In this lesson you will learn about two popular types of structured poems: haiku and diamante. Structured poems are put together in a specific way. They may have a certain shape, like a diamante, or a specific number of syllables, like a haiku.

Have you ever noticed the beauty of a snowflake? The delicacy of a butterfly’s wing? The flight of a kite in the wind? Haiku poems try to capture and express some of these special moments in a few short lines.

Haiku:

• originated in Japan centuries ago

• are often about nature or the changing of the seasons

• are three lines long

• have five syllables in the first and third lines

• have seven syllables in the second line

• do not rhyme

-Oeharu

Flapping into fog an angry crow cries hoarsely for spring to begin.

5 syllables 7 syllables 5 syllables

-Gyodai

Copyright 2007, Open School BC

Another type of structured poem is the diamante (die-a-mon-tay). Diamante poems are easy to recognize because they are written in the shape of a diamond.

As you can see in this example, each line has to have a certain number of words. These words also have to be of a certain type.

Now that you know two structured types of poems and the rules for writing them, it’s time to create some examples of your own.

Copyright 2007, Open School BC

 

Open your writer's notebook and complete 4.5 Haiku and Diamante.

Once you have completed the assignment you are ready to submit your Unit 4 Writer's Notebook to the dropbox.