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"Poems" or "poetry"

English Language & Usage Asked by Melanchthon on October 7, 2020

Can poems and poetry be used interchangeably, or is that incorrect usage? In normal conversation, they are used as synonyms often.

6 Answers

To me poetry is a literary art. A poem is a piece of poetry.

Correct answer by None on October 7, 2020

It depends somewhat on the context; poetry can mean one or more poems, but in more figurative usages such as poetry in motion, meaning something outstanding or beautiful about a bird in flight, or a motorcycle race (as your tastes dictate), one wouldn't replace that with poems in motion, which would sound ridiculous.

These links to poetry and poem might help.

Answered by Brian Hooper on October 7, 2020

Poetry refers to the art form itself. Poems means multiple instances of that art form.

Their use can overlap, but there are some instances when only one is appropriate.

Poetry is notoriously difficult.

This means that the art form is difficult to master, i.e., that it is hard to write poetry.

These poems are notoriously difficult.

This means that the poems under discussion are hard to understand.

Here, though, they are essentially interchangeable:

Whitman's poetry focuses on nature.

or

Whitman's poems focus on nature.

My advice would be to use the word poetry when speaking about the art itself, and poems when you have a specific set of poems in mind. This will avoid any confusion.

Answered by user13141 on October 7, 2020

Poetry and poem are definitely to become a marry. poetry means the people who start to write a poem, but poem is the language that had been writing to become a complete poem.

Answered by Apeu M. Babo on October 7, 2020

Do you like poems? / Do you like poetry?

Here the sense is the same. Normally poetry is a genre of literature, beside narrative literature (novels) and theatre plays. Shakespeare's shall I compare thee to a summer's day? as a single text is a poem.

Answered by rogermue on October 7, 2020

  1. Poetry is the use of words and language to evoke a writer’s feelings and thoughts, while a poem is the arrangement of these words.
  2. Poetry is the process of creating a literary piece using metaphor, symbols and ambiguity, while a poem is the end result of this process.

Answered by Yose Rizal Triarto on October 7, 2020

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