Amaranth

History:

AmaranthHistory: Amaranth is a form created by Viola Berg as a teaching tool in her 1977 book Pathways for the Poet. That's what we've been able to find so far, second hand, as we have yet to lay our grubby little hands on the book itself. So far the only source online for this information is the site Poetry Magnum... More is a form created by Viola Berg as a teaching tool in her 1977 book Pathways for the Poet. That’s what we’ve been able to find so far, second hand, as we have yet to lay our grubby little hands on the book itself. So far the only source online for this information is the site Poetry Magnum Opus and the book doesn’t seem to be available for purchase online. We’re still looking.

Structure:

• The form makes use of the 9 most common metric feet
• 9 line stanza
• each line is one metric foot (for reference below: notation: = stressed/long syllable, = unstressed/short syllable)
• Line 1 Spondee
  Line 2 Iamb
  Line 3 Pyrrhic 
  Line 4 Dactyl
  Line 5 Trochee
  Line 6 Amphimacer
  Line 7 Choriamb
  Line 8 Anapest
  Line 9 Amphibrach
• rhyme is at, as they say, the discretion of the poet