In Today’s Journal
* The Structure of Literary Genres…
* Of Interest
* The Numbers
The Structure of Literary Genres and the Modes of Delivery of the English Language
The Premise
As I mentioned in the bit on the history of poetry in America, that poetry must be “interpreted” to be understood is a modern phenomenon in which some English Literature professors were (and maybe still are) complicit.
But those poets and the aforementioned tenure-seeking crowd of the 1970s also were complicit in breaking the structure of the poetry genre in the English language itself.
They somehow managed to convince themselves (and unfortunately, generations of their students) that there is such a thing as a poem without intentional line breaks. They labeled it a “prose poem.”
Hey, it’s a free country. Certainly you can point directly at a barn owl and call it a “crow” if you want to, but the actual bird in question will still be a barn owl.
Calling a barn owl a crow doesn’t actually make it a crow, and it doesn’t make you ‘chic’ or cutting edge. It just makes you appear foolish.
Likewise, if you look at a word-wrapped paragraph of text and want to call it a ‘prose poem,’ knock yourself out. It’s still just a paragraph.
You’ve committed a category mistake, and as one who uses the language in your profession, you should know better.
The Facts
English is an accentual-syllabic language, and there are two major considerations in all written communication in the English language: the literary genre and the mode of delivery (or mode of presentation).
There are several literary genres: for example, the poem, the essay, the vignette, short or long fiction, and the play or screenplay. Each genre has its own requirements, including the basic structural unit of each genre plus whatever other structural and formatting requirements.
- The Sentence is the basic structural unit of an essay or short or long fiction, but
- the Poetic Line the basic structural unit of poetry. Without intentional line breaks, you can’t have a poem.
However, there are only two modes of delivery or presentation: Verse and Prose.
- Verse is the mode of delivery in which the writer intentionally manipulates the accentual meter inherent in the language. The writer directly controls the perceived rhythms in the work.
- Prose is the mode of delivery in which the writer does not intentionally manipulate the accentual meter inherent in the language. Any perceived rhythms occur naturally.
Now, the ‘prose poem’ does exist—it’s a poem (genre) presented in prose (mode)—but it isn’t presented in a paragraph.
To make it a poem (genre), it must have intentional line breaks, and to make it prose (mode) the writing must consist of words in which the meter is not intentionally manipulated.
So as I think I mentioned in another post, a ‘prose poem’ is actually what most people call “free verse.”
Want to Play?
Interestingly, any of the literary genres above can be presented in either mode. But you still have to follow the basic premise of genre vs. mode. And bearing in mind that ‘verse’ is a mode and ‘poetry’ is a genre, don’t confuse the two terms.
Several regular word-wrapped novels in the 19th, 20th, and even 21st century were written in Verse mode.
Those novels were based on the Sentence to satisfy the genre requirement and arranged in paragraphs, chapters, etc. But the meter inherent in the language was tightly manipulated to satisfy the verse (mode) requirement.
You can find lists of those novels online.
Note: All of this stuff used to be clear, with Modes and Genres clearly delineated. But today, even AI often considers the word “poetry” (again, a literary genre) synonymous with the word “verse” (a literary mode of delivery).
Want More?
To learn a bit more about yours truly back when I was labeled (by others) a New Formalist poet, see “Concise storytelling”.
I’m fortunate that my poetry sold well for a number of years and has been nominated for several major awards, including the National Book Award in 2006.
But I like putting my money where my mouth is. If you would like to sample my poetry, click this Selected Poems link to download a free PDF copy of that collection. Enjoy.
But be forewarned: My poetry isn’t all butterflies and flowers and pastoral, mist-filled valleys. Of my National Book Award nominated collection Beyond the Masks, critic Dr. Joseph Salemi (CUNY), wrote in part
“Nothing about this collection has anything to do with a world in which simply sitting in a circle holding hands and singing Kumbaya will make everybody put down their guns and play nice. It has nothing to do with flowers and butterflies.
“Stanbrough’s poetry derives from the real world. Any flowers involved are probably being clutched by the widow of a fallen Marine, and if there are butterflies, they’re in the reader’s stomach.
“If you want milquetoast poetry, this is not for you. If you want poetry that you have to ‘interpret’ to understand, this is not for you. But if you want brain-twisting reality and gut-wrenching emotional depth—if you want poetry that will make you get up and pour yourself a brandy—you want this poetry collection.
“Influenced by W.B. Yeats, Robert Frost, Anthony Hecht and Howard Nemerov, Stanbrough’s poetry sings with the rhythms of blank verse. If the spiritual and the earthly can be trapped in one place, this collection is that place.”
I still have some paper copies of that book in the house. If you would like one, email me at harveystanbrough@gmail.com to let me know. Be sure to include your mailing address.
Then send $10 via PayPal to that same email address. The price includes shipping.
And if you want to learn to actually write poetry, consider my The Craft of Poetry: Structure and Sound.
Of Interest
Six Things Writers Need To Stop Worrying About For awhile, this was JA Konrath’s last blog post. I think he’s back now, but every writer should see this particular post.
The Numbers
The Journal………………….. 1000
Mentorship Words…………….. 0
Total Nonfiction…………………. 940
Writing of
Day 1…… XXXX words. To date………… XXXXX
Fiction for February………………………. XXXX
Fiction for 2026…………………………… XXXX
Nonfiction for February.…………………. 23710
Nonfiction for 2026………………..……… 43300
2026 consumable words………………… 43300
2026 Novels to Date……………………… 0
2026 Novellas to Date…………………… 0
2026 Short Stories to Date……………… 0
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………….. 123
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)…………… 10
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)……… 310
Short story collections……………………. 29