A poetic technique where one element, image, or theme gradually takes over or subsumes others, creating a sense of overwhelming or consuming force. This can occur through repetition, accumulation, or incremental transformation where initially distinct elements merge or disappear into a dominant motif. The action suggests psychological or emotional states of obsession, grief, or transcendence. Absorption can be formal, as repeated sounds or words absorb variation, or thematic, as a central concern overwhelms subsidiary concerns in the poem's development.

Absorption action describes moments in poetry where the speaker or subject becomes fully immersed in an experience, often blurring boundaries between self and world; common in Romantic and ecstatic poetry.