Tag Archives: diminishing

• The Hexaverse is:
• a hexastich, a poem in 6 lines.
• isosyllabic, 6 syllable lines.
• unrhymed.
• Diminishing Hexaverse is an invented form which can be found in various poetry communities and blogs across the web without any reference to its source. Most use the same definition which strangely ignores the meaning of hexa and describe the form with only 5 stanzas, diminishing from 5 lines and 5 syllables each to 4 lines and 4 syllables each and so on ending in a single stich of 1 syllable. With that description the frame would better be termed a Diminishing Pentaverse.
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•  Finally I came upon a site that seems to me to get it right at Tir na nOg, diminishing from 6 lines of 6 syllables each to 5 lines of 5 syllables each and so on to a single stich of one syllable and my faith was restored. I have to believe the original concept began with the 6 line beginning and was somehow corrupted to only 5 stanzas along the way and the lemmings followed. The form is fine with 6 or 5 stanzas but it just makes more sense to me to use the correct terminology to reflect the frame used.  (20 lines)
The Diminishing Hexaverse
• a poem in diminishing 6 stanzas, made up of a sixain, followed by quintet, followed by a quatrain, followed by a tercet followed by couplet and ending in a single stich.
• syllabic, L1-L6 6 syllables each, L7-L11 5 syllables each, L12-L15 4 syllables each, L16-L18 3 syllables each, L19-L20 2 syllables each and finally L21 1 syllable.
• unrhymed.
These being finally the most cogent of the various description I found are the words of Judi Van Gorder,aka tinker from PoetryMagnumOpus, which is linked from this site.
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Example Poem
Tell Him No
Her lips are parted now.
My lips are closing in.
Expecting to taste somehow,
A promise of our sin.
Before we’ve made a vow
our mating will begin.
Nothing good can come
from this rendezvous.
I am just a bum
who does not love you.
Dreams will not come true.
I’ll say the words
That most men say.
We are just turds,
who want our way
So lassies
Just beware
and take care
this way.
Just say
no.
(c) Lawrencealot – May 13, 2012