roposition be deduced from several theoretical definitions compared together, it is called a theorem; if from a praxis, or series of operations, it is called a problem. See the articles Theorem and Problem.

PROPOSITION, in Oratory. See Oratory, No. 28.

124.

PROPOSITION, in Poetry, the first part of a poem, wherein the author proposes briefly, and in general, what he is to lay in the body of his work. It should comprehend only the matter of the poem, that is, the action and persons that act. Horace prescribes modesty and simplicity in the proposition, and would not have the poet promise too much, nor raise in the reader too great ideas of what he is going to relate.