Poetry for Beginners - Lesson 4

Diamante

In this lesson, we will be learning about the diamante style of poetry. I, for one, think that it's good for those who want to advance as a poet, as the rules are mildly strict. Prepare for another lesson!

The diamante is a style of poetry with seven lines and is in the shape of a diamond (diamante means diamond). It was developed by Iris Tiedt in "A New Poetry Form: The Diamante" (1969).  The diamante is a poem of opposites. There are different ways to do it, but I would appreciate if you would stick to the method presented in the lesson.

The format of a diamante is a little complicated, but easy enough to study in this class. The format is below.

Line 1-noun or subject (so basically your topic) *One word*
Line 2- two adjectives for noun/subject *Two words*
Line 3- three adjectives ending in "-ing" that describe your topic *Three words*
Line 4- two adjectives about topic, two about antonym/synonym of topic *Four words*
Line 5- three adjectives ending in "-ing" for antonym/synonym *Three words*
Line 6- two adjectives describing the antonym/synonym *Two words*
Line 7- antonym/synonym *One word*

Now to explain the format...

*Your diamante will be divided in half basically, 3 and 1/2 lines for your first topic (Line 1) and 3 and 1/2 lines for your second topic (Line 7).

*After you write your topic, it is important to then complete Line 7. You will need line 7 for lines 4, 5, and 6.

*You could write your diamante in two ways, and still get a diamond shape. You can use the center of a notebook page and put each line's text neatly under each other to create a diamond shape, or start from the edge, go horizontal for each line, and go one line beneath another and so on.

Here is an example of a diamante, written by me.

                                                                        Winter
                                                                Cold, beautiful
                                                      Touching, satisfying, amazing
                                       Wonderous, bewitching...warm, colorful
                                                       Exciting, amazing, amusing
                                                                  Fun, awesome
                                                                         Summer


It followed the format, thus leading to the diamond shape.

Here is a list of "-ing" adjectives, in case you get confused.

-exciting
-interesting
-amazing
-amusing
-satisfying
-touching
-fascinating
-fulfilling
-comforting
-boring
-pleasing
-calming
-exhausting
-soothing

How to Write a Diamante

Great! You've learned about the diamante, read an example, and got a list of words you could use. Now it's time to get going and write a diamante! Here are the steps.

1. Create a list of topics. Choose one, and write it down. This will be Line 1. Create a list of synonyms or antonyms for your topic, choose one, and write it down. This will be Line 7.

2. Create a list of adjectives, any adjectives. Choose two that describe your subject and write them down. This will be Line 2.

3. Choose three adjectives that end in "-ing" that describe your topic (there is a list on this page!). Write them down. This will be Line 3.

4. Create a list of adjectives that describe your synonym/antonym.

5. Look back at your list of adjectives for your first topic. Pick two, and write them down, then add "...".
Pick two adjectives from the list of adjectives describing your second topic, and write them down after the "...". All this should be in one line, which is Line 4.

6. Look back at your list of adjectives for your second topic, and pick three adjectives ending in "-ing", and write them down. This will be Line 5.

7. Look back at your list of adjectives for the second topic (again!). Choose two which describe your word for Line 7, and write them down. This will be Line 6.

8. Reread your poem and look for mistakes and edit until it is amazing!



That's all for the diamante. I hope you enjoyed learning about this dazzling type of poetry, and continue to write it.

Follow if you like and comment your queries and feedback.