Marinism is the name now given to an ornate, witty style of poetry and verse drama written in imitation of Giambattista Marino (1569-1625), following in particular La Lira and L'Adone.

Features

The critic James V. Mirollo, the author of the first monograph in English on the subject, distinguished the terms as follows:

Marinismo first appeared in the last [19th] century as a label for the themes and techniques of Marino and his followers. It continues to be used synonymously with secentismo and concettismo, although the former has more pejorative connotations as well as wider cultural implications, while the latter embraces the European practice of the witty style. Marinista and Marinisti go back to the seicento [17th century]: Stigliani [a detractor] refers [in 1627

1627 in literature

The year 1627 in literature involved some significant events.-New books:*Jean-Pierre Camus - Hyacinthe*George Hakewill - An Apologie or Declaration of the Power and Providence of God*Marin Mersenne - Traité de l'harmonie universelle...

] to Marino's followers as i Marinisti (Occhiale, p.516). Elsewhere (Epist., II, p. 304) he speaks of la trama marinesca (the Marinesque intrigue).

The following discussion is based on Mirollo's analysis.

Themes

• "The activities of a Petrarchan lady who is designated simply as Donna or given the name Lilla." The lady is impossible, inaccessible, cruel, and yet fully occupied with walks, rides, games, and tourism, all of which Marino describes and comments on at length. "To sum up, the poet favored material dealing with (1) the domestic and social activities of the beloved lady and any odd features of her appearance; (2) the variety of disguises under which she might be found, from socialite to sea nymph; (3) the talent or renown of famous women living at the time." The famous women include the Princess of Stigliano, Signora N. Biscia, Signora V. Spinola, and others.
• "Subjects that allow the poet to develop fully and richly the motif of sensual delight." This ranges from fantasies about kissing the beloved, to actual kissing, through to the sexual act itself.
• "Curious and bizarre subjects, sometimes bordering on the grotesque and ugly [...] capricci."

Ornament

• "Latinate inversion and displacement," which is used not for obfuscation but to place the vital elements of each sentence in prominent positions, either at the beginning of every couplet, or at the end of a stanza.
• Non-standard syntax of various kinds, separating nouns from their adjectives, or putting a subject after its verb.
• Doubling and tripling, "when two words are similar but contribute to a single idea."
• Chiasmus
  Chiasmus
  In rhetoric, chiasmus is the figure of speech in which two or more clauses are related to each other through a reversal of structures in order to make a larger point; that is, the clauses display inverted parallelism...
  
   and antithesis
  Antithesis
  Antithesis is a counter-proposition and denotes a direct contrast to the original proposition...
  
  .
• Repetition of words, and echo effects.
• "Alliteration
  Alliteration
  In language, alliteration refers to the repetition of a particular sound in the first syllables of Three or more words or phrases. Alliteration has historically developed largely through poetry, in which it more narrowly refers to the repetition of a consonant in any syllables that, according to...
  
  , assonance
  Assonance
  Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds to create internal rhyming within phrases or sentences, and together with alliteration and consonance serves as one of the building blocks of verse. For example, in the phrase "Do you like blue?", the is repeated within the sentence and is...
  
  , and consonance
  Consonance
  Consonance is a stylistic device, most commonly used in poetry and songs, characterized by the repetition of the same consonant two or more times in short succession, as in "pitter patter" or in "all mammals named Sam are clammy".Consonance should not be confused with assonance, which is the...
  
  ."

Similitude and metaphor

The Marinist poet never hesitated to embark on a long string of comparisons with nature, most of them couched as metaphor

Metaphor

A metaphor is a literary figure of speech that uses an image, story or tangible thing to represent a less tangible thing or some intangible quality or idea; e.g., "Her eyes were glistening jewels." Metaphor may also be used for any rhetorical figures of speech that achieve their effects via...

 rather than simile because this allowed for more striking statements. "There was hardly an area of human experience that could not be pressed into service for a comparison." Nevertheless, Marino leans heavily on both classical mythology and Christian imagery, adapting it freely to create a huge number of memorable word-pictures: "gems, minerals, and precious metals [...] flowers (especially the rose and the lily), birds, fire, snow, the seasons, the sea, and, above all, sun and stars [...] milk, ivory, parturition, the arts and sciences, and a variety of actions and emotions useful for personification."