A diamante poem, or diamond poem, is a style of poetry that is made up of seven lines. The text forms the shape of a lozenge or diamond (◊). The form was developed by Iris Tiedt in A New Poetry Form: The Diamante (1969).
Contents
Description
A diamante poem is a poem that makes the shape of a diamond. The poem can be used in two ways, either comparing and contrasting two different subjects, or naming synonyms at the beginning of the poem and then antonyms for the second half for a subject.
In the poems, the subject is named in one word in the first line. The second line consists of two adjectives describing the subject, and the third line contains three verbs ending in the suffix ing which are related to the subject. A fourth line then has four nouns, again related to the subject, but only the first two words are related to the first subject. The other two words describe the opposite subject. The lines then are put in reverse, leading to and relating to either a second subject or a synonym for the first. Here is the order:
Noun Adjective-Adjective Verb-Verb-Verb Noun-Noun-Noun-Noun Verb-Verb-Verb Adjective-Adjective NounOther forms or structure may also tend to have the middle line provide a phrase or description to the first line and seventh line:
Line 1: Beginning subject
Line 2: Two describing words about line 1
Line 3: Three doing words about line 1
Line 4: A short phrase about line 1, A short phrase about line 7
Line 5: Three doing words about line 7
Line 6: Two describing words about line 7
Line 7: End subject
Examples
Here are six examples:
Mountain Kitten High, rocky Soft, cute running, looking, hiking Snuggling, purring, licking Eagle, power, fear, rabbit meow, hiss, bark, growl Living, moving, making-noise running, chasing, biting Deep, beautiful fluffy, smooth Valley puppies love joyous, painful meeting, exploring, forgetting taking your breath away, burying your soul deep remembering, crying, feeling gone, alone sorrow DAY Sunny Bright Playing Sweating Burning Sun Light Darkness Moon Scaring Setting Sleeping Black Stars NIGHT Theatre ancient, organic previewing, staging, performing Sophocles, Chekhov, Ray, Tarantino filming, screening, releasing modern, edited Cinema. Theatre auditory, expressive producing, setting, critiquing Miller, Olivier, Azmi, Bergman directing, acting, entertaining visual, scripted Cinema.