# Prose Poetry



## Lonna (Dec 12, 2002)

I originally made this a reply, but I think it
would be better as a new thread (sorry):

Hello, fellow writers. Can I join the Guild of Writers? 

Where do you draw the line between prose and poetry? Aren't many of Tolkien's landscape descriptions pure poetry, even though written in prose?

Anyway, I have some prose poetry, from my fantasy book "Selah of the Summit" (available through Amazon.com):

"Come, let me show you something," he said,
pulling her with him past the camp and partway 
up the slope behind them.
They found an outcropping of rocks
like a cave upon a cliff and stood there, sheltered.
From that spot they couls see great vistas of peaks
that rose and fell before them,
fading toward the still-distant Summit.

"It is still so far away," Selah whispered.

"But closer than before. You can see the rise and fall
of the Highlands that lead to the Summit," he explained.
"Remember how it looks, Selah.
Put the picture in your mind and always remember."

"You will help me remember," she joked, 
not wanting to be serious.

Before he could reply, lightning arched across the sky,
splintering into a dozen jagged, shimmering fingers.
Thunder followed so quickly that Selah
could not tell where the lightning ended
and the thunder began.

Then the rain fell--more water than Selah 
had seen in her lifetime.
It looked lika a gray curtain
between the clouds and the land.
It covered the grass and rocks and filled
the air with a smell 
Selah would always remember.

"It is so beautiful," she said,
her voice light with joy.

Micah reached for her hand.

A crash of thunder drew her eyes away.
Without thinking, she stepped out from
the sheltering rocks. Micah followed her,
and together they stood on a cliff in the storm,
rain pouring over them,
anointing them,
soaking them to their skin,
and filling all the thirsty mountains. (from page 52 & 53)


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## Uminya (Dec 12, 2002)

I think that prose is prose, and poetry is poetry. Poetry may be unstructured, nonrhyming, and nonmetrical, but there is an internal difference between the two. It is the feelings that are created by the speaker of a poem. Prose is a story, but poetry (I think) is more of a feeling, emotion, or idea, rather than a real tale. The line is often blurred, but I've never read something that didn't go to one or the other.


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## Hobbit-GalRosie (Dec 13, 2002)

I voted for all but the last option, because I do feel that poetry shouldn't be too restricted and may take many forms, but the fact remains that you can have a well-written and interesting piece that has nothing to do with poetic matters of the heart, there are truly thought-provoking ideas just about anywhere if you look for them.


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## 7doubles (Dec 13, 2002)

most real poetry is demonstrive in form. a mixture of interspectivness and imagonation towards an object, emotions and fealings or ideas. poetry is a singuler perspective of an aspect or a point of view wich is common to its subject by means of retoricle and agatory statments for forming a discriptive and articulate junction to the subject. (the more rythmic the more flowing) the real suject to most poems are its synonyms


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## Lantarion (Dec 14, 2002)

I echo Cir's wise words of wisdom.


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## Confusticated (Dec 14, 2002)

And I echo Lantarion's redundant words of redundancy redundantly.


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## Dragon (Dec 15, 2002)

and I echo, wait..... I don't echo anybody

I think it must have a sort of rythym (not necessarily rhyme) or pattern to the syllables


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## Hobbit-GalRosie (Dec 15, 2002)

I echo Dragon, often the main difference between poetry and story-telling lies in some specific form the poem takes; there are some very good poems that are "free verse" so to speak, but there is still a very distinct style to those.


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## Lantarion (Dec 16, 2002)

Wow, did we suddenly travel to Lammoth?? 
Er but yes; poetry as an art form does follow a certain 'plan': there does not necessarily have to be a rhyme scheme, rythm or even a story to be told: Ezra Pound wrote some unbelievable freeverse poetry, which had little or no order or rythm in it.. 
If you want a definitive answer this link should help you somewhat.. 
But as was said, poetry is poetry and prose is prose.


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## Ol'gaffer (Dec 16, 2002)

and a haiku is a haiku and thr rose has it's thorns and...*looks around and realises that everyone is watching.* uhh, what ever lantarion said.
*runs and fast.*


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## Lossengondiel (Dec 16, 2002)

poetry, to me, are words that have my own sort of rhythm and make sense to no one but me. my teacher dont consider what i write as poetry, but i do.


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## Dragon (Dec 16, 2002)

wow, somebody echoed me, the non-echo-er, oh, and lantarion, do you realize that your link is only on the k and a little hard to find?


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## Lantarion (Dec 17, 2002)

yah, I wanted to see how long it took people to realize that! 
Lonna, sorry if I failed to say this before, but that passage is wonderful! (Although I wouldn't call it poetry )


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## Lonna (Dec 17, 2002)

*Wow, I started something*

Wow, I started a buzz of a thread about poetry vs. prose. Thanks for all your interesting thoughts. I guess we will forever be debating exactly where poetry ends and prose begins.

I don't think a teacher should say "that's not poetry." If you think it's poetry, it's poetry to you!

Lantarian, thanks for the compliments about my writing. I try to blend poetry into my prose.


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## Lossengondiel (Dec 18, 2002)

*Re: Wow, I started something*



> _Originally posted by Lonna _
> *I don't think a teacher should say "that's not poetry." If you think it's poetry, it's poetry to you!*



The only thing that my teacher deems as poetry are poems with "memorable poetic techniques" ie similies, metaphors, alliteration, parallelism, and so on and so forth.

Anything but that and she'll seriously drop your grade...bad for me


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## Dragon (Dec 18, 2002)

im sorry if this offends you in any way, but your teacher is stupid.


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## Lossengondiel (Dec 18, 2002)

trust me...no offense taken whatsoever...


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