POETRY AND PROSE

By Alee Jakimowicz

What is the definition of poetry?

Imaginative or creative literature in general; fable, fiction.

The art or work of a poet.

Composition in verse or some comparable patterned arrangement of language in which the expression of feelings and ideas is given intensity by the use of distinctive style and rhythm; the art of such a composition.

What is the definition of prose?

Language in the form in which it is typically written (or spoken), usually characterized as having no deliberate metrical structure (in contrast with verse or poetry).

A story, narrative, a statement.

Other features sometimes considered as distinguishing prose from poetry include the avoidance of elaboration and of metaphorical language, and factual or informative rather than imaginative content; however, the distinction is not always clear-cut and might be drawn differently in different historical periods.

THERE IS A VERY GREY AREA BETWEEN THE TWO!

Poetic prose – prose with extra attention to beauty

Prosaic poetry – poetry with extra attention to its meaning

Poetry voice – a pompous or manner style of writing poetry or reading it aloud

Prose sense - the meaning of a poem as it can be paraphrased in prose

Sources Wegner, Robert. The Poetry and Prose of E.E.

Cummings. 1st ed. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., 1965. 142-147. Print.

http://presentcomplex.com/blac-by-ee-cummings

"poetry, n.". OED Online. March 2013. Oxford University Press. 17 April 2013 <http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/146552>.

"prose, n. and adj.". OED Online. March 2013. Oxford University Press. 17 April 2013 <http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/152927>.