3 Engaging, Real Examples of How to Write a Sestina

Example of a Sestina About Everyday Burnout (Work & Life)

Let’s start with the first of our 3 engaging examples of how to write a sestina: a poem about modern work burnout. This is a topic so many people recognize, which makes it easier to focus on the form without getting lost in the theme.

Step 1: Choose six repeating end-words

For this sestina, imagine you choose these six end-words:

• screen
• light
• clock
• chair
• coffee
• home

These end-words will appear at the end of every line in the poem, rotating in a specific pattern. A classic sestina has six stanzas of six lines each, plus a final three-line stanza called the envoi (or tornada). If you want a formal breakdown of the pattern, the Poetry Foundation has a clear explanation of the traditional structure: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/learn/glossary-terms/sestina

Step 2: See how the pattern feels in real lines

Here’s a short mockup of how the first two stanzas might look. This is not a full poem, but it’s a real example of how to write a sestina in a way that feels modern and readable:

Stanza 1 (end-words in order: 1–2–3–4–5–6)

1. The day begins and I wake to the blue screen
2. The blinds leak in a tired, gray light
3. I don’t bother to check the stubborn clock
4. My spine already aches from yesterday’s chair
5. I burn my tongue on lukewarm coffee
6. And pretend my apartment is a second home

Stanza 2 (end-words in order: 6–1–5–2–4–3)

7. My inbox fills before I leave my home
8. Every message another glowing screen
9. I top off the cup with more coffee
10. Step into the glare of mid-morning light
11. The office offers the same gray chair
12. And the same red numbers on the clock

Already, you’re seeing one of the best examples of how repetition creates rhythm without rhyme. The repeated end-words act like anchors. You can change tone, move locations, jump in time—but those six words keep circling back, giving the poem its shape.

Step 3: Build toward the envoi

If you carried this poem through all six stanzas, you’d keep rotating those end-words in the traditional pattern:

• Stanza 1: 1 2 3 4 5 6
• Stanza 2: 6 1 5 2 4 3
• Stanza 3: 3 6 4 1 2 5
• Stanza 4: 5 3 2 6 1 4
• Stanza 5: 4 5 1 3 6 2
• Stanza 6: 2 4 6 5 3 1

Then the envoi ends the poem with three lines that include all six end-words, usually two per line. For our burnout sestina, an envoi might look like this:

I shut the screen and walk slow circles through my home
The clock stops mattering; the light thins and softens
I leave the cold coffee, push back the chair, and listen to the dark

This first of our 3 engaging examples of how to write a sestina shows you can tackle a very current subject—work-from-home fatigue, digital overload—while still honoring a centuries-old structure.

Second of 3 Engaging Examples: A Sestina About Climate Anxiety

The second of our 3 engaging examples of how to write a sestina leans into climate anxiety, a topic that’s been everywhere in recent years, from news reports to high school classrooms. Educators, including many in university writing programs, often use environmental themes to help students connect personal emotion with poetic form. (For instance, many creative writing syllabi at universities like Harvard encourage pairing form exercises with contemporary issues: https://writingprogram.fas.harvard.edu/.)

Six end-words with emotional weight

For a climate-focused sestina, your end-words might be:

• ocean
• heat
• storm
• glass
• child
• future

Notice how each word can be used literally or metaphorically. That flexibility is one of the best examples of how to write a sestina that doesn’t feel forced.

A sample stanza to show the tone

Imagine a stanza like this:

My grandfather says he remembers a colder ocean
Back when summers were just sun, not this heavy heat
When rain meant puddles, not another named storm
When a window stayed clear and did not fog the glass
When he didn’t worry for every small child
Who would inherit more than this fraying future

In later stanzas, you might let the child speak, or jump forward to a different future. The repeated end-words keep the poem grounded, even as the timeline shifts.

Why this works as a teaching example

As you collect examples of 3 engaging examples of how to write a sestina, notice what they have in common:

• The end-words are simple, but emotionally loaded.
• The topic is familiar from real life and current headlines (rising temperatures, stronger storms, kids doing climate strikes).
• The repetition mirrors the feeling of anxiety circling in your head.

This kind of poem works well in 2024–2025 classrooms, workshops, and online writing groups, because it connects a classic structure with real-world concerns.

Third of 3 Engaging Examples: A Love Sestina in the Digital Age

The third of our 3 engaging examples of how to write a sestina is lighter in tone: a love poem set in the age of texting, DMs, and long-distance video calls.

Choosing playful, modern end-words

Try these six:

• message
• call
• night
• city
• train
• heart

Here’s a sample stanza:

Your first message arrived between meetings
A buzzing interruption I mistook for a call
Outside, rain stitched gray lines through the night
Somewhere miles away, you crossed your own city
Watching strangers sway in a crowded train
Not knowing yet the trouble for my heart

In later stanzas, those same words can shift meaning:

• train as in “train of thought”
• call as in “a difficult decision”
• message as in “what are you really trying to say?”

This is a strong example of how to write a sestina that feels romantic but not cheesy, and modern without abandoning the form.

