What's the diffrence between poetry and delineated prose?

[Seraphim]

Prose is a form. There is form and there is style. There are degrees and levels of style. How much style, what style. What is style. Heightened language at least is an attempt to excite affect, any affect. So there's the personal reaction, and there's the value of that reaction in connection with the stimulus. That's that. If you want to analyze in more than a direct bodily way and define things critically, aesthetically, and truly heightened, you have to trace value judgments and posit values and define value all at once. You define and redefine as you go, and you're holding on to established things, propping yourself up by use of them, taking them for granted or as merely useful or not so useful props. You choose or you improvise or both.

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A critic can draw out something hidden. And a critic can describe an essence that wasn't put into the thing to begin with; and putting that into it can present it with new value. Album reveiwers are particularly good at that.

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Whatever form used is important to being poetic. Even prose. What's prosaic has no need for form other than as a vehicle. Form and what's poetic are inseparable. That is what heightens language. As objects, poem and prose are prosaic. As poetry they are poetic. Heightened language as a term is prosaic. The result of heightened langauge is a poem. As for students of prosody, unless they're young and attractive, they are irrelevant. Just read and write and whatever happens happens. Leave it to the critics to define terms by terms that need to be defined and defined and defined. The prosaic is this. Poetry is writing and reading poetry.

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In a realm of paranoia that the internet Identifies Me With, I usually feel like everyone's the same person. I feel the same when I close my eyes in a restaurant.

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And in answer to your question: prose is what it is, you know what prose looks like. Poetry can be prose or verse or anything poetic. If you want to keep it to only written or spoken words, then do.

So to paraphrase your response, poetry is whatever we want it to be. One cannot articulate a distinction, but 'You know what it looks like', (I can't tell you what art is, but I know it when I see it. Associating reader response with the definition of poetry. A strong response means the literature is poetry. More use of the term 'heightened language', without any offering of what that is. Form determines genre.

Unfortunately, none of these responses aids a poet in learning the tools and techniques of their craft. Reading and writing poetry is poetry? Too esoteric a philosophy for me. Read poetry - GOOD poetry. Yes. But choose carefully a writer who speaks to you. Read Angelou, and you'll write like Angelou *shudder*.

I can't help but get the feeling you're backtracking on your original comment reference verse and prose. If prosody - the study of verse theory - is irrelevant, why did you bring it up in context to prose and poetry? Obviously I thought you were going somewhere else with those elements, not separating them completely. The error was mine.

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OK. I’ve been asking questions, we’ve had some good discussion, and maybe it’s time to try to assemble some pieces. Maybe it’ll get people re-evaluating their own style (a good exercise for everyone), or look into other elements of writing. Hopefully, other discussions will bud from this one, and people might learn something new, or paths. Writing must evolve or stagnate, someone said.

Quix started off with an observation – one which is a very prevalent opinion concerning modern literature - about the functions of poetry and prose in our society. It is not one which which I would personally adhere to, but he is not wrong.

Duke offered ‘self-consciousness’ as a definitive factor, but I personally find it impossible to distinguish self-consciousness in a piece of literature, so I’m not sure how that would us distinguish between literature and prose.

I think Rowens made a start with his reference prose, verse and poetry and, later, heightened language and form – a topic which UB also began touching upon – but still was only skirting the meat of the topic.

If we look at the section of ‘The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics’ entitled ‘Verse and Prose’, it distinctly points out an intersection between prose and verse which could be labeled ‘poetry’. [side note: it also mentions the functions in modern society which Quix originally brought up]. So I think if we start looking for a distinction, we have to look into the study of prosody – verse theory. It is here where begin to delve into the ‘heightened language’ and covers topics being brought up in this discussion. According to the same publication, all [valid] definitions of poetry include the use of verse. Not sure how I feel about that comment personally, but there it.

The legal world has a phrase when it comes to determining guilt or innocence of a suspect – it is not a single piece of evidence which needs to be looked at, but the totality of the events. So there are numerous tools and techniques which can be applied both to simple prose and poetry, but where do we start looking.

For me, the most defining factor in identifying poetry [not the ONLY] is poetry’s dependence [this will argued lol] on repetition – a technique almost synonymous with verse. {Found that P&P backed my thoughts on this}.

Let’s start with meter. We HAVE to start with meter, I think, because the base of English is accentual-syllabic. We speak to the foundation of meter. Whether a poet consciously thinks of meter when he writes, or not, he cannot claim he doesn’t use meter. [Unless he’s writing in a foreign language.] Meter is drilled into as kids, and we use it automatically. If we don’t, our language sounds off.

What else … rhythm? Meter is the foundation of rhythm. Like a drummer who keeps the beat with his left, his right hand complements or plays against the beat, to make things interesting. Yes, a person writing prose uses meter, but a poet pays attention to it, and uses it to establish the rhythm of the line, and the entire composition. A small part of that heightened language, perhaps.

More repetition? The repetition of line length. Though many people eschew the idea that consistent line length [measured in feet] is a mandatory in prosody, it is still an effective tool in a poet’s arsenal, to be used when he wishes.

What the repetition of complete – or partial - lines? Some forms – which might be viewed as templates for repetition – mandate the repetition of lines, sometimes in a manner which actually changes the meaning of the line.

Repetition of sound – rhyme, slant rhyme, assonance, consonance, alliteration, - all things of which poets speak, but for my definition, some form of established repetition – no matter how subtle – is required to fit the bill.

There is much more to verse theory than just repetition. There are books on the topic.

There is a world of tools and techniques available to a writer to heighten his language. A search ‘list of rhetorical devices’ alone will produce lists of 50 or more techniques to play with. Bored or out of ideas – try using metonomy (using a part of something to represent the whole): such as describing a girl’s nature or disposition by merely describing her hair.

Ultimately, each person has their opinions, and will choose their own path. There is no right or wrong. Thoughts?

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Indubitably.

Between your use of 'indubitably and billy's reference to Schrodinger's Cat (something I've used in several poems), I feel like I'm being channeled, here.

You offend my honor good sir. I assure you that I have never once in my life been so brazen as to channel anyone.   I’m afraid I cannot answer as to what billy may have done with Mr. Schrödinger’s cat.  The poor thing is probably alive or dead for all we know.

Only if you've opened the box to check..

Well played!