Prose Poem

Poetry that drops the line break entirely, keeping rhythm, image, and compression in prose's plain clothes.

Specifications & Metrics

type

Hybrid poetic form

origin

19th-century Paris

originator

Aloysius Bertrand; Baudelaire perfected it

meter

Rhythmic prose, unmetered

Core Principles & Analysis

• Bertrand's Gaspard de la nuit (1842) pioneered the French prose poem.
• Baudelaire's Paris Spleen made it a deliberate literary weapon.
• Modern poets use it to smuggle poetry past the prose border.

Sources

• Wikipedia: Prose poetry