Anything meaningful in this world is perceived through language, and poetic and non-poetic discourses are a part of it too because of their meaningfulness. Generally in this process of conveying sense, a poem is open to many interpretations, whereas a non-poetic discourse tries to restrict its meanings and interpretations, and one of the examples of such discourses is ordinary speech which is supposed to be good when it is unambiguous and when it qualifies the criterion of appropriateness. Poetry, like language, is creative and conventional but this newness in a poem remains at surface level, though at deep level it is governed by the customary form and expected way of convention. The expectations from poetry for levels of diction, poetic syntax, figures of speech, etc. are really high (Wolosky, 2001, p. 69), and this makes a poetic discourse more repetitive rather than generative.1

The recognition of poem from a non-poetic text has been an intriguing quest since Aristotle.2 This paper highlights the linguistic structures (from Chaucer to Modern poets) to show effects that are different from a non-poetic discourse.

English Studies Journal, akaansha (orderliness), yogyata (appropriateness), sannadhi (no interruption in sound production), sentence poetry, forty-word poems, Colorless green ideas, sleep furiously, Shakespeare, Olson, Inquiry, Poetical Discourse