Dear Word Weavers, we are officially poets and storytellers (according to the name of this community). Most of us choose to share poems most of the time, and many of those poems do tell stories, but the option to work in prose is always there too.
What if we combine the two?
What is prose and what is poetry? Some people think they are different things, even that they are opposites. Well we all know, don't we, that prose is that stuff where the lines go right to the end of the page, lol. Whereas poetry is broken up into shorter lines and separated into stanzas rather than paragraphs. Also, we think of poetry as having 'heightened language'.
I have sometimes complimented particular writers by telling them their prose is 'pure poetry'. But when people praise one of my poems by commenting on what excellent prose it is, I feel offended and have to remind myself they don't mean it how I think it sounds, they've just got the terminology confused. Then again, I have been known to disparage some of my own poems as being 'too prosey'. So it seems the boundaries can blur, at least in our minds.
Perhaps the distinction is really between prose and verse, and poetry might occur in either?
Here are some definitions from the web:
Prose:
Language that follows the natural flow or rhythm of speech, ordinary grammatical structures, or, in writing, typical conventions and formatting. Thus, prose ranges from informal speaking to formal academic writing.
Writing that does not follow a meter or rhyme scheme. It's writing that follows standard grammatical rules and communicates ideas in a linear, logical order. Prose writing includes works of fiction and nonfiction.
The term for any sustained wodge of text that doesn't have a consistent rhythm. Poetry or verse is different: verse has a set rhythm (or meter), and it looks distinctive on the page as the lines are usually shorter than prose.
Verse:
Speech or writing distinguished from ordinary language by its distinctive patterning of sounds and especially by its rhythm.
A part of a song that typically occurs in a series, precedes the chorus, and follows any introduction.
Poetry:
A type of literature, or artistic writing, that attempts to stir a reader's imagination or emotions. The poet does this by carefully choosing and arranging language for its meaning, sound, and rhythm. Some poems, such as nursery rhymes, are simple and humorous.
Literary work in which the expression of feelings and ideas is given intensity by the use of distinctive style and rhythm; poems collectively or as a genre of literature.
Just to complicate matters further, there are these things called prose poems. Furthermore, some people use the term prose poetry to describe free verse. (I believe that's a misunderstanding: they are distinct forms.)
Wikipedia says:
Prose poetry is poetry written in prose form instead of verse form while otherwise deferring to poetic devices to make meaning.
That'll do me, as a definition. I'm quite clear in my own mind as to when I'm writing a prose poem specifically. It is always intentional. Here is one.
There are also pieces of prose which can be described as 'poetic prose'. That's harder to distinguish, and on the web it's often confused with prose poetry. But this lovely article makes it very clear. (You have to log in to read the lot, but just the opening few sentences will give it to you.) I always think the opening chapter of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath is a beautiful example of poetic prose.
Your optional prompt this week is to create a prose poem, or if you prefer, a piece of poetic prose. (As the prompts are always optional, we'll accept non-hybrid poems or prose pieces too.) Label them if you like, but I'm betting we can probably tell the difference.
The usual guidelines: 369 words maximum, excluding title and notes; one post per person; and it can be new or old.
Next week, we will invite you to find inspiration in the idea that “Youth has no
age.”
