poeetiline

Poeetiline is an Estonian adjective meaning "poetic" and describing language, style, or mood that evokes poetry rather than ordinary prose. It can refer to written text, spoken rhetoric, or other artistic expression that bears a lyric or imagistic quality.

In Estonian literary criticism and journalism, poeetiline style is associated with vivid imagery, musical rhythm, and condensed, heightened language. It often employs figures of speech such as metaphor, symbol, and alliteration to create emotional intensity or a lyrical tone. Prose with a poeetiline cadence may resemble verse in cadence and mood without being a formal poem.

The term is descriptive and evaluative: it signals that a text uses poetic techniques or achieves a lyrical atmosphere, not that it is necessarily a poem. It is commonly used to discuss passages in prose, as well as entire works whose expression leans toward lyricism.

Etymology and related concepts: the word derives from Estonian literary traditions connected to poeetika (poetics) and poetry, and is cognate with similar terms in many European languages meaning “poetic.” In usage, it is often paired with phrases such as poeetiline keel (poetic language) and luule (poetry).

See also: luule, luuletus, poeetika, poeetiline keel.