The Death of Fantasy

Sestina
Length: 39 Lines
Stanzas: 6 sestets and 1 tercet
Metrical requirements: None
Rhyme scheme: None. Rather, emphasis is placed on the last words of each line, which are repeated throughout the poem and then reused to form the final tercet. Yes, it's tricky.

The sestina form hails from Italy, and the earliest known sestina was written at the turn of the 13th century. As most things do, the sestina changed slightly when it was reintroduced to American poets; nonetheless, this relatively unchanged poetry form remains a headache to write for poets everywhere.

The sestina is composed of 6 sestets, as well as a final 3 line envoi (concluding stanza). (Note: this envoi is optional, and some sestinas eschew it.) In a sestina, special attention is placed on the last word in each line. These words are repeated throughout the poem in a special pattern, essentially forming the poem's backbone.