...difficult to succeed in. To make verse speak the language of prose, without being prosaic, to marshall the words of it in such an order, as they might naturally...accomplish this task was Prior; many have imitated his excellence in this particular, but the best copies have fallen far short of the original. And now to...

...written in 1782, he says: 'To make verse speak the language of prose, without being prosaic, to marshall the words of it in such an order, as they might naturally...without seeming to displace a syllable for the sake of rhyme, is one of the most arduous tasks a poet can undertake.' To John Newton the year before he had...

...familiar stile, is of all stiles the most difficult to succeed in. To make verse speak the language of prose, without being prosaic, to marshal! the words...undertake. He that could accomplish this task was Prior. (Letters, 2:10, emphasis added) The statement is more often cited in order to place Cowper on a literaryhistorical...

...difficult to succeed in. To make verse speak the language of prose, without being prosaic, to marshall the words of it in such an order, as they might naturally...undertake. He that could accomplish this task was Prior. (Letters, 2:10, emphasis added) The statement is more often cited in order to place Cowper on a literaryhistorical...

...familiar style is of all styles the most difficult to succeed in. To make verse speak the language of prose, without being prosaic, to marshal the words...rhyme, is one of the most arduous tasks a poet can undertake."27 That has a modern ring: Pound's "poetry should be written at least as well as prose,"...