Diamante

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A diamond poem, or diamante is a style of poetry that is made up of seven lines. The words form the shape of a diamond. The form was developed by Iris Tiedt in A New Poetry Form: The Diamante (1969).

Form

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 and antonyms for another 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 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. Remember that you can't use sentences, only single words otherwise te poem won't be in a diamond shape.

Here is the order:

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

Remember, it will look more like the following once you use your own words.

Here is a finished example:

                                            Mountain
                                           High, rocky
                                     Flying, looking, killing
                                    Eagle, power, fear, rabbit
                                   Living, moving, making-noise
                                         Deep, beautiful
                                             Valley

See also

List of poetic forms