Posidonius in his treatise On Style defines a poetical phrase as one that is metrical or rhythmical, thus mechanically avoiding the character of prose; an example of such rhythmical phrase is:
O mightiest earth, O sky, God's canopy.
And if such poetical phraseology is significant and includes a portrayal or representation of things human and divine, it is poetry.
—Diogenes Laërtius, 7.60
IMAGE: Charles Meynier, Calliope, Muse of Epic Poetry (1798)
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