Arnaut Daniel was a 12th century troubadour credited with inventing the french form of poetry known as the sestina.
Troubadour comes from the verb 'trobar' meaning to 'invent or compose verse.'
The sestina contains 39 lines which include 6 sestets (6-line stanzas) and a concluding tercet (3-line stanza). The concluding tercet is also referred to as an envoy.
Usually, sestinas do not rhyme. Rhythm is established by the repetition of 6 words in a certain order. The recurrent pattern is also referred to as a "lexical repetition".
I've listed the pattern below:
1 2 3 4 5 6 - End words of lines in the first sestet.
6 1 5 2 4 3 - End words of lines in the second sestet.
3 6 4 1 2 5 - End words of lines in the third sestet.
5 3 2 6 1 4 - End words of lines in the fourth sestet.
4 5 1 3 6 2 - End words of lines in the fifth sestet.
2 4 6 5 3 1 - End words of lines in the sixth sestet.
6 1 5 2 4 3 - End words of lines in the second sestet.
3 6 4 1 2 5 - End words of lines in the third sestet.
5 3 2 6 1 4 - End words of lines in the fourth sestet.
4 5 1 3 6 2 - End words of lines in the fifth sestet.
2 4 6 5 3 1 - End words of lines in the sixth sestet.
(6 5) (2 4) (3 1) - Middle and end words of lines in the tercet.
Regarding the last tercet, the 1st number in ( ) represents the middle word, the second number in ( ) represents the end word.
Example: 6 = middle word, 5 = end word.
Please visit the following links for examples of the sestina:
Elizabeth Bishop--
six end words used: house, grandmother, child, stove, almanac, tears
Charles Algernon Swinburne--
six end words used: day, night, way, light, may, delight
I composed my first sestina by starting with a sestet making sure my six end words would be fairly common.
Sometimes you can use different forms of the end words such as 'go' or 'gone.'
Sometimes you can use different forms of the end words such as 'go' or 'gone.'
Observe how Bishop varies the word 'stove.' Sometimes it's generic as in any stove, and other times, she specifically refers to it as the Marvel Stove. In the concluding tercet, she refers to it as the MARVELous stove.
Caps are mine to emphasize her play on words.
Another way to write a sestina is to develop a word list before writing any of your sestets. This is not an easy form to master. Use whatever method works for you.