“Ostensible Prose ”: Semantics of the Form

The subject of this study is metrically regular (accentual-syllabic and dolnik) verse written without line breaks. M. L. Gasparov’s term for such poetic texts is ostensible prose. The article is seeks to answer the question what makes authors choose the prosaic form for what rhythmically is verse. Analyses of literary pieces show a variety of reasons. In each particular case writing in continuo conveys an individual artistic meaning. Hence, a semantic classification of ostensible prose would be quite ineffective, if at all possible. A number of its specific features emerge as compared to vers libre. The latter has no secondary rhythmic characteristics except linear organization, while verse stretched into a prose-line possesses all the secondary features but eliminates the main one, that is, the graphic division into separate linear segments. As the rare phenomenon of vers libre turned into common poetic practice, traditional verse also required reformation. The most drastic way is to write it in a long line. The reader has to look for rhythmic borders in the flow of visually perceived prose, which results in better concentration.