Syllabic Poetry: Meet the Etheree

Guest Prompt — and easy as 1,2,3

Since returning more intensively to writing poetry in the last year, and reading poetry more widely, this formerly free-versing poet is discovering the delights of form poetry.

Maybe my immersement, as a child, in the study and performance of (often) rigid rhyming poetry caused me to rebel with free-verse poetry as an adult. I revel in its generosity of form, the free-flowing slipstreams of rhythm and metre, the permission to play with shape and structure. To rhyme, if I so please, in surprising ways and places — not just at the end of a line. They don’t call it free-verse for nothing.

However, there can be a different kind of freedom and growth in form poetry; a virtuosity and vibrancy where, before, I imagined only restrictions. Just as when a framed painting immediately appears more striking, drawing the eye, so too can form poetry alter the way the light — and the reader’s eye — falls on your words.

Introducing the Etheree

Samantha Lazar, the lovely creator of Sky Collection has invited me to create a Guest Prompt. So I wanted to share a new form I discovered recently — and invite you to write one with me. A relatively new variation of English syllabic poetry, the etheree is a twentieth-century creation, attributed to Arkansas poet Etheree Taylor Armstrong (1914–1994). I was drawn to it because its name, containing “ether” and suggesting “ethereal”, are two of my favourite words.

Whether by coincidence or design, many of the poems I’ve read in etheree form do have a light, delicate quality to them. But don’t let this restrict your ideas for subject matter.

Etheree Structure & Attributes

The basic structure is as simple as counting on your fingers. Poems are 10 lines long.

Line 1: 1 syllable (necessitating a one-syllable word) Line 2: 2 syllables Line 3: 3 syllables

And so on, adding one extra syllable per line, until you arrive at line 10 — containing 10 syllables. Easy!

Etherees can be titled or untitled. They follow no specific metre, can be rhymed or unrhymed, or anything in-between. (I say that because I often like to sprinkle internal rhymes through my free-verse poetry — to give musicality, but not as predictably as when rhymes occur at the end of a line. You could take that approach here).

Formatting: Left-Justify or Centre?

Like a syllabic Fibonacci poem, or the nonet, shorter sister to the etheree (following the same structure but ending on the ninth line) the etheree, when left-justified, will have a roughly triangular shape.

We’ll be limited to left-justified poems, due to Medium’s formatting — but I’ve seen gorgeous examples of “centred” etheree poems too (centring each line on the page you type), creating shapes reminiscent of trees, or folded paper dolls I made as a child. So remember, for work you create external to this platform, the left indent isn’t a hard and fast rule. Google “Etheree Poem Visual Examples” to see some with graphics and images added.

An Etheree Example

Titled “The Pact”, this is re-worked from imagery taken from a longer poem-in-progress on one of my favourite subjects — the Greek myth of Persephone.

He will not give her the sun, but offers an orb she can hold in her hand; watches her pale fingers, staining crimson, as she pries the pomegranate apart; kisses deep, juices spilling, sealing their subterranean affair

Subject / Theme

As mentioned above, an etheree can be on any subject, but its shape — moving from a lesser number of words to a “climax” of more words, suggests some subjects more than others. Think of things that begin small and build — like a drop of rain into a storm. Or, imagined another way, begin with a close-up shot and pan out to end on a wide-shot.

These are just suggestions — you may have noticed my example builds imagery and intensity around themes of desire and passion, with undercurrents of danger; the forbidden.

Blogger and poet Jim Wilson has this to say about etherees:

I’ve come to see the Etheree is a valid form, capable of embodying as much depth and wisdom as any of the more well-known syllabic forms.

I would have loved to include some of Etheree Armstrong’s examples, but I was unable to locate any of her work online. Her life-span was pre-internet as we know it — perhaps she didn’t publish officially, or only in small local chapbooks. As it’s a recent form, I’m unsure whether online examples are in the public domain, so please visit this link for more inspiring examples. I particularly loved “Your Wild Awakening” and “Anonymous Solitude” by Andrea Dietrich.

Twists and Reinventions

What fun is a form without some twists and evolvings? If you’ve mastered a simple etheree, and want a challenge:

The Inverse Etheree

• Tip the original structure on its head.
• Start with a 10-syllable line and work down to one syllable.

These kinds of etherees start in the heat of a moment, image, or memory — and dwindle down, like a dying candle-flame.

The Double Etheree

• Start with either a standard etheree or an inverse.
• Structure the second verse in the opposite way.

I’ve only seen examples that start with an inverse etheree — which give a lopsided hourglass shape with the second verse. But there’s no reason you can’t start with a standard etheree and mirror that.

Find your own twist

Three or more standard etherees together in one poem would make shapes like sails. Write something about the sea or sailing with this shape. Make the content of any etheree reflect the shape.

Here at Sky Collection, originality and experimentation are encouraged— the sky really is the limit!

Your Turn — Write an Etheree

So Sky writers, we can’t wait to see what captivating etherees you’ll come up with. I’ll also be publishing another etheree example in the next day.

UPDATE: As this is a past prompt (although you can still submit an etheree, of course) I’m adding the link to the Editor’s Picks for some fantastic etheree examples and also some helpful “process tips” for writing an etheree.

When you write your poems, please tag me because I don’t want to miss them! Include a link to this post in your own. Sam is taking the reins now to tag Sky writers:

Submit your drafts to Sky Collection. If you are not a writer here yet, please see these submission guidelines. Tagging some writers, but all are welcome to participate!

Agnes Louis Shringi Kumari Stacey Christiansen Lynne Nardizzi Nathalie E. Amazan Dennett Eli Snow Anna Rozwadowska Thomas Plummer Thomas Gaudex Kristen v.H. Middleton D. E. Fulford, MA, MLS Priyanka Srivastava Sylvia Wohlfarth Sylvia Clare MSc. Psychol G.R. MELVIN Tammi Brownlee Anitha Sankaran Kathryn A. LeRoy, Ph.D. Lisa Bolin Roy Reichle Sasha Domnitz Scorpio Poetry guérin Brian Fehler Jonathan Fashanu Liz Tucker A Medic’s Musings Alex Boast Mike Treanor /lfw Harper Thorpe Suryatapa Kim McKinney Sam Kimberle Selma Breanna Lowman Markmalady Payal Khare Bhatnagar Janaka Stagnaro Suntonu Bhadra Marina Harris Amy Jasek Bob Jasper Chelsea Marie J.D. Harms Josh Lonsdale Uday_neutron Randy Shingler Gayle Kurtzer-Meyers Camille Fairbanks Jay Avery Jay Sizemore Deena Thomson Beth Stormont Johannes Mudi Evelyn Clark MDSHall Alexandra Androne Vixen Lea Julia Marsiglio Melissa Coffey Jessie Loeb Aimée Gramblin Roy Reichle Paul H. Harder II Christina M. Ward AbGhaffar@ K. Barrett Laurie Perez Julia Saha Lennie Varvarides Galit Birk, PhD Rachel Ramkaran (she/her) Eleanor Grey

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