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Can poems and poetry be used interchangeably, or is that incorrect usage? In normal conversation, they are used as synonyms often.

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  • A poem is a box that contains poetry.
    – Hot Licks
    Commented Nov 6, 2015 at 22:59

6 Answers 6

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To me poetry is a literary art. A poem is a piece of poetry.

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    Poetry can also be a piece of a poem.
    – James Waldby - jwpat7
    Commented Oct 23, 2011 at 16:23
  • @ jwpat7: Would you have an example of poetry used as a countable noun then? I have always seen poetry used as uncountable and thought a sentence like I'm reading a poetry by Keats? would not be acceptable.
    – None
    Commented Oct 25, 2011 at 6:28
  • Re your question, I don't have an example. Re your example, I agree that "a poetry" is a mistake. What I meant by my remark is that "poetry" can be correctly used to refer to part of a poem; for example, a critic could properly say "There are five lines of poetry in this lengthy poem," or "There is no poetry to be found in this poem".
    – James Waldby - jwpat7
    Commented Oct 25, 2011 at 7:21
  • Let's not forget Poesy: merriam-webster.com/dictionary/poesy
    – Wayfaring Stranger
    Commented Jun 8, 2015 at 12:26
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Poetry refers to the art form itself. Poems means multiple instances of that art form.

Their use can overlap, but there are some instances when only one is appropriate.

Poetry is notoriously difficult.

This means that the art form is difficult to master, i.e., that it is hard to write poetry.

These poems are notoriously difficult.

This means that the poems under discussion are hard to understand.

Here, though, they are essentially interchangeable:

Whitman's poetry focuses on nature.

or

Whitman's poems focus on nature.

My advice would be to use the word poetry when speaking about the art itself, and poems when you have a specific set of poems in mind. This will avoid any confusion.

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  • Good distinction/advice, but I can imagine a writer (of both prose and poetry) saying I find poems/poetry more demanding, where both words would mean exactly the same, as in your Whitman examples. In the other examples, the question of whether it's the author or the reader who has difficulty isn't really relevant to the poetry/poems word-choice. Plus the first one could just as well have been This poetry is notoriously difficult.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Oct 23, 2011 at 16:30
  • Yes, good point(s). Though if someone said to me "This poetry is notoriously difficult", I might give them a weird look. It would sound to me like "this whole poetry thing is...", rather than "these poems are...".
    – user13141
    Commented Oct 23, 2011 at 16:36
  • Thank you! This makes more sense, now. I see them used interchangeably in informal writing and speech, but whether they ought to be interchangeable is where the problem lies. They should be distinct, but they aren't always used properly.
    – Melanchthon
    Commented Oct 23, 2011 at 17:39
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It depends somewhat on the context; poetry can mean one or more poems, but in more figurative usages such as poetry in motion, meaning something outstanding or beautiful about a bird in flight, or a motorcycle race (as your tastes dictate), one wouldn't replace that with poems in motion, which would sound ridiculous.

These links to poetry and poem might help.

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Do you like poems? / Do you like poetry?

Here the sense is the same. Normally poetry is a genre of literature, beside narrative literature (novels) and theatre plays. Shakespeare's shall I compare thee to a summer's day? as a single text is a poem.

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  1. Poetry is the use of words and language to evoke a writer’s feelings and thoughts, while a poem is the arrangement of these words.
  2. Poetry is the process of creating a literary piece using metaphor, symbols and ambiguity, while a poem is the end result of this process.
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  • This post would be improved by explaining why you define the terms this way, for example, by providing a dictionary definition or examples in the wild. I encourage you take the site tour and review the help center for additional guidance.
    – Nathaniel is protesting
    Commented Nov 6, 2015 at 22:00
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Poetry and poem are definitely to become a marry. poetry means the people who start to write a poem, but poem is the language that had been writing to become a complete poem.

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    "To become a marry"? Can you please explain what you mean.
    – Chenmunka
    Commented Jun 8, 2015 at 8:07
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    Poetry does not mean people who start to write a poem. That is a queer idea. And your definition of poem is queer, too.
    – rogermue
    Commented Jun 8, 2015 at 8:52

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