Home › Glossary › Letter A

Art description poem

Genre
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A poem devoted to describing or responding to a work of visual art

Detailed Definition
A poem devoted to describing, interpreting, or responding to a work of visual art such as a painting, sculpture, photograph, or installation, creating a dialogue between literary and visual artistic modes. Also known as ekphrastic poetry, this form has ancient roots in Homer's description of Achilles' shield and continues through Keats' "Ode on a Grecian Urn" to contemporary museum poetry, often exploring themes of representation, temporality, and the relationship between different artistic media.
Example
Example in poetry:
W.H. Auden's "Musée des Beaux Arts" describing Breughel's Icarus; John Keats's "Ode on a Grecian Urn"; William Carlos Williams's "The Dance" about Breughel's painting; Rainer Maria Rilke's "Archaic Torso of Apollo"
Additional Notes
Also called ekphrastic poetry. Creates dialogue between visual and literary arts. Particularly popular in museum education programs and artist collaborations.
Also Known As
Ekphrastic poem Gallery verse Museum poem Visual art response Ekphrasis poem
Skip to main content