Chant Poems: Poetic Forms
The chant poem is about as old as poetry itself. In fact, it may be the first form poetry took. Find guidelines and example poem here.
The chant poem is about as old as poetry itself. In fact, it may be the first form poetry took. Chant poems simply incorporate repetitive lines that form a sort of chant. Each line can repeat, or every other line.
It's easy to find many poetic forms that incorporate chanting with the use of a refrain. However, a chant poem is a little more methodical than a triolet or rondeau.
*****
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).
*****
Here's my attempt at a chant poem:
"Santa Carla"
He can see all the birds lift from the grass;
there's another missing child on the radio.
The trees appear to be covered in glass;
there's another missing child on the radio.
He knows the many shades of wrong and right;
there's another missing child on the radio.
If there's a city waiting in the night,
there's another missing child on the radio.
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.
