Poetry is to prose as dancing is to walking.
Attribution disputed; shown as originally published.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Wain compares poetry to dancing and prose to walking to show their difference.
- In plain terms
- Poetry is expressive and rhythmic like dancing; prose is functional like walking.
- What can you take from it?
- Poetry moves differently than prose.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How do forms change meaning?
- Which do you prefer?
Another view
Prose can also be rhythmic and poetry functional.
More from John Wain
The lesson is that dying men must groan; And poets groan in rhymes that please the ear.
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