Development of Visual Poetry in France

Abstract

Poems which contain visual elements in their construction—e.g., pattern poems and acrostics—are often considered isolated aberrations. By examining literature in Europe and especially in France, one can discern a fairly continuous tradition of visual poetry. Beginning in antiquity and recurring in every period of western civilization, visual stimuli in writing and typography are applied to the composition of poetry. Although at first they are usually incidental or decorative, by the nineteenth century they are considered valid attributes of serious poetry.