Structuralism posits that meaning arises from differences within binary pairs. Poetry often challenges these oppositions, revealing their instability and interdependence. By juxtaposing opposites, poets create tension, irony, or complexity, forcing readers to question rigid categories. This technique can undermine hierarchies and suggest that meaning is relational and fluid, opening space for nuance and ambiguity within poetic language.

Binary opposition is the foundational principle of structuralism, which holds that human thought and language are organized through systems of paired opposites. Meaning, in this view, is not inherent in a term but is generated by its difference from its opposite, such as day/night, speech/writing, or nature/culture. In poetry, these oppositions are often used to create dramatic tension, thematic structure, and irony. Poets may set up a binary only to complicate or dismantle it, revealing the interdependence of the two terms. For instance, a poem might explore how good and evil are not absolute but are defined in relation to each other. Poststructuralist poets and critics, however, have critiqued these binaries for their inherent hierarchies (with one term usually privileged), and they often aim to deconstruct them, showing how meaning is fluid and contingent. This makes the term central to both traditional and avant-garde poetic practices.