Prose vs. Sonnet — What's the Difference?

Prose is a form of written (or spoken) language that usually exhibits a natural flow of speech and grammatical structure—an exception is the narrative device stream of consciousness. The word "prose" first appears in English in the 14th century.

A sonnet is a poetic form which originated in the Italian poetry composed at the Court of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in Palermo, Sicily. The 13th-century poet and notary Giacomo da Lentini is credited with the sonnet's invention for expressing courtly love.

Ordinary speech or writing, without metrical structure.

A 14-line verse form often in iambic pentameter, having one of several conventional rhyme schemes and usually featuring a shift in mood or tone after the eighth or twelfth line.

Commonplace expression or quality.

A poem in this form.

Roman Catholic Church A hymn of irregular meter sung before the Gospel.

A fixed verse form of Italian origin consisting of fourteen lines that are typically five-foot iambics and rhyme according to one of a few prescribed schemes.

To write prose.

(intransitive) To compose sonnets.

To speak or write in a dull, tiresome style.

(transitive) To celebrate in sonnets; to write a sonnet about.

Language, particularly written language, not intended as poetry.

A short poem, - usually amatory.

Language which evinces little imagination or animation; dull and commonplace discourse.

A poem of fourteen lines, - two stanzas, called the octave, being of four verses each, and two stanzas, called the sestet, of three verses each, the rhymes being adjusted by a particular rule.

(Roman Catholicism) A hymn with no regular meter, sometimes introduced into the Mass.

To compose sonnets.

To write or repeat in a dull, tedious, or prosy way.

A verse form consisting of 14 lines with a fixed rhyme scheme

The ordinary language of men in speaking or writing; language not cast in poetical measure or rhythm; - contradistinguished from verse, or metrical composition.

Praise in a sonnet

Hence, language which evinces little imagination or animation; dull and commonplace discourse.

Compose a sonnet

A hymn with no regular meter, sometimes introduced into the Mass. See Sequence.

Pertaining to, or composed of, prose; not in verse; as, prose composition.

Possessing or exhibiting unpoetical characteristics; plain; dull; prosaic; as, the prose duties of life.

To write in prose.

To write or repeat in a dull, tedious, or prosy way.

To write prose.

Ordinary writing as distinguished from verse

Matter of fact, commonplace, or dull expression