Poem vs. Poetry

synonyms

In this lesson, we're gonna tell you all the details about these two words. Many English language learners confuse them. Wanna learn more? C'mon.

What Is Their Main Difference?

Basically, these two refer to a literary genre through which feelings are expressed with the use of literary elements like symbols, metaphors, rhythm, etc. However, 'poetry' is a literary genre and a 'poem' is the written verse.

Differences

As mentioned above, 'poetry' refers to a collection of poems. It is a literary genre that deals with expressing emotions. It is replete with literary elements like 'meter', 'rhyme', 'metaphor', etc. Look at the following examples:

In epic poetry, remember to begin the poem in the middle.

We have different imageries in poetry.

A 'poem', on the other hand, is a written verse that deals with expressing emotions. Look at the following examples:

'In some untrodden region of my mind'

The above is a line of John Keats poem called 'Ode to Psyche'.

Are you more into reading poems or novels?

Similarities

As mentioned above, they both refer to a literary genre through which emotions and feelings are expressed. They have lots of literary elements like imagery, metaphor, symbol, etc. Check out the following examples:

Old English poetry is usually difficult to understand.

Have you read any of his poems recently?

Are They Interchangeable?

Although they both refer to a literary genre, they cannot be used interchangeably because 'poetry' refers to 'poems' as a whole, whereas, a 'poem' refers to one single work in this genre. Compare:

✓ One of the important figures in Renaissance poetry is Shakespeare.

X One of the important figures in Renaissance poem is Shakespeare.

As you can see, this one is semantically wrong.

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