Rhymed prose

Rhymed proseis aliterary formandliterary genre,written inunmetricalrhymes.This form has been known in many different cultures. In some cases the rhymed prose is a distinctive, well-defined style of writing. In modern literary traditions the boundaries ofpoetryare very broad (free verse,prose poetry,etc.), and some works may be described both as prose and poetry.

Arabic culture and influences

In classicArabic literaturethe rhymed prose is calledsaj'.An elaborate Arabic kind of rhymed prose ismaqama.It influenced other cultures of theMuslim world,such asPersian(as exemplified bySaadi'sGulestan) andTurkish(tr:Seci).

Maqamaalso influenced the medievalHebrew literature,a significant amount of which was produced byJewsof theMuslim world.It influenced the style ofYehuda Alharizi,Ibn Zabara,Ibn Hasdai(Abraham ben Samuel ha-Levi ibn Hasdai),Ibn Sahula,Jacob ben Eleazer.The corresponding works were calledmaqamatormahbarot(mahberot,e.g.,Mahbarot Emmanuel,byImmanuel the Roman).

Arabic rhymed prose was used not only for entertainment oreulogy.

Chinese culture

Main article:Fu (poetry)

AChinese formof elaborate rhymed prose calledfudeveloped as the major literary form particularly associated with theHan dynasty(206 BCE – 220 CE). Generally, thefutype of rhymed prose describes an object, feeling, or other particular subject, using an exhaustive catalog of details and associated vocabulary, and characteristically used both rhyme and prose, variable line lengths, alliteration, onomatopoeia, and some parallelism. Topics offurhymed prose could vary from the exalted to the everyday: it was sometimes used to eloquently glorify the emperors; but, other topics of well-knownfuincluded encyclopedic catalogs of minerals, types of pasta, and the species of plants a poet might expect to encounter during an exile due to political disfavor. The style of theNational Anthem of the Republic of Chinafollows that of a four-characterpoem( tứ ngôn thi ), also called a four-character rhymed prose ( bốn ngôn thơ ), which first appeared during theZhou dynasty.Thefuliterary form was at first classed with poetry, but later bibliographies classifiedfuat the head of prose works.

Indian culture

Rhymed prose was common in earlyKhariboliHindi texts, such asPremsagar(Prem Sagur) byLallu LalandNaasiketopaakhyanbySadal Mishra,in early 19th century but gradually fell into disuse.The paper traces possible origins of the Hindi rhyming prose in Islamic andSanskritliterature.

European cultures

Rhymed prose was a characteristic feature of theDivine Officeuntil the end of the 12th century. A type of the "rhymed office" were offices in rhymed prose, i.e., in irregular rhythm. Later it was gradually replaced byrhythmical office.They were popular inFranceandGermany,and a number of prominent composers of rhymed offices are known.

A kind of jesting rhymed prose inRussian cultureis known asrayok.

Rhymed prose is present in many books for small children.