Occasion
Occasion is the event, situation, or moment that gives rise to a poem and helps explain why the speaker is speaking. It may be a public event, a personal experience, a ritual, a celebration, a loss, or even a simple observation that the poem responds to. Knowing the occasion can clarify the poem's tone, purpose, and immediate focus.
Example
At the father's empty chair
she sets one more plate
and speaks to the night
as if he might still answer.
Related Definitions
[n] an event that occurs at a critical time; "at such junctures he always had an impulse to leave"; "it was needed only on special occasions"
[n] a vaguely specified social event; "the party was quite an affair"; "an occasion arranged to honor the president"; "a seemingly endless round of social functions"
[n] reason; "there was no occasion for complaint"
[n] an opportunity to do something; "there was never an occasion for her to demonstrate her skill"
[n] the time of a particular event; "on the occasion of his 60th birthday"
[v] give occasion to
Related Terms
a leg up, advantage, adventure, affair, antecedent, antecedents, author, bare necessities, base, basis, bear, beget, break, breed, bring about, bring forth, bring on, bring to effect, bring to pass, call, call for, call forth, call up, causation, cause, c