Description vs Presentation

[milo]

I've read several references to the distinction between presentation and description, where presentation is considered one of the key defining characteristics of poetry as opposed to prose.

I can grasp explanations that provide examples, such as Ezra Pounds references to Shakespeare's "dawn in russet mantle clad" as pure presentation.

However, I don't fully understand the concept.

I was hoping someone could point me to further reading, or perhaps give me some pointers.
I'll be deeply electronically grateful.

I have addressed this a few times on this site somewhere, usually I say something like there is no place in poetry for description, but it amounts to the same thing. At it's most basic, description uses modification for the sole purpose of, well, describing something to the reader.

"The bird had brown feathers.It was cold and damp from the rain as it flew away to find its home"

These lines describe what is going on. They are prose. Poetry presents things with their essential attribute.

"The brown-feathered bird flew through the cold rain towards home."

This is poetry. Nothing is described. Essential attributes which should point toward the central metaphor are provided.

Now granted, I just made this example up on the spot and I could probably do a few better if pushed but the basic idea is there. Let me know if you need any more.

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here is one spot where this came up:

http://www.pigpenpoetry.com/showthread.p...t=describe