Modes of Writing

The Oxford English Dictionary defines prose as "The ordinary form of written or spoken language, *without* metrical structure" , and it defines verse as "a succession of words arranged according to natural or recognized rules of prosody (definition coming momentarily) and forming a complete *metrical* line ." To put it even more simply, prose is unmetered language and verse is metered language. To "meter" is to count. Generally, what the poet counts is syllables.