Sestina
title: “Sestina”
layout: note
date: 28-08-2022
tags: [Poeticform]
last_modified_at: 2023-12-08 12:09
form of six stanzas of six lines of iambic pentameter, where the final words at the end of the line repeat in a specific order. It also has a final stanza (or envoy) where two of the words are used in the same line.
Tricky and difficult to write, the hardest part is figuring out which order the end words go. ( I have used a spreadsheet from Fay Roberts that lays out all the final words.)
End Word Choice
It’s hard to chose words that can change in context depending on the line. Homophones and words that can be combined with other words are useful (like key can become whiskey)
Tom Deinbgh suggests picking three words that are related to your subject and three words that aren’t.
Other Resources
- There’s a good essay in The Craft- Rishi Dastidar about writing sestinas.
- Josie Alford has a really excellent video on how to write a sestina, including lots of good advice.
- Loud Poets have a video with three poets discussing sestinas and how they wrote them.
My Attempts
- I wrote a sestina for Bristol Tonic called Count Down to Infinity. I thought the looping form would match the infinite corridors. I didn’t try and put it in iambic pentameter, as it was more playing with the end words. It was a way of approaching an intimidating form .</a>