An Igbo poem from eastern Nigeria, consisting of a series of metaphors for the beauty and the goodness of the young lady who is being praised.
Young lady, you are
A mirror that must not go out in the sun,
Introduction to Praise-Poetry
Carefully weave the acts of kingship runs the first line of the first poem in this selection of Praise-Poems (The Sultan of Bornu). Praise-Poems exist in many different parts of Africa. In Yorùbá they are called Oriki, in Zulu lzibongo, in Tswana Maboko — the list of examples would be a very long one.