More Real Examples: 5 Additional Sestina Ideas You Can Steal

You came here for examples of 3 engaging examples of how to write a sestina, but having only three can feel limiting when you sit down to write. So let’s expand your toolbox with five more quick, real examples you can adapt.

1. Grief and Healing Sestina

End-words: bed, door, voice, photograph, winter, name

This sestina could move through a house after a loss, circling back to the same rooms and objects. One stanza might end every line with winter, another might lean on voice. The repetition mirrors how grief revisits the same memories again and again.

2. Sports or Competition Sestina

End-words: field, whistle, crowd, injury, season, home

Think of a high school athlete, a World Cup fan, or even a weekend softball player. Each stanza can jump to a different year or game, with the repeated end-words tying together victories and losses.

3. Coming-of-Age Sestina

End-words: mirror, locker, secret, hallway, phone, future

This works well for teen or YA voices. The locker and hallway place us in school; the phone pulls it into the 2020s. As the poem progresses, the mirror might shift from literal to symbolic—how the speaker sees themself.

4. Food & Family Sestina

End-words: kitchen, spice, table, story, Sunday, hands

This sestina can follow family traditions, migration, or generational change. The repeated table might be a cheap formica one in stanza one, a fancy dining table in stanza four, and an empty table in the envoi when everyone has moved away.

5. Tech & AI Sestina

End-words: code, voice, data, glitch, human, sleep

Very 2024. This poem could explore late-night coding sessions, voice assistants, and the thin line between human and machine. The word sleep might start as literal exhaustion and end as a metaphor for going offline.

Each of these is a real example of how to write a sestina that feels grounded in the present, not stuck in a medieval castle.

How to Plan Your Own: Using These Examples as a Template

Now that you’ve seen multiple examples of 3 engaging examples of how to write a sestina (plus several bonus ideas), here’s a simple way to turn inspiration into an actual draft.

Start with the end-words, not the lines

Most people try to write a sestina line by line and get frustrated fast. Instead:

1. Pick a topic you genuinely care about: burnout, love, climate, sports, grief, family, tech—anything.
2. Brainstorm 10–15 words related to that topic.

3. Circle six that are:

   • Short and flexible (like light, home, train).
   • Easy to use in both literal and metaphorical ways.

This step is where the earlier examples of 3 engaging examples of how to write a sestina become useful. You can model your choices on those successful sets of six.

Map the pattern before you write

Take a blank page and write the six end-words in order down the side for stanza one. Then, for stanza two, use the pattern 6–1–5–2–4–3, and so on. You don’t need to memorize this; many poets keep a quick reference nearby while drafting.

By mapping it first, you give yourself a visual guide, which is one of the best examples of practical process that working poets actually use.

Draft fast, revise slowly

On your first pass, let the lines be messy. The goal is to get a full draft where the end-words land in the right places. In revision, you can:

• Smooth awkward phrasing.
• Vary sentence length so every stanza doesn’t sound the same.
• Check that the emotional arc builds from stanza to stanza.

If you’re curious about how formal constraints can actually boost creativity, the Poetry Foundation and many university writing centers (such as those at Harvard or other major universities) often publish essays and resources on using form to generate ideas, not shut them down.

FAQ: Examples of Sestinas and Common Questions

What are some of the best examples of sestinas I can read online?

A few widely cited, high-quality examples include:

• “Sestina” by Elizabeth Bishop (often recommended in college courses).
• “A Miracle for Breakfast” by Elizabeth Bishop.
• “Sestina: Altaforte” by Ezra Pound (more historical, intense in tone).

Reading these alongside the modern topics above gives you both classic and contemporary examples of how to write a sestina.

Can you give an example of a simple sestina for beginners?

A simple beginner-friendly example might use very concrete end-words like: cat, window, rain, book, floor, sleep. You could write about a lazy Sunday at home, letting each stanza show a different hour of the day. The key is to keep the vocabulary familiar so you can focus on the pattern.

Do I have to follow the exact traditional pattern?

Many poets in 2024–2025 experiment with “looser” sestinas—changing line length, relaxing meter, or slightly bending the end-word pattern. If you’re just learning, it helps to stick to the traditional structure first. Once you’ve written one or two, you’ll have your own real examples of how to write a sestina, and you can start breaking rules with intention.

How long does it usually take to write a sestina?

It varies. Some writers can draft one in an evening, but many take several days or weeks to revise. Because the form is repetitive, you’ll often find yourself reworking lines to avoid sounding stiff. Treat your early attempts as practice pieces—examples of your own growth, not final masterpieces.

Bringing It All Together

You’ve now seen multiple examples of 3 engaging examples of how to write a sestina: a burnout poem, a climate-anxiety poem, a digital-age love poem, plus several more ideas you can adapt. The pattern might look strict on paper, but in practice it’s surprisingly flexible.

If you remember nothing else, remember this: pick strong end-words, sketch the pattern first, and let your topic be something you actually care about. Do that, and your own sestina will stop feeling like homework and start feeling like a seriously satisfying writing challenge.