Sestina

One of the most difficult and complex of the various French forms, the sestina is a poem consisting of six six-line stanzas and a three-line envoy (ending). It makes no use of the refrain. This form is usually unrhymed, the effect of rhyme being taken over by a fixed pattern of end-words which demands that these end-words in each stanza be the same, though arranged in a different sequence each time.

If we take 1-2-3-5-6 to represent the end-words of the first
stanza, then the first line of the second stanza must end with 6 (the last end-word used in the preceding stanza), the second with 1, the third with 5, the fourth with 2, the fifth with 4, the sixth with 3--and so to the next stanza. The order of the first three stanzas, for instance, would be: 1-2-3-4-5-6; 6-1-5-2-4-3; 3-6-4-1-2-5. The conclusion, or envoy, of three lines must use as end-words 5-3-1, these being the final end-words, in the same sequence, of the sixth stanza. But the poet must exercise even greater ingenuity than all this, since buried in each line of the envoy must appear the other three end-words, 2-6.

Thus so highly artificial a pattern affords a form which, for most poets, can never prove anything more than a poetic exercise. Yet it has been practiced with success in English by Swinburne, Kipling, and Auden.

Example of a sestina: http://www.sonic.net/~scotts/sestina.html

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National Poetry Month (NPM) Lessons

Intro: http://www.okayplayer.com/dcforum/freestyle/17980.html

One (Haiku): http://www.okayplayer.com/dcforum/freestyle/17893.html

Two (Iambic Pentameter): http://www.okayplayer.com/dcforum/freestyle/17940.html

Three (Tanka): http://www.okayplayer.com/dcforum/freestyle/17960.html

Four (Villanelle): http://www.okayplayer.com/dcforum/freestyle/18000.html

Five (Limerick): http://www.okayplayer.com/dcforum/freestyle/18031.html

Six (Ode): http://www.okayplayer.com/dcforum/freestyle/18064.html

AIM: damnacmeissue & delricaa | Blackplanet: changingseasons

http://www.4luvofpoetry.com
http://www.saulwilliams.com

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"clap ya hands evr' bahtee.
and evr'body jus -a- clap ya hands.

i said clap ya hands evr' bahtee.

and evr'body jus -a- clap ya hands.

now just ROCK" (c) Aeon_The_Great

Im a have to try this one later...
but tell me

what were lessons 4 and 5?

Im salty cause I missed them...

Oh and please keep doing this
this is good stuff


--Madness is the prelude to Genius--

(or is that backwards) --anyway--

Peter Parker is
the amaZing spiderman

(and a whole bunch a other ish that tries to defy gravity)

Please bless this poetry board
I moderate over at THH
http://ub3.homepagetools.com/thhfreestyle/
--It needs help--

lesson four was the villanelle and lesson five was the limerick. i think they were both archived.

thanks for the encouragement

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National Poetry Month (NPM) Lessons

Intro: http://www.okayplayer.com/dcforum/freestyle/17980.html

One (Haiku): http://www.okayplayer.com/dcforum/freestyle/17893.html

Two (Iambic Pentameter): http://www.okayplayer.com/dcforum/freestyle/17940.html

Three (Tanka): http://www.okayplayer.com/dcforum/freestyle/17960.html

Four (Villanelle): http://www.okayplayer.com/dcforum/freestyle/18000.html

Five (Limerick): http://www.okayplayer.com/dcforum/freestyle/18031.html

Six (Ode): http://www.okayplayer.com/dcforum/freestyle/18064.html

Seven (Sestina): http://www.okayplayer.com/dcforum/freestyle/18091.html

AIM: damnacmeissue & delricaa | Blackplanet: changingseasons

http://www.4luvofpoetry.com
http://www.saulwilliams.com

:(
__________________________



"he's my list of dreams."

tornadoes can't kill everything ©ThaHigher

tell us how you REALLY feel!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

National Poetry Month (NPM) Lessons

Intro: http://www.okayplayer.com/dcforum/freestyle/17980.html

One (Haiku): http://www.okayplayer.com/dcforum/freestyle/17893.html

Two (Iambic Pentameter): http://www.okayplayer.com/dcforum/freestyle/17940.html

Three (Tanka): http://www.okayplayer.com/dcforum/freestyle/17960.html

Four (Villanelle): http://www.okayplayer.com/dcforum/freestyle/18000.html

Five (Limerick): http://www.okayplayer.com/dcforum/freestyle/18031.html

Six (Ode): http://www.okayplayer.com/dcforum/freestyle/18064.html

Seven (Sestina): http://www.okayplayer.com/dcforum/freestyle/18091.html

AIM: damnacmeissue & delricaa | Blackplanet: changingseasons

http://www.4luvofpoetry.com
http://www.saulwilliams.com

in my creative writing class, my prof.. wanted us to read up on the Sestina.. I read some poems that used this format, and I just couldn't embrace them in any way.. Plus, they're hard as hell to write, and mindful doesn't like being told how to write a piece~
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"he's my list of dreams."

tornadoes can't kill everything ©ThaHigher

>in my creative writing class, my
>prof.. wanted us to read
>up on the Sestina.. I
>read some poems that used
>this format, and I just
>couldn't embrace them in any
>way.. Plus, they're hard as
>hell to write, and mindful
>doesn't like being told how
>to write a piece~

i can see where you're coming from, and i think that's why people generally stay away from form and prefer freestyle. but you have to keep in mind that when these forms were created, it was long ago in a much more dull world. i think our job as writers is to reinvent the form(s) and bring it(them) back to life. i think that every form is graspable if written in a perspective that a reader can relate to.

but that's just my outlook on it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

National Poetry Month (NPM) Lessons

Intro: http://www.okayplayer.com/dcforum/freestyle/17980.html

One (Haiku): http://www.okayplayer.com/dcforum/freestyle/17893.html

Two (Iambic Pentameter): http://www.okayplayer.com/dcforum/freestyle/17940.html

Three (Tanka): http://www.okayplayer.com/dcforum/freestyle/17960.html

Four (Villanelle): http://www.okayplayer.com/dcforum/freestyle/18000.html

Five (Limerick): http://www.okayplayer.com/dcforum/freestyle/18031.html

Six (Ode): http://www.okayplayer.com/dcforum/freestyle/18064.html

Seven (Sestina): http://www.okayplayer.com/dcforum/freestyle/18091.html

AIM: damnacmeissue & delricaa | Blackplanet: changingseasons

http://www.4luvofpoetry.com
http://www.saulwilliams.com

I admire & appreciate what u're doing....good work...
:) :) :) :) :) :)



"Beware that you do not lose the substance by grasping at the shadow."-unknown

"I'm nothing like me"-KnowOne

"You lack the faith to move mountains; yet take pride in your ability to roll trees?"-KnowOne

"Light in the absence of eyes illuminates nothing."-AeonFlux

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National Poetry Month (NPM) Lessons

- - - - - - - - - - -

AIM: damnacmeissue & delricaa | Blackplanet: changingseasons

http://www.4luvofpoetry.com
http://www.saulwilliams.com

i am going to work a sestina !:)

as soon as i feel comfortable with it...i will post what i formulated...

bravo for making the boards think!!!....miss k


"I was that ball of yarn, your pussy
want'd to get caught up in."

Giovanni


"dont leave
your thoughts behind
take them with you"....


LaDeeDef_99