Poetic form
What is a Sestina?
Definition
A sestina is a 39-line form in which the same six end-words rotate through six stanzas and a closing envoi in a fixed spiral pattern.
The sestina is poetry's obsession machine. Invented by the 12th-century troubadour Arnaut Daniel, it runs six six-line stanzas plus a three-line envoi — 39 lines in which the same six end-words keep returning, reshuffled each stanza by a fixed spiral (each new stanza takes the previous one's end-words in the order 6-1-5-2-4-3). No rhyme, no required meter: the repetition is the music.
By the fourth stanza, those six words come back like thoughts you can't stop thinking — which is exactly the form's subject matter. Elizabeth Bishop's 'Sestina,' circling grandmother, child, house, and tears, shows how the machinery can disappear into grief. The craft secret is choosing end-words that bend: 'back,' 'still,' and 'light' will serve you in six different ways; 'photosynthesis' will not.
Structure of a sestina
- 39 lines: six 6-line stanzas plus a 3-line envoi
- Six end-words repeat in a fixed rotation: each stanza reorders the previous one's as 6-1-5-2-4-3
- The envoi uses all six words, two per line
- No rhyme or meter required — the repeating words are the music
How to write a sestina
- Choose six end-words that bend: multiple meanings, multiple parts of speech ('back,' 'light,' 'still').
- Chart the rotation before you draft; getting lost mid-sestina is traditional but avoidable.
- Enjamb sentences across lines so the end-words arrive naturally and the machinery hides.
- Pick a subject that won't leave you alone — the form is built for obsession.
Where to read a sestina
We do not yet host a rights-cleared sestina in full. These three are public domain and easy to find; read one with a finger on the six end-words to watch the rotation.
Sestina of the Tramp-Royal · 1896
Rudyard Kipling
A sestina in a speaking voice — proof the form need not sound academic.
Sestina · 1872
Algernon Charles Swinburne
Swinburne rhymes his sestina as well as repeating the end-words, which is harder than the standard form requires.
Sestina: Of the Lady Pietra degli Scrovigni · 1861
Dante, translated by Dante Gabriel Rossetti
A Victorian translation of one of the form's medieval ancestors.
Drafting one yourself? The form checker measures line counts, syllables, and end rhymes on your own text, and our rights policy explains why some texts are named here rather than reprinted.
Common questions
What is a sestina?
A 39-line poem in which six end-words rotate through six stanzas in a fixed spiral, then all appear in a final three-line envoi.
How does the sestina pattern work?
Each new stanza reorders the previous stanza's end-words as 6-1-5-2-4-3. After six stanzas, every word has occupied every position; the envoi then gathers all six.
Do sestinas rhyme?
No. The six repeating end-words replace rhyme entirely — the returning words are the form's music.