Traditional Māori poetry was always sung or chanted, musical rhythms rather than linguistic devices served to distinguish it from

prose Prose is language that follows the natural flow or rhythm of speech, ordinary grammatical structures, or, in writing, typical conventions and formatting. Thus, prose ranges from informal speaking to formal academic writing. Prose differs most n ...

. There is a large store of traditional chants and songs.

Rhyme A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds (usually the exact same phonemes) in the final Stress (linguistics), stressed syllables and any following syllables of two or more words. Most often, this kind of rhyming (''perfect rhyming'') is consciou ...

assonance Assonance is the repetition of identical or similar phonemes in words or syllables that occur close together, either in terms of their vowel phonemes (e.g., ''lean green meat'') or their consonant phonemes (e.g., ''Kip keeps capes ''). However, in ...

were not devices used by the Māori; only when a given text is sung or chanted will the

metre The metre (or meter in US spelling; symbol: m) is the base unit of length in the International System of Units (SI). Since 2019, the metre has been defined as the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of of ...

become apparent. The lines are indicated by features of the

music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

. The language of

poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

tends to differ stylistically from prose. Typical features of

poetic diction Poetic diction is the term used to refer to the linguistic literary genre, style, the vocabulary, and the metaphors used in the writing of poetry. In the Western tradition, all these elements were thought of as properly different in poetry and prose ...

are the use of synonyms or contrastive opposites, and the repetition of key words. As with poetry in other languages: "Archaic words are common, including many which have lost any specific meaning and acquired a religious mystique. Abbreviated, sometimes cryptic utterances and the use of certain grammatical constructions not found in prose are also common" (Biggs 1966:447–448).

Modern Māori poets

* Arapera Blank * Bub Bridger * Rangi Faith * Rowley Habib *

Hirini Melbourne Hirini (Sid) Melbourne (21 July 1949 – 6 January 2003) was a Māori people, Māori composer, singer, university lecturer, poet and author who was notable for his contribution to the development of Māori music and the revival of Māori culture ...

* Jacquie Sturm * Robert Sullivan *

Hone Tuwhare Hone Peneamine Anatipa Te Pona Tuwhare (21 October 1922 – 16 January 2008) was a noted Māori people, Māori New Zealand poet. He is closely associated with The Catlins in the Southland region of New Zealand, where he lived for the latter ...

* Tayi Tibble

References

Bibliography

*B.G. Biggs,
Maori Myths and Traditions
in A. H. McLintock (editor), '' Encyclopaedia of New Zealand'', 3 Volumes. (Government Printer: Wellington), 1966, II:447–454. * New Zealand poetry Poetry by language Māori language {{poetry-stub