Poetry - prose - Revision history

PeterWilson at 12:18, 3 December 2017

2017-12-03T12:18:32Z

DavidWalker at 09:41, 9 November 2017

2017-11-09T09:41:27Z

PeterWilson at 16:27, 25 April 2017

2017-04-25T16:27:08Z

PeterWilson: New page: Newcomers to English Literature sometimes need the difference between '''poetry''' and '''prose''' explained to them. In the simplest distinction, *'''poetry''' is writing in lines - the ...

2008-06-17T07:40:48Z

New page: Newcomers to English Literature sometimes need the difference between '''poetry''' and '''prose''' explained to them. In the simplest distinction, *'''poetry''' is writing in lines - the ...

New page

Newcomers to English Literature sometimes need the difference between '''poetry''' and '''prose''' explained to them. In the simplest distinction,
*'''poetry''' is writing in lines - the writer controls where a new line starts
*'''prose''' is writing which begins a new line simply when the previous line is full.
:So when you copy poetry, you have to observe the line-endings of the original, and when you copy prose you do not.

At a slightly more complex level, ''[[OED]]'' gives meaning '''2. a.''' as "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", which gives the idea of a general patterning of language. This of course includes the control of the line-endings.

''[[OED]]'' adds the further detail that '''poetry''' is "traditionally associated with explicit formal departure from the patterns of ordinary speech or prose, e.g. in the use of elevated diction, figurative language, and syntactical reordering." This introduces a certain theoretical or philosophical argument that has occupied literary critics at least since the time of [[Aristotle]] (364 BCE - 322 BCE). Historically, the discussion has been clouded by the [[etymological root|root]] of the word in the [[Greek]] Ï€Î¿Î¹ÎµÎ¹Î½, 'to make, create, produce'. To the ancient Greeks, a 'poet' was a craftsman (in words), and only in post-classical times did the term come to mean 'a writer in verse' Aristotle's own ''Poetics'' is about writers of [[tragedy|tragedies]], rather than what we should now call 'poets'. The traditional Scots word for poet is '''makar''' (= 'maker') - a direct translation of the Greek, and ''[[OED]]''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s meaning '''2''' of '''poet''' (marked as ''Obs[olete]'' is "More generally: a person who composes works of literature; a writer", as its (''Obs.'') meaning '''1''' of '''poetry''' is " Imaginative or creative literature in general; fable, fiction".

'''Prose''', by contrast, is the 'normal use of written language': that which is not controlled other than by the writer's desire to express the meaning. It may well be artful, but it is not controlled in the way that poetry is. This leads to ''[[OED]]''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s meaning '''i. b.''', ''[[figurative|fig.]]'', "That which is plain, simple, or matter-of-fact; (often with negative connotations) that which is dull or commonplace". This gives the [[verb]] 'to '''prose'''<nowiki>'</nowiki>, whose predominant current meaning is "to talk or write in a dull, prolix, or tedious manner".

::For a discussion of a related distinction, see [[poetry - verse]].

[[category:English Literature]][[category:disambig]][[category:academic culture]][[category:etymology]]

