--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Eloquence is the poetry of prose." description: "\"Eloquence is the poetry of prose.\" — William C. Bryant" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd5/william-c-bryant-3570_eloquence_eloquence-is-the-poetry-of-prose-801375_801375.png" --- # Eloquence is the poetry of prose. ![“Eloquence is the poetry of prose.” quote by William C. Bryant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd5/william-c-bryant-3570_eloquence_eloquence-is-the-poetry-of-prose-801375_801375.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd5/william-c-bryant-3570_eloquence_eloquence-is-the-poetry-of-prose-801375_801375.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd5/william-c-bryant-3570_eloquence_eloquence-is-the-poetry-of-prose-801375_801375.png) > “Eloquence is the poetry of prose.” [William C. Bryant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-c-bryant/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Equates eloquence with poetic qualities in prose, emphasizing rhythm, beauty, and expressive power. **In simple terms:** Eloquence makes prose poetic. Key Takeaway Cultivate rhythmic, vivid writing. Themes writing style beauty Mood inspirational artistic Type literary educational When to use this quote - creative writing - public speaking - teaching Key Concepts poetic prose rhetoric literary elegance Questions to Reflect On - How can you make prose more lyrical? - What makes speech feel poetic? A Different Perspective May be subjective to taste. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Eloquence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eloquence/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Prose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prose/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [My wife has been my greatest earthly inspiration. She excels in eloquence, the poetry of words, empathy and graciousness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-romney/my-wife-has-been-my-greatest-earthly-inspiration-she-excels-in/) [George W. Romney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-romney/) > [Gil Thorpe is a great diversion and is to book writing as poetry is to prose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-b-jenkins/gil-thorpe-is-a-great-diversion-and-is-to-book-writing-as-poetry-is/) [Jerry B. Jenkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-b-jenkins/) > [When we share - that is poetry in the prose of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/when-we-share-that-is-poetry-in-the-prose-of-life/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [Poets seem to write more easily about love than prose writers. For a start, they own that flexible ‘I’…. Then again, poets seem able…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/poets-seem-to-write-more-easily-about-love-than-prose-writers-for-a/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [All those authors there, most of whom of course I've never met. That's the poetry side, that's the prose side, that's the fishing and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-maccaig/all-those-authors-there-most-of-whom-of-course-i-ve-never-met-that-s/) [Norman MacCaig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-maccaig/) > [“Lover of poetry, prose and procrastination.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-fitzsimons/lover-of-poetry-prose-and-procrastination/) Stephen Fitzsimons > [There are few greater treasures to be acquired in youth than great poetry-and prose-stored in the memory. At the time one may resent the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-livingstone/there-are-few-greater-treasures-to-be-acquired-in-youth-than-great/) [Richard Livingstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-livingstone/) > [Poetry is prose, bent out of shape.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-patrick-lewis/poetry-is-prose-bent-out-of-shape/) [J. Patrick Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-patrick-lewis/) > [I guess I find the boundaries between poetry and prose to be somewhat permeable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-powers/i-guess-i-find-the-boundaries-between-poetry-and-prose-to-be-somewhat/) [Kevin Powers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-powers/) > [I've learned about marrying poetry and prose and making both accessible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-woodson/i-ve-learned-about-marrying-poetry-and-prose-and-making-both/) [Jacqueline Woodson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-woodson/) > [Many people become bankrupt through having invested too heavily in the prose of life. To have ruined one's self over poetry is an honor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/many-people-become-bankrupt-through-having-invested-too-heavily-in/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Mr Witwould: "Pray, madam, do you pin up your hair with all your letters? I find I must keep copies." Mrs Millamant: "Only with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-congreve/mr-witwould-pray-madam-do-you-pin-up-your-hair-with-all-your-letters/) [William Congreve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-congreve/) > [The aim of good prose words is to mean what they say. The aim of good poetical words is to mean what they do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/the-aim-of-good-prose-words-is-to-mean-what-they-say-the-aim-of-good/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [The poetry from the eighteenth century was prose; the prose from the seventeenth century was poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hare/the-poetry-from-the-eighteenth-century-was-prose-the-prose-from-the/) [David Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hare/) > [“But that's a good match for the way I've always approached life. I've always believed in motion and action, in following connections wherever they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-z/but-that-s-a-good-match-for-the-way-i-ve-always-approached-life-i-ve/) [Jay-Z](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-z/) ## More by William C. Bryant > [The gentle race of flowers Are lying in their lowly beds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-c-bryant/the-gentle-race-of-flowers-are-lying-in-their-lowly-beds/) [William C. Bryant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-c-bryant/) > [The victory of endurance born.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-c-bryant/the-victory-of-endurance-born/) [William C. Bryant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-c-bryant/) > [Features, the great soul's apparent seat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-c-bryant/features-the-great-soul-s-apparent-seat/) [William C. Bryant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-c-bryant/) > [The February sunshine steeps your boughs and tints the buds and swells the leaves within.