lyric poem

/ˌlɪrɪk ˌpoʊəm/

Other forms: lyric poems

When a poet writes an emotional, rhyming poem, she can call it a lyric poem.

Lyric poems have a musical rhythm, and their topics often explore romantic feelings or other strong emotions. You can usually identify a lyric poem by its musicality: if you can imagine singing it, it's probably lyric. In ancient Greece and Rome, lyric poems were in fact sung to the strums of an accompanying lyre. It's the word lyre, in fact, that is at the root of lyric; the Greek lyrikos means "singing to the lyre."

Definitions of lyric poem

1. noun

   a short poem of songlike quality
   synonyms: lyric

   types:

   ode

   a lyric poem with complex stanza forms

   epithalamium

   an ode in honor of a wedding

   Horatian ode, Sapphic ode

   an ode with several stanzas

   Pindaric, Pindaric ode

   an ode form used by Pindar; has triple groups of triple units

   choral ode

   ode sung by the chorus in classical Greek drama

   type of:

   poem, verse form

   a composition written in metrical feet forming rhythmical lines