Mistari

Mistari is a Swahili word meaning lines or verses, commonly used to refer to lines of poetry or lyrics in songs. In East African literature and music, mistari is used to discuss the structure and arrangement of textual units, such as the lines within a stanza or chorus. The singular form is mstari, and mistari is the plural. The term is frequently encountered in scholarly writing on Kiswahili poetry and in everyday description of poems and songs.

In practice, mistari helps speakers describe rhythm, meter, and phrasing of a text. Poets and lyricists may use mistari conceptually to arrange ideas, images, and rhymes across successive lines. Because Swahili verse often features cadence, alliteration, and parallelism, mistari can also be used to analyze how each line contributes to overall meaning and aesthetic effect.

The word also appears in educational materials and anthologies as a straightforward label for individual lines, stanzas, or lyric sections, facilitating discussion of form without requiring specialized terminology. See also Swahili language, Kiswahili poetry, lyric poetry.