Poetic Terms Dictionary
Poetic Form

Blazon

From Old French blason: shield (heraldic description). A Petrarchan convention; Sidney, Spenser, and Shakespeare all engage or subvert it.

Definition

A catalog poem enumerating a beloved's physical attributes item by item, conventionally from head to foot.

Example

Shakespeare's Sonnet 130 parodies the genre: 'My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun…'

Related Terms

Sonnet Catalogue Poem Encomium Petrarchan Conceit