proem

[proh-em]

noun

1. an introductory discourse; introduction; preface; preamble.

proem

/ ˈprəʊɛm, prəʊˈiːmɪəl /

noun

1. an introduction or preface, such as to a work of literature

Other Word Forms

• proemial adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of proem¹

1350–1400; < Latin prooemium < Greek prooímion prelude ( pro- pro- ² + oím ( ē ) song + -ion diminutive suffix); replacing Middle English proheme < Middle French < Latin, as above

Word History and Origins

Origin of proem¹

C14: from Latin prooemium introduction, from Greek prooimion, from _pro- ² + hoimē song

Example Sentences

David Ferry more than succeeds in capturing the stateliness, as his rendering of the Proem, the epic’s introductory lines, into English blank verse shows:

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Take the last line of the Proem, with its climactic vision of what Ferry renders as “The lofty walls of Rome.”

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The proem, as the first few lines of an epic are known, establishes the backstory: our polytropos hero has been delayed on his return “after sacking the holy citadel of Troy”; having “wandered widely,” he has been detained by the amorous nymph Calypso, who wants to marry him despite his determination to get back to his wife, Penelope; all the men he took with him to fight in the Trojan War have perished, some through foolish misadventures on the journey home.

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After a moment or two, I said, “Well, some died in the war, and, if you read the proem carefully, you’ll recall that others died ‘through their own recklessness.’

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In the Proem to the first general collection of his poems, he wrote: Of mystic beauty, dreamy grace, No rounded art the lack supplies; Unskilled the subtle line to trace, Or softer shades of Nature's face, I view her common forms with unanointed eyes.

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