Are meter and lineation the only things making, say, Robert Frost's "Mending Wall" or "Birches" poems rather than essays? Or are there other fundamental "poetic" qualities--perhaps a certain distillation and economy of language--that distinguish blank verse pieces from prose?
Occasionally, I post a long blank verse piece to TDE for comment--no more than once or twice a year, since I know that long pieces place inordinate demands on readers' time and can't be critiqued at the same level of detail as shorter pieces. There's usually some discussion on my blank verse threads as to whether these pieces are significantly different from prose, and whether the same story might be presented more efficiently and effectively (not to mention with more hope of publication) without meter, or at least without lineation.
Rather than clog TDE with this discussion, I thought I'd raise the issue here. I'm interested in hearing whether Sphereans think there is, in the hands of a master, a significant difference between extended blank verse and prose. Is this purely an "eye-of-the-beholder" issue?
Julie Stoner
PS--Personally, I think blank verse's meter and lineation help to control the pacing of a longer piece and lend emphasis in ways not possible with prose; but maybe the problem is my imperfect use of these tools.
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