When there's nothing good on TV…

Write a Sestina!

By Terrie Leigh Relf

Before multiplex theatres, satellite TV, DVD players, computer software, the club circuit, and shopping malls, people actually gathered together in parlors, sitting rooms, and gardens with their friends to compose and play music and poetry, among other activities .

Originally accompanied by music, the sestina, an old form of poetry, is attributed to a 12 ^th Century French Troubadour by the name of Arnaut Daniel. He is said to have been a mathematician, possessed of a great sense of humor, and a bit on the randy side.

From what I've read about this form, I can't stop thinking about poetry slams…There is a definite “competitive” quality (traditionally) to the sestina, as it was a form of courtly entertainment (remember they didn't have wide screen TVs or video stores, etc.). Sestinas usually tell a story, hence their historical linkage with the troubadour tradition.   The ballade, which often has end rhymes, is a closely related form, but without the “end word” restrictions.   I often think of these forms as the precursor to the current concept of the short story.   

How to proceed?

Since the first stanza sets the “end words” which are used throughout the poem, work up a few to choose from.   You really need to begin with a strong stanza that provides the setting, the characters, the conflict, and the mood or tone. Having a plot in mind, or otherwise having a sense as to where the story is going is helpful, but I tend toward the “writing as discovery” method, as no matter how much I plot and plan, this is usually what works best for me.

It's still in-process, but I've included one of my sestinas by way of example. To demonstrate how the pattern is manipulated, I've left my working letter grid intact. Once again, this insomniac pens another poem about sleep…

Angel of Shadows

A	I have been with angels of darkness and of light,
B	but it is the Angel of Shadows who loves me.
C	He is the shuttle that weaves undying dreams,
D	the anodyne that soothes pain-filled sleep,
E	the bridge that joins one dimension with the next,
F	the gatekeeper of a more bliss-filled world.
F	Lured into this mysterious world,
A	that emerges between fragmented rays of light,
E	I leap at last from then the next,
B	while he waits to gather me
D	into a deeper, pearl-gray sleep,
C	then binds us with each other's dreams.
C	“Yes,” he urges me, “yes, embrace these dreams
F	where we may create our own special world.
D	Without our minds linked thus, in shadowed sleep,
A	the Angels of Darkness and of Light
B	would steal you away from me,
E	then wager who gets you first, then   next.”
E	“If not this night, then perhaps the next,
C	we will hold fast to our commingled dreams.
B	There is no other way--please trust me!
F	Far, far away from this known world,
A	there is a spell to stave off blinding light.
D	Meet me there, meet me at the edge of sleep.”
D	And so I toss and turn, refuse to sleep,
E	cast runes to reveal what will befall us next,
A	open the window, gaze upon the full moon's light,
C	beseech the tides to carry me into your dreams!
F	I am weary of this wakeful world;
B	nothing beckons to or seduces me.
B	“Angel of Shadows—don't abandon me
D	at the precipice of sleep;
F	be my guide to your idyllic world,
E	where mysteries' knots are untangled next.
C	Is it only within this place of dreams,
A	that light is darkness, darkness light?”

B    E	He breathes into me, and with the next
D    C	triumphant   moment, in sleep, in dreams,
F    A	we enter a peaceful world,   a velvet alchemy of dark and light.

 

In closing, give this form a try.   Just because mine embraces a more gothic tone doesn't mean that yours has to do so.   Modern examples abound… just type "Sestina Poems" into Google and see what you come up with.

Terrie Leigh Relf is a writing coach, editor, freelance writer, and poet who lives in South Park, a neighborhood overflowing with writers, nestled in San Diego, CA.   Please contact her at tlrelf@cox.net .