Diamante poem

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).^[1][2]

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:^[3]

                              Noun
                       Adjective-Adjective
                         Verb-Verb-Verb
                      Noun-Noun-Noun-Noun
                         Verb-Verb-Verb
                       Adjective-Adjective
                              Noun

Other 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.[4]

Notes