ABSTRACT
The line is the basic unit of the poem but there are types of poems that redefine the line. In the prose poem, the line is that of the prose sentence; the poem looks like a prose paragraph (or number of paragraphs) in which each line runs all the way to the right margin. As it considers itself a poem while renouncing the poetic line, the prose poem is an intentional contradiction. In the found poem, the line is present in regular poetic fashion but the “poem” is a prose text that has been set into lines. It is a case of poetry kidnapping prose for its own ends. In the shaped poem, the line shapes a silhouette on the page-a pattern, a figure, a geometric or organic form. The shaped poem draws with words.
