Things You'll Need:
- Dictionaries
- Rhyming Dictionaries
- Thesauri
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Step 1
Consider the subject matter that you wish to address in your poem. It's often a good idea to select the repeating lines ahead of time.
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Step 2
Write a three-line stanza in iambic pentameter with an a-b-a rhyme scheme, followed by a second three-line stanza in iambic pentameter with an a-b-a rhyme scheme. Use the first line of the first stanza as the third line of the second stanza.
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Step 3
Compose a third three-line stanza in iambic pentameter with an a-b-a rhyme scheme. Use the last line of the first stanza as your third line.
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Step 4
Draft a fourth three-line stanza in iambic pentameter with an a-b-a rhyme scheme. Use the first line of the first stanza as your third line.
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Step 5
Write a fifth three-line stanza in iambic pentameter with an a-b-a rhyme scheme. Use the last line of the first stanza as your third line.
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Step 6
Compose a quatrain in iambic pentameter with an a-b-a rhyme scheme. Use the first and last lines of the first stanza as your third and fourth lines.
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Step 7
Revise as needed.













Comments
Anonymous said
on 11/22/2005 Marilyn Hacker wrote a gorgeous villanelle called "Ruptured Friendships/The High Cost of Keys" in iambic tetrameter, rather than pentameter. A rhythmic pattern off the "beaten" path can give new life to a familiar rhyme scheme.