The Diatelle

Posted byColleen M. ChesebroPosted inrhyme schemesTags:, ,

I’d like to suggest an optional form for us to experiment with. A few months ago, Merril D. Smith wrote a poem called a Diatelle. She found this form on shadowpoetry.com.

“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 etheree, 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.”

https://merrildsmith.wordpress.com/2020/07/10/flickering/

Merril shared a poem she created using the Diatelle form:

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 the night,
but live, walk, talk—and love, the apogee
of our beings—humanity
with stardust traces glows
but faintly—see?
The flickers
dim. . .grow
bright.

©2020 Merril D. Smith

She also showed how she diagrams her poetry to get the correct rhyme scheme placement. Refer to my post HERE about rhyme schemes.

Merril says, “Maybe everyone does this, but if not, maybe it’s helpful to see. I made myself a template to keep track of syllables/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.

I know some of you need an additional challenge. This is an optional form. Try it and see if it flows for you. I won’t add this until we’ve worked with the Diatelle for a while. It helps if you put it in the context of writing an Etheree. Take your time and just have fun. ❤

Published by Colleen M. Chesebro

An avid reader, Colleen M. Chesebro rekindled her love of writing poetry after years spent working in the accounting industry. These days, she loves crafting syllabic poetry, flash fiction, and creative fiction and nonfiction. In addition to poetry books, Chesebro’s publishing career includes participation in various anthologies featuring short stories, flash fiction, and poetry. She’s an avid supporter of her writing community on Word Craft Poetry.com by organizing and sponsoring a weekly syllabic poetry challenge, called #TankaTuesday, where participants experiment with traditional and current forms of Japanese and American syllabic poetry. Chesebro is an assistant editor of The Congress of the Rough Writers Flash Fiction Anthology & Gitty Up Press, a micro-press founded by Charli Mills and Carrot Ranch. In January 2022, Colleen founded Unicorn Cats Publishing Services to assist poets and authors in creating eBooks and print books for publication. In addition, she creates affordable book covers for Kindle and print books. Chesebro lives in the house of her dreams in mid-Michigan surrounded by the Great Lakes with her husband and two (unicorn) cats, Chloe & Sophie.

35 thoughts on “The Diatelle”

  6. Another form I believe I did try at least once… and I too, like how Merril diagramed it. I think I do similar things when having to rhyme odd lines. sometimes I even put the rhyming words on the line first! And then fill in 😉 I’m not a big fan of forced rhyming, but I will copy and paste the for into my own growing guide of poetic information.

    Thank you!! Always good to stretch the brain cells 😉

    Liked by 1 person

  8. Pingback: My Take – #TANKA TUESDAY Weekly #POETRY CHALLENGE NO. 214, #THEMEPROMPT #DIATELLE – Ruth Scribbles

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