poem

American  

[poh-uhm] / ˈpoʊ əm /

noun

• poems
  plural

1. a composition in verse, especially one that is characterized by a highly developed artistic form and by the use of heightened language and rhythm to express an intensely imaginative interpretation of the subject.

2. composition that, though not in verse, is characterized by great beauty of language or expression.

   a prose poem from the Scriptures; a symphonic poem.

3. something having qualities that are suggestive of or likened to those of poetry.

   Marcel, that chicken cacciatore was an absolute poem.

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poem British  

/ 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

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• poems
  plural

Etymology

Origin of poem

First recorded in 1540–50; from Latin poēma, from Greek poíēma “poem, something made,” from poiē- (variant stem of poieîn “to make”) + -ma, noun suffix

Explanation

A poem is written by composing lines of metrical feet (those are like beats or counts of syllables), arranged rhythmically. If you're looking to impress your crush, try penning a poem. Poetry is literature in metrical form, and a poem is what we call a piece of poetry. There are so many different kinds of poems it's almost impossible to define, but usually poems are written in short lines, and sometimes don't have too many lines. What counts in a poem is distilling something down, and finding the right words. If someone tells you that your Tweets are like little poems, then you must be a lovely writer.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

poem poems

One showed a trail of lights linking the holy Muslim sites of Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem accompanied by a nationalist, 19th-century Arabic poem by Egyptian poet Mahmoud Sami al-Baroudi:

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2026

"You stay in your room playing the clarinet or writing a poem - there's a certain virtue to being a little bit bored sometimes, and just having to amuse yourself."

From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026

Following the recent success of the new Christopher Nolan film based on the epic poem, curators said they hoped there would be renewed interest in artists' interpretations of Homer's work.

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

Connolly also presented Trump with a collection of poems by Michael Longley that includes “Ceasefire,” a poem inspired by the 1994 IRA ceasefire that helped pave the way for the Good Friday Agreement.

From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2026

“It’s not just a new prize—it’s also a short poem written in 1841 by the great American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.”

From "Shine!" by J.J. and Chris Grabenstein

Connolly also presented Trump with a collection of poems by Michael Longley that includes “Ceasefire,” a poem inspired by the 1994 IRA ceasefire that helped pave the way for the Good Friday Agreement.

From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2026

He said the book was influenced by classics, adding: "One of the only poems I can recite is The Owl and the Pussycat and I suppose there's a similar metre to that."

From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026

“As for death,” as the author writes in one of his brightest poems, “at the moment I think it strangely overrated.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

In June they held a gala launch for Devendra Banhart’s new collection of poems, “Four Nose Jobs a Day” in the North Figueroa gallery, published by Unnamed as both book and record album.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026

Master Gogolev sat scribbling his poems and sobbing in a corner, where he could safely be ignored.

From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood

Related Words

• ballad
• composition
• epic
• lyric
• poetry
• rhyme
• sonnet
• verse
• writing