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Poetry Guide: Poetic closure


Poetic closure is a term referring to the sense of conclusion that the ending of poems gives. Barbara Herrnstein Smith's detailed study—Poetic Closure: A Study of How Poems End—explores various techniques for achieving a sense of 'closure'. One of the most common techniques is setting up a regular pattern and then breaking it to mark the end of a poem. Another technique is to refer to subject matter that in itself provides a sense of closure: death is the clearest example of this.