The Diatelle Poem | Merril D. Smith, Poetry Star

Posted on by Colleen M. Chesebro

Merril Smith shares how to create a diatelle poem. Merril says:

“The Diatelle is a fun, syllable counting form like the etheree with a twist. The syllable structure of the diatelle is as follows: 1/2/3/4/6/8/10/12/10/8/6/4/3/2/1, but unlike an ethere, has a set rhyme pattern of abbcbccaccbcbba. This poetry form may be written on any subject matter and looks best center aligned in a diamond shape.”

Yesterday and today: Merril’s historical musings

Merril also shows us how to create the rhyme scheme below:

“Maybe everyone does this, but if not, maybe it’s helpful to see. I made myself a template to keep track of syllable/lines and rhymes. I do this for many forms.”

a1 Light

b2 comes, goes

b3 so it flows

c4 to earth and sea

b6 flaming grassy meadows–

c8 with photons streaming, gild a tree

c10 though shadows loom below, we let them be,

a12 pretend we do not see the coming of the night

c10 but live, walk, talk–and love, the apogee

c8 of our beings–humanity

b6 with stardust traces glows

c4 but faintly—see?

b3 The flickers

b2 dim, grow

a1 bright.

Visit her post below:

Flickering

Light comes, goes, so it flows to earth and sea, flaming grassy meadows, with photons streaming, gilds a tree. Though shadows loom below, we let them be; pretend we do not see the coming of …

I love learning novel poetry forms. What makes the diatelle so fun, is that it is syllabic and rhyming! If you’re interested in learning more about rhyme schemes, this should help:

What Is a Rhyme Scheme? Learn About 10 Different Poetry Rhyme Schemes – 2020 – MasterClass

There are many different types of rhymes that poets use in their work: internal rhymes, slant rhymes, eye rhymes, identical rhymes, and more. One of the most common ways to write a rhyming poem is to use a rhyme scheme composed of shared vowel sounds or consonants.

33 thoughts on “The Diatelle Poem | Merril D. Smith, Poetry Star”

  2. Thanks for the shout out and kind words, Colleen! 😀
    Just to be clear, the quotation at the top describing the form comes from Shadow Poetry–those are not my words.

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        2. I honestly did not know what I was going to write about. I just started writing. But you have to begin with a one-syllable word that you’ll be able to find a rhyme for, and then 2 syllables with the second one that you’ll have to be able to rhyme.. . .

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  8. That looks challenging! Merril did a great job of making the syllable and rhyme requirements fade into the background. I love that – when the structure fades and we’re left with the beautiful words. Well done, Meril and wonderful share, Colleen.

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  10. Pingback: A Diatelle – Masks – Ruth Scribbles
  11. Pingback: A Diatelle – Encounter – Ruth Scribbles

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