Seven great works of concrete poetry are summarized including works by Eugen Gomringer, E.E. Cummings, John Hollander, Lewis Carroll, George Herbert, and Augusto de Campos. Concrete poetry uses visual layout and typography to enhance meaning, where the arrangement and physical form of words on the page are as important as the words themselves. The works highlighted use different techniques like block forms, line breaks, shapes, and abstraction to tie together word and image in novel ways.

1. Title: Seven Great Works of Concrete Poetry
Writer: Kerry Dexter
keywords: concrete poetry, Brazilian poetry, US poetry, English poetry, Swiss poetry
[I’ve included links here -- no idea if you usually want them -- because the visual element is so much a
part of this sort of poetry.
here is a graphic if you want one, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:TheMousesTale.svg ]
Concrete poems may be serious or playful, robust or delicate: it all depends on the use of word and
image, and how the poet ties those together.These six poets have chosen several very different ways to
do that
Silencio, by EugenGomringer, a German born poet based in Switzerland. Gomringer is one of the
originators of the contemporary form of concrete poetry, and here he uses block forms of shape and
space to convey his idea
http://www.ubu.com/historical/gomringer/gomringer01.html
Wind, also by EugenGomringer. Gomringer often uses just one or two words and the arrangement of
them to make his point, which is why many of his poems are considered examples of great concrete
poetry.
http://www.ubu.com/historical/gomringer/gomringer03.html
Buffalo Bill’s by E. E. Cummings
Long before concrete poetry became a named form, American poet E.E. Cummings used shapes and
varied line breaks in his work, and experimented with the shape of poem upon the page. He is also one of
the best read American poets who used these ideas in his work.
workhttp://www.poetsgraves.co.uk/cummings.htm
Swan and Shadow by John Hollander
American poet John Hollander uses spare arrangement of word and line to create an image of a swan
and it’s reflection, a shape which adds to the reflective word of his poem
http://jscays.blogspot.com/2005/02/john-hollanders-swan-and-shadow.html
The Mouse’s Tale by Lewis Carroll
In Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, English author Lewis Carroll uses a bit of concrete page design to
make fun of the difference between the words tale and tail. Children’s book authors and illustrators often
use the ideas behind writing concrete poetry to create pages of both poetry and prose, and to make use
of the playful aspects of the form to intrigue both children and adults.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:TheMousesTale.svg
Easter Wings by George Herbert
Seventeenth century English poet George Herbert also lived long before concrete poetry was named as a

2. form. He used space and shape in his writing, though, as in this poem, in which shapes can been seen
both straight up and sideways. Both connect with the ideas in the words.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:GeorgeHerbertEasterWingsPatternPoem1633.jpg
Ininstante by Augusto de Campos
From his earlier works in the 1950s through more recent ones, Brazilian poet Augusto de Campos has
pushed the edges of this form with his use of space, color, movement, and abstraction. Though he uses
words in his work, his focus is on the visual impact they make rather than the ideas conveyed through
reading and writing. http://www2.uol.com.br/augustodecampos/clippoemas.htm