Nonet Poems: Poetic Forms
Nonet poems are nine-line poems with a specific syllable count for each line. This poetic form appears to be influenced by the music term nonet.
Never heard of nonet poems? That's all right. I'd never heard of them before trying to hunt down a new poetic form to cover earlier this week.
Nonet Poems: The Rules
The nonet poetic form is simple. It's a 9-line poem that has 9 syllables in the first line, 8 syllables in the second line, 7 syllables in the third line, and continues to count down to one syllable in the final (ninth) line.
I couldn't find an origin, but I did learn that the word nonet is used for a group of 9 performers or instruments. So I'm assuming this is one of those poetic forms inspired by music.
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Play with poetic forms!
Poetic forms are fun poetic games, and this digital guide collects more than 100 poetic forms, including more established poetic forms (like sestinas and sonnets) and newer invented forms (like golden shovels and fibs).
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Here's My Attempt at a Nonet:
"Nature"
There's a life curled in the darkness
sweating out the evening storm
beneath leaves covered with rain
and an urge to bolt like
the lightning before
thunder. Under
here we run
free of
why.
Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com and programming virtual conferences. He's the author of 40 Plot Twist Prompts for Writers: Writing Ideas for Bending Stories in New Directions, The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming, and more. Also, he's the editor of Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