@@ Line 6: / Line 6: @@
 At a slightly more complex level, ''[[OED]]'' (2006) gives meaning '''2. a.''' as "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", which gives the idea of a general patterning of language. This of course includes the control of the line-endings.
-''[[OED]]'' adds the further detail that '''poetry''' is "traditionally associated with explicit formal departure from the patterns of ordinary speech or prose, e.g. in the use of elevated diction, figurative language, and syntactical reordering." This introduces a certain theoretical or philosophical argument that has occupied literary critics at least since the time of [[Aristotle]] (384 BCE - 322 BCE). Historically, the discussion has been clouded by the [[etymological root|root]] of the word in the [[Greek]] ποιείν, 'to make, create, produce'. To the ancient Greeks, a 'poet' was a craftsman (in words), and only in post-classical times did the term come to mean 'a writer in verse' Aristotle's own ''Poetics'' is about writers of [[tragedy|tragedies]], rather than what we should now call 'poets'. The traditional Scots word for poet is '''makar''' (= 'maker') - a direct translation of the Greek, and ''[[OED]]''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s meaning '''2''' of '''poet''' (marked as ''Obs[olete]'') is "More generally: a person who composes works of literature; a writer", as its (''Obs.'') meaning '''1''' of '''poetry''' is " Imaginative or creative literature in general; fable, fiction".
+''[[OED]]'' adds the further detail that '''poetry''' is "traditionally associated with explicit formal departure from the patterns of ordinary speech or prose, e.g. in the use of elevated diction, figurative language, and syntactical reordering." This introduces a certain theoretical or philosophical argument that has occupied literary critics at least since the time of [[Aristotle]] (384 BCE - 322 BCE). Historically, the discussion has been clouded by the [[etymological root|root]] of the word in the [[Greek]] ποιείν, 'to make, create, produce'. To the ancient Greeks, a 'poet' was a craftsman (in words), and only in post-classical times did the term come to mean 'a writer in verse' Aristotle's own ''[[Aristotle's 'Poetics'|Poetics]]'' is about writers of [[tragedy|tragedies]], rather than what we should now call 'poets'. The traditional Scots word for poet is '''makar''' (= 'maker') - a direct translation of the Greek, and ''[[OED]]''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s meaning '''2''' of '''poet''' (marked as ''Obs[olete]'') is "More generally: a person who composes works of literature; a writer", as its (''Obs.'') meaning '''1''' of '''poetry''' is " Imaginative or creative literature in general; fable, fiction".
 '''Prose''', by contrast, is the 'normal use of written language': that which is not controlled other than by the writer's desire to express the meaning. It may well be artful, but it is not controlled in the way that poetry is. This leads to ''[[OED]]''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s meaning '''i. b.''', ''[[figurative|fig.]]'', "That which is plain, simple, or matter-of-fact; (often with negative connotations) that which is dull or commonplace". This gives the [[verb]] 'to '''prose'''<nowiki>'</nowiki>, whose predominant current meaning is "to talk or write in a dull, prolix, or tedious manner".

@@ Line 6: / Line 6: @@
 At a slightly more complex level, ''[[OED]]'' (2006) gives meaning '''2. a.''' as "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", which gives the idea of a general patterning of language. This of course includes the control of the line-endings.
-''[[OED]]'' adds the further detail that '''poetry''' is "traditionally associated with explicit formal departure from the patterns of ordinary speech or prose, e.g. in the use of elevated diction, figurative language, and syntactical reordering." This introduces a certain theoretical or philosophical argument that has occupied literary critics at least since the time of [[Aristotle]] (364 BCE - 322 BCE). Historically, the discussion has been clouded by the [[etymological root|root]] of the word in the [[Greek]] ποιείν, 'to make, create, produce'. To the ancient Greeks, a 'poet' was a craftsman (in words), and only in post-classical times did the term come to mean 'a writer in verse' Aristotle's own ''Poetics'' is about writers of [[tragedy|tragedies]], rather than what we should now call 'poets'. The traditional Scots word for poet is '''makar''' (= 'maker') - a direct translation of the Greek, and ''[[OED]]''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s meaning '''2''' of '''poet''' (marked as ''Obs[olete]'' is "More generally: a person who composes works of literature; a writer", as its (''Obs.'') meaning '''1''' of '''poetry''' is " Imaginative or creative literature in general; fable, fiction".
+''[[OED]]'' adds the further detail that '''poetry''' is "traditionally associated with explicit formal departure from the patterns of ordinary speech or prose, e.g. in the use of elevated diction, figurative language, and syntactical reordering." This introduces a certain theoretical or philosophical argument that has occupied literary critics at least since the time of [[Aristotle]] (384 BCE - 322 BCE). Historically, the discussion has been clouded by the [[etymological root|root]] of the word in the [[Greek]] ποιείν, 'to make, create, produce'. To the ancient Greeks, a 'poet' was a craftsman (in words), and only in post-classical times did the term come to mean 'a writer in verse' Aristotle's own ''Poetics'' is about writers of [[tragedy|tragedies]], rather than what we should now call 'poets'. The traditional Scots word for poet is '''makar''' (= 'maker') - a direct translation of the Greek, and ''[[OED]]''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s meaning '''2''' of '''poet''' (marked as ''Obs[olete]'') is "More generally: a person who composes works of literature; a writer", as its (''Obs.'') meaning '''1''' of '''poetry''' is " Imaginative or creative literature in general; fable, fiction".
 '''Prose''', by contrast, is the 'normal use of written language': that which is not controlled other than by the writer's desire to express the meaning. It may well be artful, but it is not controlled in the way that poetry is. This leads to ''[[OED]]''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s meaning '''i. b.''', ''[[figurative|fig.]]'', "That which is plain, simple, or matter-of-fact; (often with negative connotations) that which is dull or commonplace". This gives the [[verb]] 'to '''prose'''<nowiki>'</nowiki>, whose predominant current meaning is "to talk or write in a dull, prolix, or tedious manner".

