- The Tableau is an invented stanzaic form that paints a single image in keeping with the name of the form, tableau meaning picture. Created byEmily Romano who suggests the word “tableau” be included in the title. The Tableau is:
- stanzaic, written in any number of sixains.
- isosyllabic, 5 syllable lines.
- rhyme at the discretion of the poet.
- written describing a single image.
- written with a title that includes the word “tableau”.
With thanks to Judi Van Gorder for the wonderful PMO resource.
I changed syllabic above to
- isosyllabic 5 syllable lines, indicating all lines are the same length.
The Tableau, a poetry form created by Emily Romano in October of 2008, consists of one or more verses, each having six lines. Each line should have five beats (syllables). There is no set rhyme scheme, although rhyme may be present. The title should contain the word tableau.
Write one stanza only.
Write one stanza only.
Since the dictionary states the word tableau means picture or representation, the poem should reflect this. A picture should come to mind as the poem is read.
example:
Graveside Tableau
Sunlight cannot warm
The corpse of the bairn
Who drowned in the loch;
Stoic the father,
Silent the mother,
While a spinster weeps
Copyright © 2008 Emily Romano
My Example Poem
The Sting Tableau
Her felicity
and non-verbal cues
were evocative;
when his cash came out
then so did her badge.
© Lawrencealot – August 21, 2013