Final answer:
Poetry is an art form that uses language to evoke emotions, ideas, and sensations through rhythm, sound, and carefully chosen wording. It is distinct from prose, with a structure that intensifies the experience of the reader, who must engage deeply and often aloud to fully appreciate its meanings.
Step-by-step explanation:
Poetry is a form of literature that evokes an awareness of a certain emotion or idea through language chosen and arranged for its meaning, sound, and rhythm. Poetry is a condensed art form that produces an experience in the reader through words, controlling aspects of language such as tone, pace, rhythm, and sound to create images, ideas, sensations. Unlike prose, poetry is traditionally set in verse, making use of lines and stanzas rather than sentences.
Poetry aims to create an experience that cannot be reduced to simple paraphrase because it is deeply intertwined with its form. As Anthony Piccione said, "A poem is what a poem does", highlighting the necessity of experiencing it rather than just reading it. Engaging with poetry requires full concentration, often needing to be read aloud and more than once to capture its full effect.
Furthermore, a poem is seen as an event in language that creates an experience in the reader. This experience is an essential part of the poetic communication, which can include the evocation of deep feelings, emotions, and intellectual engagement.