Craft & Technique
When composing three line poems, we hope you consider:
Three Line Poetry books are printed in short lines — no longer than 40 characters per line. Check the length of your lines before submitting. Your poem should fit in each box below.
Characters turn red when a line exceeds 40 characters.
You don't have to compose your poem with meter in mind, but when you do, magical things happen. Three line poems have many of the same elements other poems have. You read about meter in grade school, and again in high school, and maybe even in college — it's time to put it to use!
As you write your poems, consider which kind of meter each line has:
| Iambs | unstressed / stressed — da DUM |
| Trochees | stressed / unstressed — DUM da |
| Spondees | stressed / stressed — DUM DUM |
| Anapests | unstressed / unstressed / stressed — da da DUM |
| Dactyls | stressed / unstressed / unstressed — DUM da da |
Read the meter of your lines — maybe you can tweak your verses into a beautiful pattern. People don't always think about the meter of a three line poem, but in English, meter is fun and oh so easy to do well. It helps set the cadence of the poem and makes you look awesome. Best of all, with tiny poems it's easier to arrange types of meters in any style you want.
Want even more complexity? Imagine shooting for a meter that runs from one line to the next. If the staggered meter matches the tone of the piece — a poem about stumbling through life, for example — then the staggered meter adds to the feeling and message of the poem. It wows those who are looking at the structure.
See the pattern? Or go for the beauty of meter-symmetry in your lines. There's a reason music also uses the word "meter." It is musical. Give it a try!