Carmen figuratum

"Zdravljica", the poem by the Slovene poet France Prešeren, is a carmen figuratum in which each stanza has the shape of a wine cup.

Carmen figuratum (plural: carmina figurata) is a poem that has a certain shape or pattern formed either by some or all the words it contains. An example is France Prešeren's "Zdravljica", where the shape of each stanza resembles a wine goblet. The term derives from the carmina figurata of Renaissance texts – works in which a sacred image was picked out in red letters against a field of black type so that a holy figure could be seen and meditated on during the process of reading. Carmina figurata spread in the Carolingian period to spread the use and study of Latin.

See also

• Altar poem
• Concrete poetry