Poetry and Prose

1. Poetry and Prose By Alee Jakimowicz

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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

5. 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>.