Poetry Forms Handbook

Diamante

A Diamante poem is a type of concrete poem that is shaped like a diamond.

The subject of your poem is the first line.

This is an interesting form because the first half of the poem goes one way, and then there's a turn for the last half. You can achieve this by listing synonyms for your subject for the first half, and antonyms for the second half, OR having an emotional switch so the first half is happy and the second half is sad.

Here's an example: This example is also an acrostic, but a diamante doesn't need to be acrostic.

Flowers.
Leafy, extravagant.
Overpowering, dancing, delighting.
Wonderful petals, fragrant romance.
Easing, wilting, dying.
Repulsive, flaccid
Sorrow.

You can see in this example, that the first half is upbeat and happy, focusing on the beauty of flowers. The second half is about the flowers wilting and dying. I could have also focused on wedding flowers in the first half, and funeral flowers in the second.

The best way to give this form a try is to think of a noun...that will become your subject and your first line. Next, using the example, and maybe a thesaurus, come up with the rest of the poem. There is no solid rule as to when the change must take place, but try to change at the midpoint of the poem.

Ideas for subjects:

Rain
Shadows
Dreams
Love
Storms
Birds