How to Write a Diamante Poem

The diamante, or diamond poem, is a style of poetry made up of 6 lines, using only 13 words and forms the shape of a diamond. The poem starts with one subject and evolves into a different subject, the exact opposite of the starting subject. The diamante poem is classed as a modern poetry style, which was developed by American writer, Iris Tiedt, in the 1960s.

The diamante poem has a fixed form as follows:

Line 1 - One noun
Line 2 - Two adjectives or synonyms of the first noun
Line 3 - Four words, two are usually present participles (ending in -ing) of the first noun, the other two are usually present participles of the exact opposite
Line 4 - Three adjectives of the opposite of the first noun
Line 5 - Two present participles of the opposite of the first noun
Line 6 - One noun, which is the opposite of the noun used in line one

The diamante poem is presented as centred to make the diamond shape.

You can write a diamante on any theme. They can be serious, humourous, thought-provoking or witty!

If you've enjoyed this poetry writing workshop on diamante poems, do have a look at the other workshops we also have in our poetry writing workshop section.

Why not submit your poem for one of our poetry competitions - simply use the poetry competition upload or email your submission to us at inbox@forwardpoetry.co.uk.