In this paper Holmes explains how a wide variety of meta-literature can accumulate round a poem. More specifically, he focuses on translations of poetry which also have the aim of being acts of poetry, defined as “metapoems”. A metapoem consists of a complex bundle of relationships converging from two directions: from the original poem, linked to the poetic traditions of the source language; and from the poetic tradition of the target language. This complex series of relationships gives rise to various tensions. The primary source of tension lies in the problem of choosing the most appropriate form of verse for the metapoem. Holmes describes in detail the four strategies translators traditionally use to overcome this problem: the use of derivative form (mimetic, analogical or organic form) or deviant form. Finally, he illustrates these definitions by means of quotations from three English translations of the Iliad by Robert Fitzgerald, Richmond Lattimore and Ezra Pound.