Poetry and Prose
Poetry began life as the Proto Indo European root kwoiwo, meaning “making”. It entered Greek as poein, “to make or compose”; the derived word poetes meant “maker” or “author”. From there it came into Latin as poeta, “author, poet”, and thence into Old French as poete and 14th century English as poet.
Prose, meanwhile, started out as a compound word in Latin: proversa, from pro (”forward”) + versus (”turning”), meaning “straightforward, direct”. It was shortened over time to prosa, and used in the phrase prosa oratio, referring to “straightforward speech” (i.e. without all that versification nonsense). From Latin it passed briefly through Old French before entering English about the same time that poetry did.
The phonosemantics of prose are identical to that of praise and prize — a focal point (”p”) is infused with energy (”r”); the energy is transformed in some way (depending on the vowel) and ends with a kind of directed flourish (”z”). In the case of prose, that energy is grounded and earthy, as is fitting for straightforward speech.
Poetry, meanwhile, has the same point (”p”), the focus of energy that starts out grounded, as in prose, but is quickly transformed, moving with steady force (short “e”) along a path (”t”) (referring to the regularity of verse?), and only then is infused with energy (”r”) which continues indefinitely (long “i”).
