An Introduction to the Theory of Prose

The widespread use of prose in written and spoken language has not led experts to regard it as an equivalent of verse. On this basis, we do not yet have a specific definition of prose. Perhaps the reason for this shortcoming is either the difficulty of defining this kind of speech or its existential self-evidence. But philosophers, rhetoricians, orators, stylists, critics, and linguists have, more or less, tended to describe, and sometimes define, prose. Adopting a descriptive-analytical method, the present article has tried to offer a logical definition for prose after introducing the existing definitions. Having assessed the views of the predecessors, the article concludes that prose is “connected speech”, but the feature that distinguishes prose from verse is that in prose only the phonetic-syntactic rules of language dictate the order of the discourse, whereas in verse, meter and rhythm are loaded with rules that determine the arrangement of words. Moreover, the paper discusses rhythmic prose, prose poetry and rhyming prose in terms of their prosaic and verse properties.