Whether you are trying to add the sestina to your list of accomplishments or just trying to complete a poetry class assignment, the sestina presents problems to nearly everybody. This is arguably the most complex form of poetry, but as such, it is one of the most exciting to try and master.
Crafting your first (or hundredth for that matter) can be an overwhelming task, but by following the form and using a few tips, you too can add the great sestina to your list of accomplishments.
The Form
The sestina is made up of 39 lines written in iambic pentameter with six stanzas of six lines and one stanza of three lines. Rhyming is not required (and is actually rare). All of this doesn’t sound too difficult. The catch? The same six words are used at the end of each line, in a different order in each stanza, the last stanza using two words per line.
Here is the order in each stanza with each number representing a word. The six words for this sestina are love, yesterday, come, tomorrow, overwhelm, and today.
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Sestina of What is to Come (By: Megan Wyatt)
1 A shriveled rose remains from a past love
2 on the wall as though from just yesterday.
3 The beige room previews what is to come.
4 Despite the thought of roses of tomorrow,
5 willful weeds strangle and overwhelm
6 the wild daisies that exist today.
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6 Tears stream down your face. Will today
1 be the day he doesn’t get mad? You love
5 him. It’s worth it: nothing can overwhelm
2 the porcelain-faced doll of yesterday,
4 whose look will be the same tomorrow.
3 Her expression mocks what is to come.
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3 Playing in snow and being told to come
6 inside before catching a cold. Today,
4 nobody looks out for your tomorrow.
1 Nothing can defrost such an icy love
2 that is even less solid than yesterday.
5 But to think: that’s what will overwhelm.
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5 A picture: your brothers, who overwhelm
3 your once 10-year-old self, but who would come
2 to your rescue. When Josh called yesterday,
6 you blew him off with reason that today
1 you could do without the brand of love
4 he gave: the type you could get tomorrow.
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4 Metal frame strikes a pole. His tomorrow
5 never came. The remorse will overwhelm
1 the fragments of what you thought of as love.
3 In a church pew, you beg to know what will come
6 of your life. The funeral slip said “Today
2 we remember,” but would soon be yesterday.
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2 Buried in leftovers of yesterday
4 leave you planning for a better tomorrow,
6 but instead of living in today,
5 you allow memories to overwhelm,
3 so those prepackaged tomorrows don’t come.
1 There is nothing in the absence of life or love.
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2, 5 There’s hope that yesterday won’t overwhelm
4, 3 your tomorrow that will certainly come,
6, 1 if you can see today revealing its love.
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Writing the Six Repeating Words without Sounding too Repetitious
It is helpful to choose the six repeating words with the topic before writing even a single stanza. Try choosing words that say something about the subject but do not sound unusual or obvious. Because the last line of each stanza and the first line of each stanza use the same word, you do not want the repeat to be obvious.
Through also using enjambment (the end of a line flowing into the beginning of the next), the repeating words will not be as obvious since the sentence or phrase will not end with the word.
Writing the Poem
When writing, try using the words in multiple contexts if possible. Keep your broad topic idea in mind as you write, but try to write each stanza as a specific scene or example to demonstrate your overall theme, use each word in a different way, and remove some of the abstraction.
Because of the sestina’s difficulty, most poets write “Sestina” in the title so others will realize the complexity of the poem.
Remember that the sestina is one of the most difficult forms of poetry, so do not be overwhelmed if you have difficulty or don’t succeed on first try. Keep practicing this form and other forms of poetry to craft lyric and meaningful poems.
