Best examples of tips for writing a sestina (2025 guide)

Examples of tips for writing a sestina before you even start

Instead of starting with a technical definition, let’s jump straight into examples of tips for writing a sestina that you can use before you write a single line.

One of the best examples comes from how experienced poets select their six end-words. Imagine you want to write about a long-distance relationship. Instead of picking abstract words like love, time, and pain, you might choose more concrete anchors: phone, flight, window, screen, night, silence. These end-words give you objects and images to play with in every stanza, which keeps the poem grounded.

Another example of a smart pre-writing tip: sketch the emotional arc like a timeline. On a scrap of paper, you might jot:

Stanza 1: Setting the scene (the first goodbye at the airport)
Stanza 2: Routine (calls, texts, video chats)
Stanza 3: Frustration (missed calls, time zones)
Stanza 4: Conflict (argument, doubts)
Stanza 5: Turning point (decision to visit or break up)
Stanza 6: Outcome (reunion or final goodbye)
Envoi: The emotional echo that lingers

This kind of planning is one of the clearest examples of tips for writing a sestina that separates a chaotic draft from a poem that actually goes somewhere.

Choosing your six end-words: practical examples that work

Many guides say, “Pick six good end-words,” and stop there. Let’s look at real examples of tips for writing a sestina that show you what that actually means.

Example 1: Concrete vs. abstract

Suppose you want to write a sestina about climate anxiety. Here are two possible sets of end-words:

Set A (abstract): fear, future, change, time, hope, loss
Set B (concrete-ish): smoke, sirens, screen, map, window, storm

Set A will push you toward big statements and clichés. Set B gives you images you can put in a room: smoke outside the window, sirens in the distance, a storm on the weather map. This is a strong example of tips for writing a sestina that keep the poem vivid: lean toward words you can see, hear, or touch.

Example 2: Words with multiple meanings

Another example of a helpful tip is to choose end-words that can shift meaning. Take this set:

light (illumination, not heavy, to ignite)
break (to fracture, a rest, a chance)
ground (earth, justification, to punish)
line (a sentence, a boundary, a queue)
charge (electricity, accusation, responsibility)
glass (a cup, a window, a mirror)

Across six stanzas, you can rotate through these meanings. In stanza 1, light might be a lamp. By stanza 4, light could mean “not heavy.” By the envoi, maybe light is finally emotional relief. This is one of the best examples of tips for writing a sestina if you want your repetitions to feel fresh instead of repetitive.

Example 3: Avoiding rhyme traps

A quiet but important example of a tip: watch for accidental rhyme chains. If you pick end-words like fire, wire, tire, higher, you’ll end up locked into unintentional rhymes that can make the poem sound sing-songy.

A better approach is mixing sound types: maybe fire, door, street, glass, hand, song. You still have a musical pattern, but you’re not trapped in a rhyme prison.

For a deeper look at how repeating structures work in poetry, you might find it useful to read about poetic forms in university writing resources, such as those from Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab, which often includes guides to form and repetition.

Examples of tips for writing a sestina stanza by stanza

Once you’ve picked your end-words, the next challenge is surviving six stanzas without losing momentum. Here are examples of tips for writing a sestina that you can apply one stanza at a time.

Example 4: Giving each stanza a job

Think of each stanza as having a specific task, almost like scenes in a short film. For a sestina about caring for an aging parent, the stanza “jobs” might look like this:

Stanza 1: Daily routine in the house
Stanza 2: Flashback to the parent when they were younger
Stanza 3: A doctor’s visit
Stanza 4: A moment of anger or resentment
Stanza 5: A moment of guilt or tenderness
Stanza 6: A quiet, late-night reflection

By assigning each stanza a job, you avoid writing six versions of the same moment. This is a concrete example of tips for writing a sestina that keeps the narrative or emotional arc moving.

Example 5: Drafting one stanza as a “template”

Another practical example: draft your first stanza more freely, then use it as a rhythm and tone template for the others.

Let’s say your first stanza tends to fall into lines that are 9–11 syllables, with one strong image per line and a conversational voice. When you draft stanza 2, you don’t copy the lines, but you mimic the feel: similar line length, similar balance between image and thought.

This doesn’t mean every stanza must match perfectly, but it gives you a “home base” so the poem feels like one piece instead of six unrelated fragments.

Example 6: Letting the end-words surprise you

Here’s a small but powerful example of a tip: don’t always end-stop your lines before the end-word.

Compare these two lines using the end-word glass:

“I couldn’t meet his eyes through the glass.”
“I couldn’t meet his eyes through the
glass kept between us like a second language.”

In the second version, the end-word glass kicks off an unexpected image. Letting the phrase spill over the line break can keep the repetition from feeling stiff.

You’ll see this kind of flexibility in many contemporary sestinas discussed in modern poetry courses at universities like Harvard, which often encourage students to play with line breaks and enjambment even within strict forms.

Examples of tips for writing a sestina in a 2024–2025 context

Sestinas aren’t just for medieval troubadours and 20th-century poets. In 2024–2025, writers are using the form to talk about social media, AI, climate change, and mental health. That shift brings new examples of tips for writing a sestina that respond to our current world.

Example 7: Using digital-age vocabulary wisely

If you’re writing a sestina about social media burnout, you might be tempted to pick end-words like scroll, like, feed, post, screen, ping.

Some of these can work, but think about longevity and flexibility. Scroll and screen are pretty flexible. Like and post can get awkward fast because they have strong, narrow associations. A more sustainable set might be: screen, thumb, room, light, message, noise.

