Their Eyes Were Watching God

So this is a quick blog about the connection between prose and poetry.
I know that one of the main qualifications of poetry is that it is in a verse-like format. I respect this line between poetry and prose, but I must admit that I think it becomes thin at certain points (the handbook thinks the same thing, thank you). Sometimes when a poem is a direct telling of a story, like a long narrative poem (Out of the Dust is a good example), then I think it leans more towards the prose side of things. There are other times when the prose written is so eloquent that the best way to describe it is simply poetry. I know this addresses the connotations of poetry and prose rather than the denotations, but I think the connotation is just as essential as the denotation.
One of the best examples of poetry-like prose is Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. The story switches between a heavy southern dialect in the dialog, and a deep poetic style in the narration. Below are some quotes from the book.

"Ships at a distance have every man's wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others they sail forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time. That is the life of men. Now, women forget all those things they don't want to remember, and remember everything they don't want to forget. The dream is the truth. Then they act and do things accordingly."

"The wind came back with triple fury, and put out the light for the last time. They sat in company with the others in other shanties, their eyes straining against crude walls and their souls asking if He meant to measure their puny might against His. They seemed to be staring at the dark, but their eyes were watching God."

" It was inevitable that she should accept any inconsistency and cruelty from her deity as all good worshippers do from theirs. All gods who receive homage are cruel. All gods dispense suffering without reason. Otherwise they would not be worshipped. Through indiscriminate suffering men know fear and fear is the most divine emotion. It is the stones for altars and the beginning of wisdom. Half gods are worshipped in wine and flowers. Real gods require blood."

If that's not poetry, then I don't know what is :]
If you haven't read Their Eyes Were Watching God then you should. It's a great book.