Carmen figuratum

Carmen figuratum (plural: carmina figurata) is a poem that has a certain shape or pattern formed either by some or all the words it contains.^[1] An example is France Prešeren's "Zdravljica", where the shape of each stanza resembles a wine goblet. The term derives from the carmina figurata of Renaissance texts – works in which a sacred image was picked out in red letters against a field of black type so that a holy figure could be seen and meditated on during the process of reading. Carmina figurata spread in the Carolingian period to spread the use and study of Latin.

"Zdravljica", the poem by the Slovene poet France Prešeren, is a carmen figuratum in which each stanza has the shape of a wine cup.

See also

• Altar poem
• Concrete poetry