Shape Poem Maker

Create Shape Poems and Concrete Poetry Online

The PoetrySoup Shape Poem Maker lets you turn an ordinary poem into a visual work of art. Instead of displaying every line in a traditional left-aligned format, the words of your poem are arranged to form a recognizable shape. Choose a heart, animal, tree, star, cross, musical note, or another design and create a poem in which the appearance of the words becomes part of the poem itself.

This style of writing is commonly known as shape poetry, concrete poetry, or visual poetry. In a shape poem, the arrangement of the words on the page helps communicate the poem's subject, mood, or meaning.

For example, a love poem might be arranged in the shape of a heart, a nature poem could form a tree or leaf, and a poem about music could take the shape of a musical note. The visual design gives poets another way to express an idea beyond the words themselves.

What Is a Shape Poem?

A shape poem is a poem in which the words are arranged to create an image connected to the poem's subject. The shape can be simple, such as a circle, heart, or star, or it can represent a more detailed object, animal, or symbol.

Unlike traditional poetry, where line breaks are usually determined primarily by rhythm, meaning, or poetic form, shape poetry also considers how the words physically appear on the page.

The result is both a poem and a picture.

Shape poems are especially popular for creative writing projects, classroom poetry activities, holidays, special occasions, and poems about subjects that have an easily recognizable visual form.

How to Make a Shape Poem

Creating a concrete or shape poem with the PoetrySoup Shape Poem Maker is simple.

1. Enter or paste your poem into the poem box.
2. Choose the shape you want your words to form.
3. Select your font, text size, spacing, colors, and other available options.
4. Generate your shape poem and preview the result.
5. Adjust your settings until the words create the appearance you want.

6. Copy your shaped poem as text or download your visual poem as an image.

You can experiment with different shapes without rewriting your poem. A single poem may look dramatically different as a heart, tree, butterfly, star, book, or other design.

Shape Poem Ideas

Choosing a shape that relates directly to your subject can make your poem more meaningful.

A heart-shaped poem works naturally for poems about love, romance, marriage, friendship, or Valentine's Day. A rose-shaped poem can complement poetry about romance, beauty, or remembrance.

Animal shapes such as cats, dogs, horses, butterflies, dolphins, elephants, eagles, owls, wolves, lions, and bears can be used for poems about animals, wildlife, pets, nature, or personal symbolism.

Nature shapes such as trees, leaves, flowers, mountains, the sun, moon, and clouds are useful for poems about seasons, landscapes, environmental themes, and the natural world.

Objects and symbols can inspire entirely different kinds of poetry. Try creating a poem in the shape of a book for a poem about reading, a guitar or musical note for a poem about music, a coffee cup for a morning poem, a cross for a religious poem, or an anchor for poetry about strength and stability.

The shape does not always have to be literal. Sometimes choosing a symbolic shape adds another layer of meaning to the poem.

What Is Concrete Poetry?

Concrete poetry is poetry in which the visual arrangement of words, letters, and spaces contributes to the meaning of the work. The placement of the text is therefore an important part of the poem rather than simply a way of displaying it.

Shape poetry is closely associated with concrete poetry because the text itself creates a visual composition.

Writers can use spacing, line length, typography, repetition, and the overall arrangement of words to reinforce an idea. This allows the reader to experience the poem both linguistically and visually.

Tips for Writing a Good Shape Poem

Start with a subject that has a strong visual association. Hearts, flowers, animals, trees, stars, moons, books, and familiar objects make excellent starting points.

Short words and flexible sentences can also make a poem easier to arrange into complicated shapes. If your first version does not fit the selected design well, try shortening a few lines or experimenting with the spacing and font-size controls.

Most importantly, the words should still matter. A successful shape poem is more than text arranged into an interesting picture. Ideally, the visual form strengthens the meaning of the poetry.

Make Your Own Shape Poem

Use the PoetrySoup Shape Poem Maker above to experiment with different combinations of poetry and visual design. Paste an existing poem or write something new, select a shape, and see how changing the physical arrangement of your words changes the way the poem feels.

Whether you call it a shape poem, concrete poem, visual poem, shaped poem, or text poem, combining words and images can open up an entirely different way to write and experience poetry.