Metaphor, Metonymy, and the Prose Poem

This chapter studies another central feature of prose poetry: the use of metonymy and metaphor. Metonymy allows writers to use phrases or individual words in ways that suggest an array of meanings, enriching and adding complexity to their writing — and there are many kinds and examples of metonymy, just as there are many kinds of metaphor. Metonymy is especially important to prose poems because it complements, enhances, and complicates their literal and metaphorical meanings. The chapter then discusses the importance of such figurative language to reading and interpreting individual works, allowing an understanding of the ways in which many prose poems simultaneously present a variety of possible (often shifting) interpretations. It also looks at prose poetry's resonant employment of intertextuality to enrich its content.