poetry

Meanings

1. 1noununcountable

   Writing that uses rhythm, imagery and carefully chosen words, often arranged in lines, to express feelings or ideas.

   Grammar: Uncountable: write poetry, not 'a poetry'; use poem for one piece.

   Patterns

   • poetry about something
   • a book of poetry

   She reads poetry on the train every morning.

   His early poetry deals mostly with the sea.

   The class studied war poetry from the twentieth century.

2. 2noununcountablefigurative

   A quality of beauty or deep feeling found in something that is not written verse.

   Grammar: Used figuratively, often with in: poetry in motion.

   Patterns

   • the poetry of something
   • poetry in motion

   There was real poetry in the way she moved across the stage.

   The film finds poetry in ordinary kitchen scenes.

Common combinations

write poetry

He started to write poetry after his trip.

love poetry

The shelf holds nothing but love poetry.

poetry reading

We went to a poetry reading at the café.

poetry collection

Her second poetry collection won a prize.

modern poetry

Modern poetry often ignores rhyme.

poetry in motion

The skater's final spin was poetry in motion.

Synonyms and how they differ

verse

Verse often means lines of metrical writing in general, including light or simple rhyme, while poetry suggests more artistic depth.

poem

A poem is one piece, whereas poetry names the art or a body of such work.

rhyme

Rhyme names a sound pattern, so it is narrower than poetry and can be used for children's verse.

Opposites

Word family

poet noun

a person who writes poems

poem noun

a single piece of poetry

poetic adjective

relating to or like poetry

poetically adverb

in a way that resembles poetry

Commonly confused: poetry or poem?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “poetry”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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