The main idea, thesis or subject matter of a poem. Keats' Ode on a Grecian Urn, for example, deals with the permanence of art and the impermanence of life.
[n] a unifying idea that is a recurrent element in a literary or artistic work; "it was the usual `boy gets girl' theme"
[n] (linguistics) the form of a word after all affixes are removed; "thematic vowels are part of the stem"
[n] an essay (especially one written as an assignment); "he got an A on his composition"
[n] the subject matter of a conversation or discussion; "he didn't want to discuss that subject"; "it was a very sensitive topic"; "his letters were always on the theme of love"
[n] (music) melodic subject of a musical composition; "the theme is announced in the first measures"; "the accompanist picked up the idea and elaborated it"
Synonyms
base, composition, idea, melodic theme, motif, musical theme, paper, radical, report, root, root word, stem, subject, topic