poetry in motion

English

WOTD – 25 January 2020

Etymology

The term appears in 19th-century works in a literal sense.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpəʊɪtɹi ɪn ˈməʊʃən/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈpoʊətɹi ən ˈmoʊʃən/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊʃən
• Hyphenation: po‧et‧ry in mot‧ion

Noun

poetry in motion (uncountable)

1. (idiomatic) Fluid, graceful movement. [from mid 19th c.]
   • 1847, T[erence] M[cMahon] Hughes, chapter IX, in An Overland Journey to Lisbon at the Close of 1846; with a Picture of the Actual State of Spain and Portugal. [...] In Two Volumes, volume II, London: Henry Colburn, publisher, […], →OCLC, page 132:

     If we must have male figures in the most conspicuous parts of ballets, they should be young men of light and agreeable figures. [...] But for the true realization of poetry in motion, the eye of the artist and true amateur requires the beautiful proportions of the female figure.

   • 1948 July, Devon Francis, “The Inside Story of the New Ford”, in Perry Githens, editor, Popular Science Monthly, volume 153, number 1, New York, N.Y.: Popular Science Publishing Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 80:

     From the front of the hood to the tips of the tail lights [of the car], the lines, were poetry in motion.

   • 2001, Megan McCafferty, “The Tenth”, in Sloppy Firsts: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Three Rivers Press, →ISBN, page 16:

     He was jumping over hurdles. He was all smoothness and grace. He made it look easy—a sign of pure genius. OneTwoThreeAIR … OneTwoThreeAIR. I got so distracted by his poetry in motion that I wasn't ready when my track teammate Carrie P. came at me in a full-on sprint to hand off the baton. She crashed into me and I dropped it.

2. (idiomatic) A person or thing that moves in a particularly fluid, graceful way.
   • 1960, Mike Anthony, Paul Kaufman (lyrics and music), “Poetry in Motion”, performed by Johnny Tillotson:

     Poetry in motion, walkin' by my side / Her lovely locomotion keeps my eyes open wide / Poetry in motion, see her gentle sway / A wave out on the ocean could never move that way

   • 1982, Thomas Dolby (lyrics and music), “She Blinded Me With Science”, in The Golden Age Of Wireless:

     It's poetry in motion / And now she's making love to me / The spheres are in commotion

   • 1992, Shirley A. McNichols, Best in the West, Denver, Colo.: Pioneer Drama Service, →OCLC, act II, scene i, page 27:

     TEDDY: I know what I like! Take Miss Hastings, for example. She's poetry in motion. And her voice, like honey dripping off the comb. / HANNAH: Yeah, but can she shoot? / TEDDY: It doesn't matter. Real ladies don't need to shoot.

   • 2010, Chi Kang, Katherine Chou, “Horses”, in 季康畫集 [Chi Kang: Painting Collection], Taipei: 國立歷史博物館 [National Museum of History], →ISBN, page 26, column 2:

     Above all else, Chi Kang loved to draw horses, proud creatures that transcended common crudeness. Chi Kang regarded horses as living art forms – poetry in motion; stunning, powerful and independent; capable of lifting humans to a higher standard beyond their own capabilities in movement and freedom.

   • 2015 February 9, Robert Byron, “The Sixties”, in The Dancing Man, Bloomington, Ind.: iUniverse, →ISBN, page 94:

     His timing was perfect. He was poetry in motion. He was the folk dancer equivalent to Barishnikov.^{[sic – meaning Mikhail Baryshnikov]}

Translations

fluid, graceful movement

person or thing that moves in a particularly fluid, graceful way

Further reading

• “poetry in motion, n.” under “poetry, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, September 2006.
• “poetry in motion, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.