When Boswell asked Johnson to define poetry, the latter replied:
Why, sir, it is much easier to say what it is not. We all know what light is; but it is not easy to tell what it is.
Johnson's observation points to an aspect about poetry that we wish to emphasize: poetry encompasses a particular kind of sensibility rather than a particular kind of form. Thus, with regard to its form, one can think of examples of verse that are not poetic, and of prose that are. Both are potential vehicles of Truth and meaning, while their forms of expression will not necessarily determine their nature.
There are no absolute distinctions between poetry and prose, for they are both, so far as they are intelligible, linguistic vehicles of the Truth. The specific aspect of words written or spoken - verse of prose - is an accidental feature; the essential distinction concerns words in whatever pattern or arrangement as manifestations of Truth.
While the form of the poem may vary, the distinguishing feature of the poetic sensibility lies in its orientation and receptivity to the Truth. It is to perceive Truth as Presence.
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"Milton says, that the lyric poet may drink wine and live generously, but the epic poet, he who shall sing of the gods, and their descent unto men, must drink water out of a wooden bowl. For poetry is not 'Devil's wine,' but God's wine."
From The Timeless Relevance of Traditional Wisdom by M. Ali Lakhani
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