Prose
The word "prose" first appears in English in the 14th century. It is derived from the Old French "prose", which in turn originates in the Latin expression "prosa oratio" (literally, straightforward or direct speech).
Prose poetry
At the time, poets elsewhere were exploring the form in Spanish, Japanese and Russian. Octavio Paz worked in this form in Spanish in his "Aguila o Sol?" (Eagle or Sun?). Spanish poet Ángel Crespo did his most notable work in the genre. Giannina Braschi, postmodern Spanish-language poet, wrote a trilogy of prose poems, "El imperio de los sueños" (Empire of Dreams, 1988). Translator Dennis Keene presents the work of six Japanese prose poets in "The Modern Japanese Prose Poem: an Anthology of Six Poets". Similarly, Adrian Wanner and Caryl Emerson describe the form's growth in Russia in their critical work, "Russian Minimalism: from the Prose Poem to the Anti-story".