Pet Peeve #18 - Prose or Poetry
When it comes to poetry - free verse poetry - there is a thin line to tread between poetry and prose.
This
is not
poetry.
You could argue it is poetry. You could say it’s some sort of artistic statement. That’s the annoying thing about poetry. However, there are entirely too many people who consider themselves poets because they put strange line breaks in prose that reads just like prose when the line breaks aren’t there. An example:
You could argue
it is poetry.
You could say
it’s some sort of
artistic
statement.
That’s
the annoying thing about poetry.
Don’t. Just don’t do that. If you can remove the line breaks and it reads like prose, it is prose.
Yes, there is such a thing as prose poetry, but even prose poetry reads slightly different than regular prose. (You can see my example of prose poetry The First Drinks below.) It’s closer to the prose line than any other poetry is/should be, but it’s still poetry in that it doesn’t read like regular prose.
Yes, I’m repeating myself, but I’ve seen this happen entirely too many times.
You don’t have to rhyme, but you do have to write poetry if you’re a poet.
April 10th, 2007 at 3:30 pm
This is definitely one of my pp’s - I think I had arguments about it at school where ‘modern’ teachers decried anything with rhythm or rhyme & thought weird unreadable stuff was just divine.
April 10th, 2007 at 6:01 pm
I hate this sort of poetry with a passion! I’m very traditional in my own style, and really only enjoy reading the classic rhyming couplets type.
April 10th, 2007 at 6:17 pm
Marcus - How annoying.
.
Dave - Ah, there is a certain loveliness to classic styles.
April 15th, 2007 at 5:10 am
JM, found this quote today and thought of you:
“Marriage: a book of which the first chapter is written in poetry and the remaining chapters in prose.”
Beverly Nichols
April 15th, 2007 at 5:13 am
How utterly appropriate and true. Thank you for sharing it with me.