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A WORD

A word is dead
When it is said,
Some say.
I say it just
Begins to live
That day.

41,493

poems

4,155

poets

207

poetic terms

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01

By feeling

Grief, desire, revolt, wonder. Start where the poem meets your life.

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02

By form

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03

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Selected

Poems worth returning to

This sunlight on snow. …

Adrian Matejka

"When one is seen gliding through the woods and close to the observer, it passes like a thought, and on trying to see it again the eye searches in vain; the bird is gone." …

Jack Collom

Among the iodoform, in twilight sleep, …

Karl Shapiro

The metal is light, lighter than feathers …

Glover Davis

I …

Robert Browning

Thanks to the clouds on fire, the burning sunset, …

Oladejo Abdullah Feranmi

Plant a tree in place of a grave …

Wu Sheng

Bundled against weather, …

Eric Trethewey

The glossary

The language about poetry

From aubade to zuihitsu, 207 definitions of the forms, figures, and schools that shape the line.

Explore the glossary→
Accentual verseAccentual-syllabic verseAcmeismAlcaicAlexandrineAmbiguity