Plato was essentially a poet

The interchangeability between writers of prose and poetry is very interesting, and there is a great deal of truth to Shelley's statement. Indeed, prose writing can capture the flow of verse; Plato's control of language can weave intricate verbal tapestries, particularly in the allegory of the cave when he illumines the bifurcation of illusion and reality. Shelley posits in his "Defence of Poetry" that "the truth and splendour of (Plato's) imagery and melody of language is the most intense that it is possible to conceive." But what constitutes the overlapping component? In addition to the specifics of "melody of language", there is a more overarching theme that is present in Plato that makes him "poetic"; namely, his participation in "the eternal, the infinite", which Shelley professes to be the domain of the poet. Clearly, Plato has influenced nearly every major Western thinker, essentially taking him out of time and placing him in the land of infinity.

This is not to say that the complete work of The Republic or The Meno is a poem per se. Shelley describes the possibility of isolated elements of poetry in prose, saying, "the parts of a composition may be poetical, without the composition as a whole being a poem." Although Plato may veer away from poetics when he is structurally framing his argument, there are definite strides when he hits his philosophic "zone", transcending the label of philosopher and entering into the world of the poet. His sentences are "harmonious and rhythmical and contain in themselves the elements of verse, being the echo of the eternal music." This emphasis on the "eternal", especially the musical qualities, refers back to the timelessness of the infinite that typifies a poet.