Today poems exist in printed form, but the careful choice and arrangement of words still account for the unique quality of poetry.
Like other literary works poetry is made up of words. But what is special about poetry? How is reading poetry different from reading prose? A good start to answering the question is to consider what poetry is concerned with: poems.
A poem is a self-contained text, which makes sense as it stands. It differs from prose most obviously because it is written in lines whose length is decided by the author, not the printer.
How the poem looks on the page, its visual lay-out, is as important as its sound quality. A poem makes intense use of language, which results in a fare greater concentration of meaning than is commonly found in prose.