Poem or Prose?

1Read the poem: Puddle Day

• Grey clouds are rolling in the sky,
• The wind is singing loud and high.
• Big drops of rain begin to fall,
• They tap, tap, tap on every wall.
• I put my boots on, out I go,
• To jump in puddles, splash and flow.
• My shirt is wet, my hair is too,
• But oh, what fun! I wish you knew.

This poem has 8 lines. The lines are in two groups of four lines.

puddle (පොකුණ වගේ වතුර එකතු වුණු වළ): a small pool of water on the ground after rain.

2Poem: lines and stanzas

• A poem is written in lines. (පේළි)
• A group of lines in a poem is called a stanza. (කවි කොටස / ස්ටැන්සා)
• "Puddle Day" has 8 lines and 2 stanzas.
• Poems often have rhyming words and a rhythm (තාලය).

3Prose: sentences and paragraphs

Here is the same idea written as prose:

Grey clouds rolled across the sky and the wind was blowing hard. Soon, big drops of rain began to fall. I put on my boots and ran outside to jump in the puddles. My shirt and hair got wet, but I had a lot of fun.

• Prose is written in sentences. (වාක්‍ය)
• Sentences are grouped into paragraphs. (ඡේද)
• Stories, letters and news reports are prose.

4Poem or prose? Spot the difference

• Poem: has lines, has stanzas, often rhymes
• Prose: has sentences, has paragraphs, usually does not rhyme
• Both can tell us about a setting (where and when) and characters (who).