@@ Line 4: / Line 4: @@
 :So when you copy poetry, you have to observe the line-endings of the original, and when you copy prose you do not.
-At a slightly more complex level, ''[[OED]]'' gives meaning '''2. a.''' as "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", which gives the idea of a general patterning of language. This of course includes the control of the line-endings.
+At a slightly more complex level, ''[[OED]]'' (2006) gives meaning '''2. a.''' as "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", which gives the idea of a general patterning of language. This of course includes the control of the line-endings.
-''[[OED]]'' adds the further detail that '''poetry''' is "traditionally associated with explicit formal departure from the patterns of ordinary speech or prose, e.g. in the use of elevated diction, figurative language, and syntactical reordering." This introduces a certain theoretical or philosophical argument that has occupied literary critics at least since the time of [[Aristotle]] (364 BCE - 322 BCE). Historically, the discussion has been clouded by the [[etymological root|root]] of the word in the [[Greek]] Ï€Î¿Î¹ÎµÎ¹Î½, 'to make, create, produce'. To the ancient Greeks, a 'poet' was a craftsman (in words), and only in post-classical times did the term come to mean 'a writer in verse' Aristotle's own ''Poetics'' is about writers of [[tragedy|tragedies]], rather than what we should now call 'poets'. The traditional Scots word for poet is '''makar''' (= 'maker') - a direct translation of the Greek, and ''[[OED]]''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s meaning '''2''' of '''poet''' (marked as ''Obs[olete]'' is "More generally: a person who composes works of literature; a writer", as its (''Obs.'') meaning '''1''' of '''poetry''' is " Imaginative or creative literature in general; fable, fiction".
+''[[OED]]'' adds the further detail that '''poetry''' is "traditionally associated with explicit formal departure from the patterns of ordinary speech or prose, e.g. in the use of elevated diction, figurative language, and syntactical reordering." This introduces a certain theoretical or philosophical argument that has occupied literary critics at least since the time of [[Aristotle]] (364 BCE - 322 BCE). Historically, the discussion has been clouded by the [[etymological root|root]] of the word in the [[Greek]] ποιείν, 'to make, create, produce'. To the ancient Greeks, a 'poet' was a craftsman (in words), and only in post-classical times did the term come to mean 'a writer in verse' Aristotle's own ''Poetics'' is about writers of [[tragedy|tragedies]], rather than what we should now call 'poets'. The traditional Scots word for poet is '''makar''' (= 'maker') - a direct translation of the Greek, and ''[[OED]]''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s meaning '''2''' of '''poet''' (marked as ''Obs[olete]'' is "More generally: a person who composes works of literature; a writer", as its (''Obs.'') meaning '''1''' of '''poetry''' is " Imaginative or creative literature in general; fable, fiction".
 '''Prose''', by contrast, is the 'normal use of written language': that which is not controlled other than by the writer's desire to express the meaning. It may well be artful, but it is not controlled in the way that poetry is. This leads to ''[[OED]]''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s meaning '''i. b.''', ''[[figurative|fig.]]'', "That which is plain, simple, or matter-of-fact; (often with negative connotations) that which is dull or commonplace". This gives the [[verb]] 'to '''prose'''<nowiki>'</nowiki>, whose predominant current meaning is "to talk or write in a dull, prolix, or tedious manner".