Poetry and its discussion have a long history. Early attempts to define poetry, such as Aristotle's Poetics, focused on the use of words in rhetoric, drama, songs and comedies. Later attempts focused on repetition, rhyme form and rhythm, and emphasized the aesthetics of distinguishing poetry from prose. Since the mid-20th century, poetry has sometimes been defined more broadly as the basic creative behavior of using language.
Poetry often uses specific forms and conventions to imply the alternative meaning of words, or to evoke emotional or sensory responses. Means such as rhyme, alliteration, onomatopoeia and rhythm are sometimes used to achieve the effect of music or spells. The use of vagueness, symbolism, satire and other stylistic elements in poetic wording often leads to multiple interpretations of a poem. Similarly, metaphor, simile and metonymy resonate among different images-the stratification of meaning, forming a previously unaware connection. Similar forms of resonance may exist between individual verses, in their rhyming or rhythmic patterns.