the final written form of poetry While prose informs poetry touches the heart For example a history book is prose but a love poem is poetry The difference is in their goals One teaches the other moves us emotionally The following words show the differences clearly A poem contains the same elements as a prose composition the difference must consist in a different combination of them in consequence of a different object proposed Structure and Language Prose uses normal sentences and paragraphs It flows like everyday speech Poetry breaks these rules It uses short lines rhythm and sometimes rhyme This makes it sound musical A poem follows these special rules like stanzas or meter Coleridge says the way words are arranged in poetry matters For example prose says The sun rises in the east A poem might say Golden sun rising bright Painting the sky with morning light The same idea becomes more beautiful in poetry Willing Suspension of Disbelief Coleridge introduces this idea for poetry and stories It means readers willingly accept unreal things like magic or ghosts if they feel emotionally true For example in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner we believe in a cursed sailor because the poem makes it feel real This suspension of disbelief helps us enjoy imaginary worlds Prose doesn t always need this as it stays closer to reality Poetry however often asks us to believe in the impossible for a deeper experience Poem vs Poetry Coleridge makes a key difference here A poem is just the written words It is the finished piece we read But poetry is the creative process in the poet s mind Poetry is the imagination at work It shapes thoughts and emotions into art A poem is like a cake while poetry is the baking process The real magic happens in the poet s mind before the poem exists What is poetry is so nearly the same question with what is a poem that the answer to the one is involved in the solution of the other Role of Imagination For Coleridge imagination is the heart of poetry It transforms ordinary ideas into something meaningful A poet s genius lies in seeing universal truths and expressing them beautifully Prose does not need this But poetry uses imagination to connect feelings images and ideas For example describing a sunset in prose is simple In poetry the same sunset becomes a symbol of hope or endings This creative power makes poetry unique The role of imagination in poetry is as follows It dissolves diffuses dissipates in order to recreate or where this process is rendered impossible yet still at all events it struggles to idealize and to unify In conclusion Coleridge s definitions help us see prose poetry and poems clearly Prose informs while poetry inspires A poem is the physical result of poetry s creative process The willing suspension of disbelief lets us enjoy imaginary worlds in poetry Most importantly imagination is what makes poetry special Unlike prose poetry uses rhythm emotion and creativity to touch our souls