| license or liberty taken by a poet, prose writer, or other artist in deviating from rule, conventional form, logic, or fact, in order to produce a desired effect. |
| poetic license n. The liberty taken by an artist or a writer in deviating from conventional form or fact to achieve a desired effect. |
| Main Entry: | poetic license |
| Part of Speech: | n |
| Definition: | See artistic license |
poetic license
Also, artistic license. The liberty taken by a writer or artist in deviating from conventional form or fact to achieve an effect. For example, I've never seen grass or a tree of that color; but that's artistic license. [Late 1700s]
poetic license
the right assumed by poets to alter or invert standard syntax or depart from common diction or pronunciation to comply with the metrical or tonal requirements of their writing.
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