Carmen figuratum (plural: carmina figurata "shaped poems") is a poem that has a certain shape or pattern formed either by some or all the words it contains. As a form of visual poetry, carmina figurata are similar to the calligram, notably the Calligrammes by Guillaume Apollinaire. Like calligraphy and typography, carmina figurata occupy a liminal space between graphic design and visual art. An example is France Preà ¡eren's "Zdravljica", where the shape of each stanza resembles a wine goblet.
The term derives from the carmina figurata of Renaissance texts â works in which a sacred image was picked out in red letters against a field of black type so that a holy figure could be seen and meditated on during the process of reading. Carmina figurata spread in the Carolingian period to spread the use and study of Latin.