A poem is a piece of writing in which the words are chosen for their beauty and sound and are carefully arranged, often in short lines which rhyme.
Synonyms: verse, song, lyric, rhyme More Synonyms of poem
poem in British English
(ˈpəʊɪm)
noun
1.
a composition in verse, usually characterized by concentrated and heightened language in which words are chosen for their sound and suggestive power as well as for their sense, and using such techniques as metre, rhyme, and alliteration
2.
a literary composition that is not in verse but exhibits the intensity of imagination and language common to it
a prose poem
3.
anything resembling a poem in beauty, effect, etc
Word origin
C16: from Latin poēma, from Greek, variant of poiēma something composed, created, from poiein to make
poem in American English
(ˈpoʊəm)
noun
1.
an arrangement of words written or spoken: traditionally a rhythmical composition, sometimes rhymed, expressing experiences, ideas, or emotions in a style more concentrated, imaginative, and powerful than that of ordinary speech or prose: some poems are in meter, some in free verse
2.
anything suggesting a poem in its effect
Word origin
MFr poeme < L poema < Gr poiēma, anything made, poem < poiein, to make < IE base *kwei-, to heap up, build, make > Sans cinōti, (he) arranges, OSlav činiti, to arrange, form
Examples of 'poem' in a sentence
poem
One wrote a short poem on the fabric.
Christianity Today (2000)
She writes plays as well as poems.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Her poems have been published in a number of anthologies.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
All participants were asked to write a poem with a feather dipped in mulberry juice.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
He afterwards dramatised their argument in two short poems.
Adam Sisman The Friendship: Wordsworth and Coleridge (2006)
He is listening for echoes but forgets that the first noise a poem makes is often the more significant.
The Times Literary Supplement (2010)
That's totally a poem that needs writing.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Like a great poem or piece of music, his buildings capture mood.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Instead, writing a poem can often be an outlet for otherwise unbearable emotions.
The Sun (2007)
We used improvisation, reciting his work and mixing it with our own poems as well.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
How do you write poems about people you don't know?
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
A third requires you to learn a poem verse by verse.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
If one were to say no more, one might venture the opinion that this was the supreme poem in the language.
The Times Literary Supplement (2014)
Apart from the sheer complexity of the content, the lines of the poems often appear to have no relationship to one another.
The Times Literary Supplement (2013)
There can be few poems whose language is so at odds with its message, whose form runs so aggressively counter to its content.
The Times Literary Supplement (2012)
I read this poem often, once a month at least.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Sir, How many quangos does it take to publish a poem?
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
As he put it in a short poem: 'Home is so sad.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
As a result, only about 20 per cent of his poems were published in his lifetime.
The Times Literary Supplement (2010)
Secondary pupils also often studied individual poems rather than poets, so their experience of poetry tended to be of single poems written by different writers.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
This contorted, obscure language makes the poem a challenge, but it is also where its compelling power lies.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
War poems need to be poems, as well as reports of what it's like to be shot at.
The Times Literary Supplement (2011)
Stories ran about her for months in the national press and poems and nursery rhymes echoed around the North East about her.
The Sun (2015)
The fact that I know the poem so well and that my dad gave it to me made it all the more poignant for me.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
Quotations
A poem should not mean but beArchibald McLeishArs Poetica
In other languages
poem
British English: poem /ˈpəʊɪm/ NOUN
A poem is a piece of writing in which the words are chosen for their beauty and sound and are carefully arranged, often in short lines.
...a book of love poems.
American English: poem
Arabic: قَصِّيدَة
Brazilian Portuguese: poema
Chinese: 诗
Croatian: pjesma
Czech: báseň
Danish: digt
Dutch: gedicht
European Spanish: poema
Finnish: runo
French: poème
German: Gedicht
Greek: ποίημα
Italian: poesia
Japanese: 詩
Korean: 시 운문
Norwegian: dikt
Polish: wiersz
European Portuguese: poema
Romanian: poem
Russian: поэма
Latin American Spanish: poema
Swedish: dikt vers
Thai: บทกวี
Turkish: şiir
Ukrainian: вірш
Vietnamese: bài thơ
Chinese translation of 'poem'
poem
(ˈpəuɪm)
n(c)
诗(詩) (shī) (首, shǒu)
(noun)
Definition
a literary work, often in verse, usually dealing with emotional or descriptive themes in a rhythmic form
a tender autobiographical poem set to music
Synonyms
verse
He wrote a verse about her pride and sense of accomplishment.
song
a voice singing a Spanish song
lyric
rhyme
He has taught her a little rhyme.
sonnet
ode
verse composition
Quotation
A poem should not mean but be [Archibald McLeish – Ars Poetica]
Additional synonyms
in the sense of rhyme
Definition
a piece of poetry with corresponding sounds at the ends of the lines
He has taught her a little rhyme.
Synonyms
poem,
song,
verse,
ode,
ditty,
piece of poetry,
metrical composition
in the sense of song
Definition
a piece of music with words, composed for the voice