Four Diamante Poems

These diamante poems were written by students in a summer poetry class led by Hope Ellen Rapson.

A diamante is a seven line poem, shaped like a diamond. It is a poem of oppositions which works toward the middle.

Time

By Tabitha Bolen (age 12)

Sunrise

Sun, light

Smiling, playing, laughing

Morning, noon, evening, midnight

Lurking, looming, creeping,

Moon, dark

Nightfall

Salvation

By Ian Paul Neff (age 13)

Man

Stubborn, selfish

Living, sinning, dying

Condemned, saved, reborn, sent

Watching, praying, protecting

Almighty, selfless

God

Growth

By Avery Craddock (age 12)

Acorn

Small, weak

Sprouting, growing, changing

Water, sunlight, nest, squirrels

Standing, thriving, living

Tall, strong

Oak

Transformation

By Katherine Ruth Neff (age 12)

Ice

White and cold

Chilling, cooling, freezing

Solid, water, boil, steam

Heating, scorching, burning

Red and hot

Fire

Related reading: Fulton Bryant's Diamante; Madeline Smith's Diamante

Fulton Bryant's Diamante

A diamante is a seven line poem, shaped like a diamond. It is a poem of oppositions which works toward the middle. In Biblical prose a similar structure is called chiastic.  

Diamante

Start

Fast, Fresh

Running, Driving, Racing

Alpha, Stamina, Sweat, Omega

Coming, Tiring, Cramping

Slow, Breathless

Finish

                                                       -- Fulton Bryant, grade 6

See another diamante here.

Sun-Moon: Are They Opposites?

A diamante contains opposing concepts which meet in the middle line and is structured in a diamond shape.  The conception of the Sun and Moon as opposites is very ancient.  In the ancient world, the Sun represented the male principle in creation and the Moon the female principle.  We see this concept in the Spanish language where sol (sun) takes the masculine article el and luna (moon) takes the feminine article la. The binary opposition of Sun and Moon is not strong in this poem, but I still like it.

Sun

big, bright

shining, glowing, warming

sky, sunset, night, stars

twinkling, reflecting, beaming

full, white

Moon

--Madeline Smith

Related reading:  The Sun and the Moon in Genesis