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poem

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poem
poem S3 W3 /ˈpəʊəm, ˈpəʊɪm $ ˈpoʊ-/ 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.
     
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
     
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 | The children were reciting a rhyme. | 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. | She wrote poetry and children’s stories. | 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. | 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’