Stream of consciousness is a style of writing that tries to capture a character's thoughts, feelings, and sensory impressions as they move through the mind, often in a loose, flowing, or fragmented way. In poetry, it can blur the line between observation and inner speech, allowing the poem to follow the mind's shifting associations rather than a strict logical order.
Poets use it to create immediacy, intimacy, and a sense of psychological realism.
Example
The kettle hisses.
I forgot the letter.
No, not forgot-left it by the blue chair.
Blue like the coat she wore in rain,
and rain again, tapping the window,
my name on the glass, then gone.
Related Definitions
[n] the continuous flow of ideas and feelings that constitute an individual's conscious experience
[n] a literary genre that reveals a character's thoughts and feeling as they develop by means of a long soliloquy