Top 10 Sestina Poems

When you need examples of sestina poetry and poems, where do you find them?

Sestinas are a type of poem that relies on a certain written structure to make it work. It's kind of kooky, like a patchwork puzzle, and kind of challenging, like a haiku. In other words, if you are a true poetry nerd, like me, you find it interesting that there is this rare form of poem that not everyone tries.

However, when you look around online, you start to see that the history of the sestina and the people that have created them over the past 900 years are an impressive list of authors. There are also many modern authors that gave this poetry form a fair try and came out writing some impressive work. Included in this top 10 list are those modern and historic sestina authors I liked the best.

Are Sestinas Worth It?

As it turns out, since they are related to the Troubadour poets of the High Middle Ages in France, sestinas tend to be singled out from time to time. In particular, TrellisMagazine.com had a sestina contest for Valentine's Day in 2010. In other words, sestinas are certainly worth the practice.

Historic Sestinas

Sestinas have been around since 1100. You would think, since they are 900 years old, that this would be a popular poetry form. Unfortunately, there are only about five well known historic sestinas on the web today.

Sestina by Elizabeth Bishop
The Concord Art Association Regrets by Pam White
Sestina of the Tramp-Royal by Rudyard Kipling
Sestina by Dante Alighieri
Sestina Altaforte by Ezra Pound

Modern Sestinas

There are many people with a good sense of humor that feel compelled to write sestinas. While cruising the internet, I found five examples of funny, entertaining, and well written sestinas. I was so impressed, that I decided to learn more to write some of my own when my friends came over to hang out. We had a great time and probably spent our time in a wiser way than just watching a movie.

The One Where the Cake Ignites by Jon Stone
Bilingual Sestina by Julia Alvarez
Sestina by Algernon Charles Swinburne
A Sestina by Claire Burge
Sestina for Your Dead Heart by Gregory Sherl