"WHEN YOU WRITE IN PROSE, YOU COOK THE RICE. WHEN YOU WRITE POETRY, YOU TURN

RICE INTO RICE WINE. COOKED RICE DOESN'T CHANGE ITS SHAPE, BUT RICE WINE

CHANGES BOTH IN QUALITY AND SHAPE. COOKED RICE MAKES ONE FULL SO ONE CAN LIVE OUT ONE'S LIFE SPAN . . . WINE, ON THE

OTHER HAND, MAKES ONE DRUNK, MAKES THE SAD HAPPY, AND THE HAPPY SAD. ITS

EFFECT IS SUBLIMELY BEYOND EXPLANATION." - WU QIAO

Poetry vs. Prose

The Meanings

Poetry (from the Latin poeta, a poet) is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning.

Prose is the most typical form of language. The English word 'prose' is derived from the Latin prōsa, which literally translates as 'straight-forward.'

Poetry noun

the art of rhythmical composition, written or spoken, for exciting pleasure by beautiful, imaginative, or elevated thoughts.

literary work in metrical form; verse. Poetry is language spoken or written

according to some pattern of recurrence that emphasises relationships between words on the basis of sound as well as meaning. This pattern is almost always a rhythm or metre (regular pattern of sound units). This pattern may be supplemented by ornamentation such as rhyme or alliteration or both.

Prose (noun)

the ordinary form of spoken or written language, without metrical structure, as distinguished from poetry or verse.

matter-of-fact, commonplace, or dull expression, quality, discourse, etc.

Prose is the form of written language that is not organized according to formal patterns of verse. It may have some sort of rhythm and some devices of repetition and balance, but these are not governed by regularly sustained formal arrangement. The significant unit is the sentence, not the line. Hence it is represented without line breaks in writing.