Prose Definition | What is Prose? - PoetrySoup
Definition
[n] ordinary writing as distinguished from verse
[n] matter of fact, commonplace, or dull expression
Prose is writing distinguished from poetry by its greater variety of
rhythm and its closer resemblance to the patterns of everyday speech.
The word prose comes from the Latin prosa, meaning straightforward. This
describes the type of writing that prose embodies, unadorned with
obvious stylistic devices. Prose writing is usually adopted for the
description of facts or the discussion of ideas. Thus, it may be used
for newspapers, magazines, novels, encyclopedias, screenplays, films,
philosophy, letters, essays, history, biography and many other forms of
media.
Example
A Port is a delightful place of rest for a soul weary of life's battles.
The vastness of the sky, the mobile architecture of the clouds, the
changing coloration of the sea, the twinkling of the lights, are a prism
marvellously fit to amuse the eyes without ever tiring them. The
slender shapes of the ships with their complicated rigging, to which the
surge lends harmonious oscillations, serve to sustain within the soul
the taste for rhythm and beauty. Also, and above all, for the man who of
mysterious and aristocratic pleasure in contemplating, while lying on
the belvedere or resting his elbows on the jetty-head, all these
movements of men who are leaving and men who are returning, of those who
still have the strength to will, the desire to travel or to enrich
themselves.
--Charles Baudelaire--
See Also...
euphuism, expressive style, genre, interior monologue, literary genre, nonfiction, nonfictional prose, polyphonic prose, prose poem, stream of consciousness, style, writing style
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Definition
Prose is writing distinguished from poetry by its greater variety of
rhythm and its closer resemblance to the patterns of everyday speech.
The word prose comes from the Latin prosa, meaning straightforward. This
describes the type of writing that prose embodies, unadorned with
obvious stylistic devices. Prose writing is usually adopted for the
description of facts or the discussion of ideas. Thus, it may be used
for newspapers, magazines, novels, encyclopedias, screenplays, films,
philosophy, letters, essays, history, biography and many other forms of
media.
Prose poetry is usually considered a form of poetry written in prose that breaks some of the normal rules associated with prose discourse, for heightened imagery or emotional effect, among other purposes. Arguments continue about whether prose poetry is actually a form of poetry or a form of prose (or a separate genre altogether). Like poetry (intense, sculpted) but without line breaks.
Example
The Port
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A Port is a delightful place of rest for a soul weary of life's battles. The vastness of the sky, the mobile architecture of the clouds, the changing coloration of the sea, the twinkling of the lights, are a prism marvellously fit to amuse the eyes without ever tiring them. The slender shapes of the ships with their complicated rigging, to which the surge lends harmonious oscillations, serve to sustain within the soul the taste for rhythm and beauty. Also, and above all, for the man who of mysterious and aristocratic pleasure in contemplating, while lying on the belvedere or resting his elbows on the jetty-head, all these movements of men who are leaving and men who are returning, of those who still have the strength to will, the desire to travel or to enrich themselves.
--Charles Baudelaire--
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