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Prosaism

Prosody
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

The use of ordinary, everyday language or prosaic diction in poetry

Detailed Definition
Prosaism involves incorporating mundane vocabulary, conversational rhythms, and non-poetic phrasing into verse, deliberately rejecting elevated or ornamental language. In poetry, prosaism serves multiple functions: it creates authenticity, develops ironic distance, emphasizes democratic themes, or subverts expectations of what poetry should sound like, as exemplified in contemporary confessional and Beat poetry that prioritizes honest, conversational speech over traditional poetic elevation.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Pope’s “Essay on Criticism,” the line “A little learning is a dang’rous thing” avoids prosaism by elevating diction; In contrast, Wordsworth’s “The Thorn” uses deliberate prosaism: “I’ll tell you what I saw one day”—mimicking speech for realism; In modern poetry, Frost’s “The Death of the Hired Man” uses prosaism in dialogue: “Home is the place where, when you have to go there…”; In Auden’s “Musée des Beaux Arts,” “About suffering they were never wrong” employs prosaism to contrast with mythic subject; In Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” “I have measured out my life with coffee spoons” uses prosaism for ironic effect; In Hughes’s “Mother to Son,” “Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair” uses prosaism to convey authentic voice.
Additional Notes
Prosaism refers to language or phrasing in poetry that resembles ordinary prose—lacking metrical regularity, elevated diction, or poetic devices. In prosody, prosaism can signal intentional stylistic choice (e.g., in Wordsworth’s "language really used by men") or metrical failure. However, skilled poets may use prosaic elements within strict forms to create tension or realism. Prosodists analyze prosaism to distinguish between innovative versification and lapses in craft, especially in modern and free verse traditions where boundaries blur.
Also Known As
prosaic diction prose-like expression
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