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n. 1. The act or practice of composing poems. 2. a. Poems regarded as forming a division of literature. b. The poetic works of a given author, group, nation, or kind. 3. Literature written in meter; verse. 4. Prose that resembles a poem in some respect, as in vivid imagery or rhythmic sound. 5. The essence or characteristic quality of a poem: "It is impossible to separate the 'poetry' in Paradise Lost from the peculiar doctrines that it enshrines" (T.S. Eliot). 6. A quality that suggests poetry, as in grace, beauty, or harmony: the poetry of the dancer's movements. [Middle English poetrie, from Old French, from Medieval Latin poētria, from Latin poēta, poet; see POET.] |
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