Those words still feel very 2025, but they’re open enough to carry metaphor and emotional weight. This is an updated example of tips for writing a sestina that respects both the form and current language trends.

Example 8: Pairing the form with mental health themes

Mental health writing has grown significantly in the past few years, with more people talking openly about anxiety, depression, and burnout. If you’re writing about recurring intrusive thoughts, a sestina’s repetition can actually mirror that mental loop.

For instance, you might choose end-words like door, alarm, breath, floor, shadow, voice. The repetition becomes part of the emotional logic: the same words circling back the way certain thoughts do.

When you’re writing about mental health, it can be helpful to read accurate background information from trusted sources such as the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). That doesn’t mean your poem should turn into a pamphlet, but it can keep your references grounded and respectful.

Planning the envoi: examples of tips for writing a sestina ending

The three-line envoi (or tornada) is where many sestinas fall apart. You’ve done all this work, and then the ending just… stops. Here are examples of tips for writing a sestina that help you land the poem.

Example 9: Decide what changes by the end

Before you draft the envoi, ask: What has shifted since stanza 1? Maybe the speaker has made a decision, learned something, or accepted a loss.

For example, in a sestina about a house being sold after a divorce, the opening stanza might show the house full of boxes and tension. By the envoi, maybe:

The house is empty.
The speaker is standing in the doorway for the last time.
One of the six end-words now means something very different than it did at the start.

The envoi doesn’t have to explain everything, but it should feel like a lens snapping into focus.

Example 10: Bending the “rules” strategically

Traditional sestinas follow a strict end-word pattern, but many contemporary poets adjust the form slightly: maybe they shorten a stanza, or loosen the pattern in the envoi.

One practical example of a modern tip: write a full traditional sestina draft, then in revision, allow yourself to break one pattern if it clearly strengthens the poem. Maybe you repeat one end-word twice in the envoi and drop another that never quite fit. The form should serve the poem, not the other way around.

If you’re curious about how poetic forms evolve over time, resources like the Poetry Foundation offer historical context and examples of how writers adapt traditional structures.

Real examples of tips for writing a sestina from the drafting process

Let’s pull this together into a few more real examples of tips for writing a sestina that you can use during drafting and revision.

Example 11: Draft in prose first

If the form feels paralyzing, set it aside for a moment. Write a one-page prose scene or monologue that covers the emotional ground you want your poem to explore. Then, highlight six words or images that keep recurring in that prose. Those can become your end-words.

This method gives you content first, structure second. It’s a reliable example of tips for writing a sestina that keeps the poem from feeling like a rigid exercise.

Example 12: Color-code your end-words in revision

During revision, many writers literally color-code each of the six end-words in their draft. When you scan the page, you can quickly see whether any stanza is over-relying on one meaning of a word or one type of image.

For instance, if every appearance of glass is about drinking, maybe in stanza 4 you change it to a window, and in stanza 6 you use it as a mirror. This visual check is a practical example of a tip that helps you vary your repetitions without changing the form.

Example 13: Read the end-words out loud as a mini-poem

Here’s a small but revealing exercise: read just the end-words of each line in order, out loud. If that sequence sounds flat or confusing, you may want to adjust.

For example, if your end-words for stanza 1 form a chain like: glass, hand, door, glass, hand, door, you might realize you’re stuck in a pattern that feels too literal. Shifting where those end-words appear in the sentence can create more interesting rhythms.

This is one of the subtler examples of tips for writing a sestina, but it often leads to big improvements in flow.

FAQ: examples of common questions about writing a sestina

What are some examples of tips for writing a sestina if I’m a total beginner?

Start small and specific. Pick a simple scene you know well (a bus ride, a kitchen at night, a shift at work) and choose six end-words that come directly from that scene: objects, sounds, or actions. Draft just two stanzas and the envoi as a “mini-sestina” so you can practice the pattern without committing to the full length.

Can you give an example of how to pick good end-words?

If you’re writing about a childhood summer, you might pick: bike, road, lake, screen, mother, night. These words are concrete, flexible, and emotionally loaded. Across the poem, screen might shift from a door screen to a movie screen to a phone screen, allowing you to move between past and present.

Are there examples of modern sestinas I can read online?

Yes. The Poetry Foundation and various university writing centers often publish or link to contemporary sestinas. Look for poets from the last 20–30 years working with the form; you’ll see examples of tips for writing a sestina in action, especially in how they handle line breaks, voice, and the envoi.

How strict do I have to be about the form?

If you’re writing for a workshop or class, you may be asked to follow the traditional pattern exactly. Outside that context, many poets treat the sestina as a flexible framework. The best examples of modern practice show writers honoring the repeating end-words while occasionally bending line length, punctuation, or even the final envoi pattern to serve the poem.

What if my sestina feels repetitive and boring?

That’s a normal early-draft problem. Try three quick fixes: change the meaning of at least two end-words in later stanzas, shift the setting or time period in the middle of the poem, and cut any lines that exist only to “deliver” an end-word. These revision moves are reliable examples of tips for writing a sestina that add energy without breaking the form.

If you treat the sestina not as a test you have to pass but as a constraint that can spark invention, those six repeating words become less of a burden and more of a game. Use these real, concrete examples of tips for writing a sestina as experiments, not rules carved in stone—and let each draft teach you what the form can do for your voice.

Best examples of tips for writing a sestina (with real examples)