poetic expression
Figurative literary phrasing
Poetic expression is language that prioritizes beauty, emotion, or imagination over plain statement.
The phrase describes both the general quality of elevated or figurative language and specific instances of it: The essay was full of poetic expression.
Someone with a gift for poetic expression chooses words for their sound, rhythm, and resonance, not just their literal meaning.
- lyricismExpressive, melodic quality
- purple proseOverly elaborate, emotional writing
- free versePoetry without fixed structure
- blank verseUnrhymed iambic pentameter
- iambic pentameterUnstressed-stressed pattern, five feet
rhyme scheme · imagery · symbolism · rhythm · ballad · villanelle · metaphor · enjambment · assonance · oral tradition · elegy · couplet · sonnet · caesura · anaphora · cadence · hyperbole · flight of fancy
- erotic poetrylove poems, love sonnets, Sappho, Ovid, Song of Solomon
- Russian LiteratureTolstoy, Dostoevsky, Chekhov, Pushkin, Nabokov
- Greek LiteratureHomer, myths, fables, Iliad, Odyssey
- recitationrecitation, dramatic reading, dramatic readings, recital, recitals
- women's poetrywomen poets, female poets, Sylvia Plath, Emily Dickinson, Maya Angelou
- Arabic poetrydiwan, classical verse, classical forms, Adonis
poetic expressiontechnical jargon
Specialized professional terminology
scientific writing · journalistic style · business writing · legalese
poetic expressioneveryday speech
Informal spoken communication
colloquial language · common parlance · vernacular · slang · street talk