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{{short description|Form of written or spoken language}}
{{hatgrp|
{{for|the American author|Francine Prose}}
{{distinguish|Pro se}}
}}
'''Prose''' is a form of written or spoken [[language]] that follows the [[natural speech|natural flow of speech]], uses a language's ordinary [[Grammar|grammatical structure]]s, or follows the conventions of formal [[academic writing]]. It differs from most traditional [[poetry]], where the form consists of [[verse (poetry)|verse]] (writing in [[Line (poetry)|lines]]) based on [[Metre (poetry)|rhythmic metre]] or [[rhyme]]. The word "prose" first appears in [[English language|English]] in the 14th century. It is derived from the [[Old French]] ''prose'', which in turn originates in the [[Latin]] expression ''prosa oratio'' (literally, straightforward or direct speech).<ref name="etym_Onli">{{Cite web| title = prose (n.)| work = [[Online Etymology Dictionary]]| access-date = 19 January 2015| url = http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=prose&allowed_in_frame=0}}</ref>

Works of [[philosophy]], [[history]], [[economics]], etc., journalism, and most [[fiction]] (an exception is the [[verse novel]]), are examples of works written in prose. Developments in twentieth century literature, including [[free verse]], [[concrete poetry]], and [[prose poetry]], have led to the idea of poetry and prose as two ends on a spectrum rather than firmly distinct from each other. The British poet [[T. S. Eliot]] noted, whereas "the distinction between [[Verse (poetry)|verse]] and prose is clear, the distinction between [[poetry]] and prose is obscure."<ref>Eliot, T. S. ''Poetry & Prose: The Chapbook'', Poetry Bookshop London, 1921.</ref>

==History==
{{History of literature by region or country}}
{{Expand section|date=October 2020}}

{{See||Chinese prose|Ancient Greek literature|Roman literature|Elizabethan literature#Prose|Augustan prose|Restoration literature#Prose genres|Prose of the Ottoman Empire}}

[[Latin]] was a major influence on the development of prose in many [[European countries]]. Especially important was the great Roman orator [[Cicero]] (106 – 43 BC).<ref>"Literature", ''Encyclopaedia Britannica''. online</ref> It was the ''lingua franca'' among literate Europeans until quite recent times, and the great works of [[Descartes]] (1596 – 1650), [[Francis Bacon]] (1561 – 1626), and [[Baruch Spinoza]] (1632 – 1677) were published in Latin. Among the last important books written primarily in Latin prose were the works of [[Emanuel Swedenborg|Swedenborg]] (d. 1772), [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]] (d. 1778), [[Leonhard Euler|Euler]] (d. 1783), [[Carl Friedrich Gauss|Gauss]] (d. 1855), and [[Isaac Newton]] (d. 1727).

== Qualities ==
Prose usually lacks the more formal metrical structure of the [[Verse (poetry)|verse]]s found in traditional [[poetry]]. It comprises full grammatical sentences (other than in [[stream of consciousness]] narrative), and paragraphs, whereas poetry often involves a [[meter (poetry)|metrical]] or [[rhyme|rhyming]] scheme. Some works of prose make use of rhythm and verbal music. Verse is normally more systematic or formulaic, while prose is closer to both ordinary, and conversational speech.

In [[Molière]]'s play ''[[Le Bourgeois gentilhomme]]'' the character [[Monsieur Jourdain]] asked for something to be written in neither verse nor prose, to which a philosophy master replies: "there is no other way to express oneself than with prose or verse", for the simple reason that "everything that is not prose is verse, and everything that is not verse is prose".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2992/2992-h/2992-h.htm |title=Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme |work=English translation accessible via Project Gutenberg |access-date=2010-01-31}}</ref>

American novelist [[Truman Capote]], in an interview, commented as follows on prose style:
{{Quotation|I believe a story can be wrecked by a faulty rhythm in a sentence— especially if it occurs toward the end—or a mistake in paragraphing, even punctuation. [[Henry James]] is the maestro of the semicolon. [[Ernest Hemingway|Hemingway]] is a first-rate paragrapher. From the point of view of ear, [[Virginia Woolf]] never wrote a bad sentence. I don't mean to imply that I successfully practice what I preach. I try, that's all.<ref name=Hill1>{{cite journal|last1=Hill|first1=Pati |title=Truman Capote, The Art of Fiction No. 17|journal=The Paris Review|volume=Spring-Summer 1957|issue= 16|url=http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/4867/the-art-of-fiction-no-17-truman-capote|access-date=18 February 2015}}</ref>}}

=== Types ===
{{See also|Prose types}}
Many types of prose exist, which include those used in works of [[nonfiction]], [[Prose poetry|prose poem]],<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RzunYckU4woC | title=Great American Prose Poems | publisher=Simon and Schuster | author=Lehman, David | year=2008 | isbn=978-1439105115}}</ref> [[alliterative prose]] and [[Literature|prose fiction]].

* A prose poem – is a composition in prose that has some of the qualities of a poem.<ref>{{cite dictionary| url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prose%20poem|title=Prose poem|dictionary=Merriam-Webster|access-date=2012-05-27}}</ref>
* [[Haikai prose]] – combines [[haiku]] and prose.
* [[Prosimetrum]] – is a poetic composition which exploits a combination of prose and [[verse (poetry)|verse]] (''metrum'');<ref name="braund">Braund, Susanna. "[http://www.paulyonline.brill.nl/entries/brill-s-new-pauly/prosimetrum-e1010870 Prosimetrum]". In Cancil, Hubert, and Helmuth Schneider, eds. ''Brill's New Pauly''. Brill Online, 2012. Retrieved 2 October 2015.</ref> in particular, it is a text composed in alternating segments of prose and verse.<ref name="pepp1">Brogan, T.V.F. "Prosimetrum". In Green et al., pp. 1115–1116.</ref> It is widely found in Western and Eastern literature.<ref name="pepp1" />
* [[Purple prose]] – is prose that is so extravagant, ornate, or flowery as to break the flow and draw excessive attention to itself.<ref>{{cite web |title=A Word a Day – purple prose |url=http://www.wordsmith.org/words/purple_prose.html |website=Wordsmith.org |access-date=26 December 2014}}</ref>

===Divisions===
Prose is divided into two main divisions:
*Fiction
*Non fiction

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Prose | volume= 22 |last= Gosse |first= Edmund William |author-link= Edmund William Gosse| pages = 450–455 |short = 1}}
* Patterson, William Morrison, [https://archive.org/stream/rhythmofproseexp00pattiala/rhythmofproseexp00pattiala_djvu.txt ''Rhythm of Prose''], Columbia University Press, 1917.
* {{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fjvh69UihCMC | title=Prose: Literary Terms and Concepts | publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group | author=Kuiper, Kathleen | year=2011 | isbn=978-1615304943}} 244 pages.
* {{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CI31iJEmuYoC | title=Theory of Prose | publisher=Dalkey Archive Press | author=Shklovsky, Viktor | year=1991 | isbn=0916583643}} 216 pages.

==External links==
{{Wiktionary}}
*[http://literarydevices.net/prose Prose examples in Literature]
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[[Category:Prose| ]]

Prose - Revision history

Ajay Kumar: Created a new article