Peirce's triadic model (sign, object, interpretant) defines semiosis. In poetry, it is the engine of meaning-making. Each word is a sign in a dynamic process. Poets manipulate semiosis to create complex layers of meaning, playing with reference and interpretation. This focus on signs reveals how poetry constantly produces new meanings, as the reader participates in the ongoing, never-completed act of interpretation.

Semiosis is the process of creating and interpreting signs. It is the fundamental activity by which meaning is generated in language and other sign systems, as studied in semiotics. Charles Sanders Peirce's triadic model of the sign (sign-vehicle, object, interpretant) describes this dynamic process. In poetry, semiosis is the engine of meaning-making. Every word is a sign in a dynamic process. Poets manipulate this process to create complex layers of meaning, playing with reference and interpretation. This focus on signs reveals how poetry constantly produces new meanings, as the reader participates in an ongoing, never-completed act of interpretation. It makes poetry a prime example of semiotic activity.