Poetry, poem, prose and sonnet are terms frequently used in the literary context, some as synonyms, despite designating different elements.
While the poem, the prose and the sonnet are distinct textual structures linked exclusively to the literature, poetry is the intended artistic expression, and can be present in any field of the arts.
What is poetry?
Poetry is the aesthetic intention intended by the artist, who through his art seeks to express an idea or feeling. So, the poetry is a subjective and abstract element which is present in poems, paintings, photographs, music and any other form of art.
As it is the artistic expression itself, poetry can manifest itself through various forms, such as in choosing colors in a painting, the meter and rhymes in a poem, the intonation in a song, and so on.
The term originates from the Greek poiesis which means “to make” or “to create”, therefore, its etymological origin already demonstrates that the word can refer to any artistic production.
What is a poem?
poem is a textual structure belonging to the lyrical genre of literature, organized in verses and stanzas. The number of verses in each stanza is free and can vary within the same poem.
With the exception of the organization in verses and stanzas, there are no fixed rules that characterize the poems. Thus, poems may or may not contain rhymes, alliteration, metaphors or any other techniques or figures of speech, at the poet's discretion.
see what they are rhymes.
Types of poem
A poem can be:
- Lyrical: describes the poet's feelings and thoughts.
- Epic: is focused on mythical and unreal situations and entities.
- Dramatic: is formed through the characters' speeches.
- Narrative: describes a story.
Difference between Poetry and Poem
Since a poem always contains poetry, it is common for the terms to be used synonymously. However, the poem is just one way of expressing poetry:
| Poetry | Poem |
|---|---|
| What an artist expresses. | Like an artist expresses. |
Poem example
Below is a poem by Vinícius de Moraes. Note that the poem contains some punctual rhymes and that the stanzas have variable numbers of verses:
Will take
that you come back quickly
don't you say goodbye
Never again from my affection
and cry regret
and think a lot
That it's better to suffer together
to live happily alone
Will take
may sadness convince you
That missing doesn't pay
And that absence does not give peace
And the true love of those who love
weaves the same old weave
that does not fall apart
And the most divine thing
what's in the world
It's living every second
Like never again...
What is prose?
prose is the textual structure organized in continuous lines (they do not suffer line breaks like in poems) and paragraphs. It is marked by narrative, dissertation and denotative text, which is why it is the textual expression used in articles and news (non-literary prose) and in novels, short stories and chronicles (literary prose).
By expressing, in most cases, literal, analytical and discursive speeches, prose is commonly described as a structure far removed from poetry. However, nothing prevents art from being expressed through a prose text. In these cases the structure will be called poetic prose.
Prose example
Below is an excerpt from The unsustainable lightness of being, by Milan Kundera, written in poetic prose:
"There is no way to verify which is the good decision, as there is no comparison. Everything is experienced for the first time and without preparation. As if an actor enters the scene without ever having rehearsed. But what can life be worth, if the first rehearsal of life is already life itself?"
What is a sonnet?
Sonnet is a specific type of poem marked by a fixed structure of four stanzas, two quartets (four verses) and two triplets (three verses). Also, the verses must contain ten poetic syllables.
Sonnet example
Below is a text by Vinícius de Moraes that brings together all the elements of the fixed structure of the sonnets:
friend's sonnet
Anyway, after so many past mistakes
So much retaliation, so much danger
Behold, the old friend reappears in another
Never lost, always found.
It's good to sit him again on the side
With eyes that contain the old look
Always with me a little troubled
And as always unique to me.
An animal just like me, simple and human
Knowing how to move and move
And to cover it up with my own deception.
The friend: a being that life does not explain
That you only go when you see another one born
And the mirror of my soul multiplies...
See too:
- Poetry
- Poem
- Prose