poem
Words with meter
A poem is a piece of writing in verse—language arranged with attention to rhythm, sound, and imagery rather than straightforward prose.
Poems range from rigid formal structures with meter and rhyme to free verse with no fixed pattern.
The word extends loosely to anything with poetic qualities: The goal was a poem of athletic grace.
She memorized the poem for class.
Japanese seventeen-syllable verse
- limerickComedic five-line poem
- balladNarrative poem or song
- elegyPoem lamenting the departed
- epicImpressively grand in scope
free verse · blank verse · villanelle · sestina · tanka · rondeau · acrostic · concrete
Device that measures usage
- cadenceRhythmic pulse or pattern
- beatRhythmic pulse or strike
- tempoRate of musical performance
- flowUnbroken forward movement
pulse · pace · prosody · iamb · trochee · dactyl · anapest · spondee
Matching terminal sounds
- alliterationMatching initial consonants
- assonanceVowel sound repetition
- consonanceHarmonious sound combination
- onomatopoeiaSound-imitating word formation
euphony · cacophony · refrain · slant rhyme · end rhyme · internal rhyme · repetition · anaphora
Implied identity comparison
- simileComparison via "as"
- symbolismRepresenting concepts through images
- vividIntensely clear and bright
- sensoryRelated to perception
figurative · evocative · descriptive · landscape · portrait · tableau · personification · allegory
haiku
Japanese seventeen-syllable verse
epic · free verse · blank verse · villanelle · sestina · tanka · rondeau · acrostic · concrete · couplet
meter
Device that measures usage
flow · pulse · pace · prosody · iamb · trochee · dactyl · anapest · spondee · scansion
rhyme
Matching terminal sounds
- alliterationMatching initial consonants
- assonanceVowel sound repetition
- consonanceHarmonious sound combination
onomatopoeia · euphony · cacophony · refrain · slant rhyme · end rhyme · internal rhyme · repetition · anaphora · echo
metaphor
Implied identity comparison
- simileComparison via "as"
- symbolismRepresenting concepts through images
- vividIntensely clear and bright
sensory · figurative · evocative · descriptive · landscape · portrait · tableau · personification · allegory · motif
melancholy
Subdued, lasting sadness
love · grief · joy · longing · heartache · despair · hope · serenity · loneliness · empathy
mortality
State of eventual death
identity · memory · loss · freedom · truth · justice · fate · transcendence · solitude · war
poemsilence
Total lack of sound
spreadsheet · diagram · equation · photograph · painting
poemmanual
Written instructions for use
instruction · technical writing · legal document · contract · memo
- waxing poeticSpeaking with heightened eloquence
- love poemRomantic literary composition
- nonsense poetryPlayfully meaningless literary form
- narrative poemStory told in verse
- poetic justiceFitting outcome matching misdeeds
- war poetryVerse about armed conflict
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