body’s sway. I often fear that some malicious djinn May envy her beauty, and wish to do her harm. — From “Qaraami” (Passion), as presented by Margaret Laurence in A Tree for Poverty. Influence on Somali Music. Boodharis poetic style and subject matter heavily influenced Somali Music and musicians such as Abdullahi Qarshe who was one of the pioneers the popular Balwo and Heello Genres. Matters began to change  following World War 2 as musicians and composers, like Abdullahi Qarshe, popularly known as the father of Somali music, began to pioneer a new genre- that of Balwo and Heello, both of these terms refer to forms of lyrical verse, the difference between the two being that balwo is four lines only while heello is considerably longer. Both styles broke new grounds in style and content. the subject matter differed radically from the past, as compositions focused in on love and nationalism, rather than the epic tales of war and adversity as in the old hees, at least some of  this shift can be accredited to Elmi Boodhari, a baker who composed during the 1930s. He is said to have recited his compositions describing his unrequited love for a woman named Hodan until he wasted away and perished in 1941. ~"Africa: An Encyclopedia of Culture and Society [3 volumes]: An Encyclopedia of Culture and Society"