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-c-bryant/the-february-sunshine-steeps-your-boughs-and-tints-the-buds-and/) [William C. Bryant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-c-bryant/) > [Lo! while we are gazing, in swifter haste Stream down the snows, till the air is white, As, myriads by myriads madly chased, They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-c-bryant/lo-while-we-are-gazing-in-swifter-haste-stream-down-the-snows-till/) [William C. Bryant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-c-bryant/) > [Sustained and soothed By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave, Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch About him, and lies down…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-c-bryant/sustained-and-soothed-by-an-unfaltering-trust-approach-thy-grave-like/) [William C. Bryant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-c-bryant/) > [But Winter has yet brighter scenes-he boasts Splendors beyond what gorgeous Summer knows; Or Autumn with his many fruits, and woods All flushed with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-c-bryant/but-winter-has-yet-brighter-scenes-he-boasts-splendors-beyond-what/) [William C. Bryant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-c-bryant/) > [There is a Power whose care Teaches thy way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-c-bryant/there-is-a-power-whose-care-teaches-thy-way/) [William C. Bryant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-c-bryant/) > [Truth crushed to earth shall rise again,- The eternal years of God are hers; But Error, wounded, writhes with pain, And dies among his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-c-bryant/truth-crushed-to-earth-shall-rise-again-the-eternal-years-of-god-are/) [William C. Bryant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-c-bryant/) > [And the blue gentian-flower, that, in the breeze, Nods lonely, of her beauteous race the last.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-c-bryant/and-the-blue-gentian-flower-that-in-the-breeze-nods-lonely-of-her/) [William C. Bryant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-c-bryant/) > [A silence, the brief Sabbath of an hour, Reigns o'er the fields; the laborer sits within His dwelling; he has left his steers awhile,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-c-bryant/a-silence-the-brief-sabbath-of-an-hour-reigns-o-er-the-fields-the/) [William C. Bryant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-c-bryant/) > [The rugged trees are mingling Their flowery sprays in love; The ivy climbs the laurel To clasp the boughs above.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-c-bryant/the-rugged-trees-are-mingling-their-flowery-sprays-in-love-the-ivy/) [William C. Bryant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-c-bryant/) > [There is a day of sunny rest For every dark and troubled night; And grief may hide an evening guest, But joy shall come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-c-bryant/there-is-a-day-of-sunny-rest-for-every-dark-and-troubled-night-and/) [William C. Bryant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-c-bryant/) > [Poetry is that art which selects and arranges the symbols of thought in such a manner as to excite the imagination the most powerfully…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-c-bryant/poetry-is-that-art-which-selects-and-arranges-the-symbols-of-thought/) [William C. Bryant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-c-bryant/) > [God hath yoked to guilt her pale tormentor,--misery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-c-bryant/god-hath-yoked-to-guilt-her-pale-tormentor-misery/) [William C. Bryant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-c-bryant/) [Explore all 127 William C. Bryant quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-c-bryant/) ## More Eloquence quotes > [There should be in eloquence that which is pleasing and that which is real; but that which is pleasing should itself be real.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/there-should-be-in-eloquence-that-which-is-pleasing-and-that-which-is/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [Fie on the eloquence that leaves us craving itself, not things!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/fie-on-the-eloquence-that-leaves-us-craving-itself-not-things/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [ \[T\]here are, at bottom, basically two ways to order social affairs, Coercively, through the mechanisms of the state - what we can call political… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-crane/t-here-are-at-bottom-basically-two-ways-to-order-social-affairs/) [Ed Crane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-crane/) > [Drudgery, calamity, exasperation, want, are instructors in eloquence and wisdom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/drudgery-calamity-exasperation-want-are-instructors-in-eloquence-and/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Among all the valuable things of this world, the word is the most precious. For in the word one can find a light which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hazrat-inayat-khan/among-all-the-valuable-things-of-this-world-the-word-is-the-most/) [Hazrat Inayat Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hazrat-inayat-khan/) > [“Your goodness must have some edge to it -- else it is none.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/your-goodness-must-have-some-edge-to-it-else-it-is-none/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Forensics is eloquence and reduction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/forensics-is-eloquence-and-reduction/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [“What is called eloquence in the forum is commonly found to be rhetoric in the study.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/what-is-called-eloquence-in-the-forum-is-commonly-found-to-be/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Eloquence is the appropriate organ of the highest personal energy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/eloquence-is-the-appropriate-organ-of-the-highest-personal-energy/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Philosophy may be dodged, eloquence cannot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-quinet/philosophy-may-be-dodged-eloquence-cannot/) [Edgar Quinet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-quinet/) > [Eloquence is a painting of thought; and thus those who, after having painted it, add something more, make a picture instead of a portrait.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/eloquence-is-a-painting-of-thought-and-thus-those-who-after-having/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [The notion of directing a film is the invention of critics - the whole eloquence of cinema is achieved in the editing room.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-notion-of-directing-a-film-is-the-invention-of-critics-the-whole/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Your eloquence should be the servant of the ideas in your head. Your rule might be this: If a sentence, no matter how excellent,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/your-eloquence-should-be-the-servant-of-the-ideas-in-your-head-your/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [Eloquence is relative. One can no more pronounce on the eloquence of any composition than the wholesomeness of a medicine, without knowing for whom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-whately/eloquence-is-relative-one-can-no-more-pronounce-on-the-eloquence-of/) [Richard Whately](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-whately/) > [ It is true that despite occasional gleams of Churchillian eloquence he \[Gen. Douglas MacArthur\] usually spoke poorly. He was far more effective in conversations… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-manchester/it-is-true-that-despite-occasional-gleams-of-churchillian-eloquence/) [William Manchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-manchester/) [Browse all 439 Eloquence quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eloquence/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Eloquence is the poetry of prose.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William C. 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