Which comes first prose or poetry?

Answer 1

Prose is writing a paragraph form. Like this,

The little deer walked along the forest floor with careful steady steps. Her ears flipped around, listening for any danger. Suddenly a twig cracked behind her and she took off running.

That would be prose. Poetry is usually separated into stanzas like this,

Hiding.

Hiding from the beast that comes.

Hiding from whatever is below your bed,

in your closet,

in your head.

Answer 2

Poetry evolved from the tradition of passing stories on orally from teacher to student. By using formulaic language --poetry--the stories were much easier to remember and increased the effect of the oral performance. The first people chose to write probably included this pattern, and therefore the most ancient writings are poetic [gilgamesh from the Sumerian legends more than 5000 years ago].

Prose is simply normal speech written down. Records of prose came much later and were not common until ultra-literate greek and roman societies developed.

Answer 3

Prose generally comes first, as it is the more commonly used form of writing for everyday communication and storytelling. Poetry is often seen as a more specialized or expressive form of writing that requires a different set of skills and techniques.

Answer 4

Poetry is far older than prose.