• poetry • Part of Speech: Noun, mass Meaning: 1. Aesthetically
graceful and harmonious literature written in rhyme or meter. 2.
All poems taken collectively as an exclusive set, such as the
poetry of the world or English poetry of the 17th century. 3.
The characteristic gracefulness and beauty of a poem, as dancing
that is poetry in motion. Notes: Poets and poetry-lovers have
designated April as "Poetry Month", a good time to return to
poetry for any of us who might have wandered away from it.
Today's word is based on the word for the craftsman herself or
himself: poet. Things revealing the assumed characteristics of a
poem, grace and beauty are said to be poetic, the adjective. Of
course, not all poetry we meet is graceful and beautiful. A
scribbler who writes bad poetry is a poetaster, poet with the
pejorative suffix -aster. In Play: The strongest argument for
the claim that language is primarily for self-expression rather
than communication is the poetry millions of us write without
desire or hope of anyo