--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The gap between verse and poetry is…" description: "\"The gap between verse and poetry is enormous. Between good poetry and good prose the gap is much narrower\" — Michael Longley" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d3a/michael-longley-26639_enormous_the-gap-between-verse-and-poetry-is-enor_367145.jpg" --- # The gap between verse and poetry is enormous. Between good… ![“The gap between verse and poetry is enormous. Between good poetry and good prose the gap is much narrower” quote by Michael Longley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d3a/michael-longley-26639_enormous_the-gap-between-verse-and-poetry-is-enor_367145.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d3a/michael-longley-26639_enormous_the-gap-between-verse-and-poetry-is-enor_367145.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d3a/michael-longley-26639_enormous_the-gap-between-verse-and-poetry-is-enor_367145.jpg) > “The gap between verse and poetry is enormous. Between good poetry and good prose the gap is much narrower” [Michael Longley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-longley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Poetry and prose differ greatly, but good poetry and good prose are closer in quality. **In simple terms:** Poetry vs prose gap; good writing is similar. Key Takeaway Focus on craft, not form. Themes literature form quality Mood analytical thoughtful Type literary observational When to use this quote - writing workshops - editing - literary criticism Key Concepts aesthetics genre theory Questions to Reflect On - What makes poetry distinct from prose? - Can prose be as powerful as poetry? A Different Perspective Genre labels can be limiting. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Good poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-poetry/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Prose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prose/) [Verses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/verses/) ## Related quotes > [Your lines, I maintain it, are poetry, and good poetry… Friendship... had I been so blest as to have met with you in time,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-burns/your-lines-i-maintain-it-are-poetry-and-good-poetry-friendship-had-i/) [Robert Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-burns/) > [Let my name perish, -- the poetry is good poetry and the music is good music, and beauty dieth not, and the heart that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sidney-lanier/let-my-name-perish-the-poetry-is-good-poetry-and-the-music-is-good/) [Sidney Lanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sidney-lanier/) > [What the world wants, what the world is waiting for, is not Modern Poetry or Classical Poetry or Neo-Classical Poetry - but Good Poetry.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/what-the-world-wants-what-the-world-is-waiting-for-is-not-modern/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Write verse, not poetry. The public wants verse. If you have a talent for poetry, then don't by any means mother it, but try…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-w-service/write-verse-not-poetry-the-public-wants-verse-if-you-have-a-talent/) [Robert W. Service](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-w-service/) > [If a poem is not memorable, there's probably something wrong. One of the problems of free verse is that much of the free verse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-morgan/if-a-poem-is-not-memorable-there-s-probably-something-wrong-one-of/) [Robert Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-morgan/) > [Verse in itself does not constitute poetry. Verse is only an elegant vestment for a beautiful form. 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Primitive, but oh, so true!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dmitri-shostakovich/music-is-good-not-evil-poetry-is-good-not-evil-primitive-but-oh-so/) [Dmitri Shostakovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dmitri-shostakovich/) > [Well, the great thing for me about poetry is that in good poems the dislocation of words, that is to say, the distance between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-mathews/well-the-great-thing-for-me-about-poetry-is-that-in-good-poems-the/) [Harry Mathews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-mathews/) > [Poetry is good for unleashing images.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-rego/poetry-is-good-for-unleashing-images/) [Paula Rego](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-rego/) > [The Bible has noble poetry in it... and some good morals and a wealth of obscenity, and upwards of a thousand lies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-bible-has-noble-poetry-in-it-and-some-good-morals-and-a-wealth-of/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [I don't know a better preparation for life than a love of poetry and a good digestion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zona-gale/i-don-t-know-a-better-preparation-for-life-than-a-love-of-poetry-and/) [Zona Gale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zona-gale/) ## More by Michael Longley > [I would insist that poetry is a normal human activity and its proper concern all the things that happen to people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-longley/i-would-insist-that-poetry-is-a-normal-human-activity-and-its-proper/) [Michael Longley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-longley/) > [Most poets' revisions are disastrous. They buckle and dent what was originally forged at a red-hot heat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-longley/most-poets-revisions-are-disastrous-they-buckle-and-dent-what-was/) [Michael Longley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-longley/) > [In America, where you'd have thought the country's so huge it couldn't happen quite so cosily, everyone's giving his imprimatur to everyone else. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-longley/in-america-where-you-d-have-thought-the-country-s-so-huge-it-couldn-t/) [Michael Longley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-longley/) > [Every Monday morning I try to remember to say "Thank you, Lord. I'm not at the Senior Staff Meeting."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-longley/every-monday-morning-i-try-to-remember-to-say-thank-you-lord-i-m-not/) [Michael Longley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-longley/) > [I work hard to make the poems as good as they can be, and if they're not good enough I scrap them. 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