Apostrophe in Poetry: Definition, Examples & How to Spot It

What does it mean when a poet suddenly turns and speaks directly to something that isn’t there — a deceased person, an abstract idea, the wind? This move is called **apostrophe**. In poetry, apostrophe occurs when the speaker addresses someone or something that is absent, dead, or unable to respond — like a deceased person, a personified force such as Liberty or Death, an inanimate object, or even an emotion like grief or joy. The term comes from the Greek word for "turning away," which perfectly captures the image: the speaker turns away from the audience and directs their words to something else entirely. Poets employ apostrophe because it conveys emotions in a way that straightforward description cannot. When Keats speaks directly to a Grecian urn, or when Shelley calls upon the west wind, the poem transforms from a mere report of feelings into an active engagement with those sentiments. The reader witnesses the speaker reaching across an impossible distance, making the emotional stakes feel real and urgent. Apostrophe also allows poets to give a voice to things that lack one — like death, time, or a city — and in doing so, brings those abstract concepts to life in a personal way. You’ll often find apostrophe in elegies, odes, and political poems, as these forms center around intense emotions directed at something the speaker cannot simply converse with. Once you recognize this device, you’ll notice it frequently and begin to appreciate the specific intimacy it creates: a connection aimed at the unreachable.