po ‧ em S3 W3 /ˈpəʊəm, ˈpəʊɪm $ ˈpoʊ-/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ poem , ↑ poet , ↑ poetry ; adverb : ↑ poetically ; adjective : ↑ poetic ]
[ Date: 1400-1500 ; Language: French ; Origin: poème , from Latin , from Greek poiema , from poiein 'to make, create' ]
a piece of writing that expresses emotions, experiences, and ideas, especially in short lines using words that ↑ rhyme (=end with the same sound)
poem about
I decided to write a poem about how I felt.
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COLLOCATIONS
■ verbs
▪ write a poem
I’ve been writing short stories and poems for years.
▪ compose a poem formal (=write a poem)
He composed a poem in his head.
▪ learn a poem (=learn it so that you can remember it without reading it)
Hugh had learned the whole poem by heart as a boy.
▪ memorize a poem (=learn it )
The children had to memorize a poem and recite it in front of the whole class.
▪ recite a poem (=say it without reading it)
The little girl was standing up, reciting a poem.
■ phrases
▪ a book/volume/collection of poems
She has a new collection of poems coming out soon.
▪ an anthology of poems (=a book of poems by different people)
She gave me an anthology of poems for children.
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + poem
▪ a love poem
Shakespeare's beautiful love poems
▪ a lyric/narrative/epic etc poem (=a poem in a particular style)
the epic Greek poem, The Odyssey
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THESAURUS
■ a poem
▪ poem a piece of writing that expresses emotions, experiences, and ideas, especially in short lines using words that rhyme:
‘I wandered lonely as a cloud’ is the first line of a famous poem by WIlliam Wordsworth.
▪ sonnet a poem with 14 lines which rhyme with each other in a fixed pattern:
Shakespeare’s sonnets
▪ haiku a type of Japanese poem with three lines consisting of five, seven, and five syllables:
a haiku by Matsuo Basho about a frog jumping into a pond
▪ limerick a short humorous poem that has five lines which rhyme:
a limerick by Edward Lear, which began ‘There was a young lady of Norway, Who casually sat in a doorway’.
▪ rhyme a short poem or song, especially for children, using words that rhyme:
a collection of traditional rhymes with illustrations
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The children were reciting a rhyme.
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a nursery rhyme (=a short traditional poem or song for children)
■ poems
▪ poetry poems in general, or the art of writing them:
He reads a lot of poetry.
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She wrote poetry and children’s stories.
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a poetry book
▪ verse words arranged in the form of poetry:
a book of comic verse
▪ anthology a set of poems by different people collected together in one book:
an anthology of Caribbean poetry
■ parts of a poem
▪ verse a group of words or sentences that form one part of a poem:
The poem has three verses.
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the final verse
▪ stanza a group of lines in a repeated pattern, which form part of a poem:
the opening stanza of Keats’ poem ‘Ode to a Nightingale’