Tilus: Poetic Forms
Poetic Form Fridays are made to share various poetic forms. This week, we look at the tilus, a fun three-liner.
This week's poetic form is concise: 10 syllables in three lines. The tilus (pronounced "tee-loo-hz") was invented by Kelvin S. Mangundayao.
Here are the guidelines:
- Two stanzas
- First stanza two lines; second stanza one line
- Six syllables in first line, three syllables in second line, and one syllable for final line
- So 10 syllables total
- Poem should be focused on nature opening up the world for subject
I found an explanation from Kelvin on the nature component on the dVerse site: "The main focus of Tilus is on the world of Nature, and how it can open a new door to a wider understanding of life and beyond. The form aims to be epic in emotions expressed, more importantly, than to be epic in words."
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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).
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Here’s my attempt at a Tilus Poem:
“coloboma,” by Robert Lee Brewer
night rain puddles reflect
her precious
eye
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.
