his article is about the art form. For other uses, see Poetry (disambiguation).
"Poem", "Poems", and "Poetic" redirect here. For other uses, see Poem (disambiguation), Poems (disambiguation), and Poetic (disambiguation).
Literature
Major forms

Novel · Poem · Drama
Short story · Novella
Genres

Epic · Lyric · Drama
Romance · Satire
Tragedy · Comedy
Tragicomedy
Media

Performance (play) · Book
Techniques

Prose · Verse
History and lists

Outline of literature
Index of terms
History · Modern history
Books · Writers
Literary awards · Poetry awards
Discussion

Criticism · Theory · Magazines

Poetry (from the [Greek] 'poiesis'/ποίησις [poieo/ποιεω], a making: a forming, creating, or the art of poetry, or a poem) is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning. Poetry may be written independently, as discrete poems, or may occur in conjunction with other arts, as in poetic drama, hymns, lyrics, or prose poetry. It is published in dedicated magazines (the longest established being Poetry and Oxford Poetry), individual collections and wider anthologies.

Poetry and discussions of it have a long history. Early attempts to define poetry, such as Aristotle's Poetics, focused on the uses of speech in rhetoric, drama, song, and comedy.[1] Later attempts concentrated on features such as repetition, verse form and rhyme, and emphasized the aesthetics which distinguish poetry from more objectively informative, prosaic forms of writing, such as manifestos, biographies, essays, and novels .[2] From the mid-20th century, poetry has sometimes been more loosely defined as a fundamental creative act using language.[3]

Poetry often uses particular forms and conventions to suggest alternative meanings in the words, or to evoke emotional or sensual responses. Devices such as assonance, alliteration, onomatopoeia, and rhythm are sometimes used to achieve