Concrete Poetry: A Study in Metaphor

Abstract

Various characteristics of concrete poetry have been examined but little attention has been focused on this art form’s contribution to literature. Indeed, the concrete poem exemplifies a dramatic variation in the most basic element of poetry: figurative language. Traditionally, figurative language has established a relationship between the tangible objects around man and the intangibles which he seeks to know. The most common form of such figurative yokings has been the metaphor, a rope that creates a tension between the similarities and dissimilarities of the juxtaposed elements. With concrete poetry the focus of that rope is no longer just the abstract and spiritual leg of the metaphor, but the sensory perception of the literal and concrete as well.