All About Etherées
Tuesday, January 6th, 2009The etherée is a short poem, the single form of which consists of fifty-five syllables. It was invented in the 1980’s by an Arkansas poet, Etherée Taylor Armstrong. In my venture into the world of poetry-writing, I quickly became fascinated with this form.
An etherée may deal with any type of subject matter - it may be a nature poem, love poem, in my case more commonly may be a humanitarian or spiritual poem. Although some consider it to be formal in tone, one may also work with lighter subject matter. Many of my own deal with hope for humanity and concern for the earth.
The etherée does not use rhyme or meter. The single begins with a one-syllable first line, and each line thereafter is increased by one syllable as well as by a couple of letters, thus creating the required triangular shape, for a total of ten lines, the tenth having ten syllables and being the longest line. Punctuation is often not used, but may be employed. The message, of course, must be primary, but a good etherée is also aesthetically pleasing.
Etherées may be written in reverse form, starting with a ten-syllable line. A double assumes a characteristic diamond shape, with two ten-syllable lines, while a reverse double appears in a shape resembling an hour-glass.
I have also written triples and quadruples. As a reader is exposed to the etherée form in general, it becomes easy enough to determine the various configurations.
This is an interesting and challenging form with which to experiment. In future postings, I hope to add tutorial information for poets who are interested in learning to write etherées.