Poems With Tercets

Published: July 2017

Collection of poems written with stanzas that have three lines. 3 line stanzas are called Tercets. A stanza in poetry is a group of lines usually separated by a blank line. Stanzas of 3 lines are called Tercets from the Latin word tertius meaning three.

16 Examples Of Poems With Tercets (Three Line Stanzas)

  1. Mad Girl's Love Song

    Famous Poem

    Many of Sylvia Plath's poems have a theme of unrequited love, and this one is no different. She wrote this poem while she was a twenty-year-old student at Smith College. It has that very natural and relatable element of someone that age looking for love. The speaker is addressing a former lover, wishing he would return to her. Plath writes with a lot of emotion, making it clear how it feels to be rejected while still longing for someone to return feelings of love. She uses personification to give the stars and darkness human characteristics. This poem also utilizes the poetic technique of repetition.

    in Famous Sad Love Poems

    "I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead;
    I lift my lids and all is born again.
    (I think I made you up inside my head.)

    The stars go waltzing out in blue and red,
    And arbitrary blackness gallops in:
    I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.

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  2. Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

    Famous Poem

    This very famous poem, a villanelle, by Dylan Thomas was written as Thomas' father lay on his deathbed. The message that Thomas was conveying to his father was his passionate desire that his father not take death "lying down." He is expressing the feeling that so many have felt as they watched a close friend, parent, or lover slip away. The message to his father is, "Don't Go! Fight! Death is an injustice! Show your passion for life, by not going gentle into that "good" night."

    in Famous Death Poems

    Do not go gentle into that good night,
    Old age should burn and rage at close of day;
    Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

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    I like this poem. It reflects the general reaction of the majority of people not wanting their loved ones to go and if so at least they put up a fight, along with being poetically exquisite...

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  4. One Art

    Famous Poem

    Possibly her most famous poem, Elizabeth Bishop's,"One Art" is a villanelle, a 6 stanza poem that consists of five tercets (3 line stanzas), and one concluding quatrain (4 line stanza). For more about this challenging poetry form see How To Write a Villanelle.
    This poem is about loss and starts off light with a touch of humor, but loss is certainly not a humorous topic and as the stanzas go on the losses mount. Losing our most precious possessions, our friends and loved ones is a most difficult burden. Bishop lost both her parents as a child. Her father died when she was an infant and her mother was committed to an Insane Asylum when she was five. She never saw her mother again and grew up in the homes of various relatives.

    in Famous Sad Poems

    The art of losing isn’t hard to master;
    so many things seem filled with the intent
    to be lost that their loss is no disaster.

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  5. The Eagle

    Famous Poem

    In this short poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809-1892), he captures the majesty of an eagle hunting from the top of a cliff. This descriptive poem is comprised of tercets (three-line stanzas).

    in Famous Nature Poems

    He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
    Close to the sun in lonely lands,
    Ringed with the azure world, he stands.

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    This poem touched my heart as no other poem has. I love nature and most poems don't interest me. When I can, I am outside in nature and when I have to go inside, I fall just like the Eagle at...

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  7. In Time

    • By Pam J. Pastirik
    • Published by Family Friend Poems May 2016 with permission of the Author.

    My son died in 2012. I am waiting for time to heal my broken heart, but I know that it will never mend. Many people use the cliché, "Things will get better in time," but that does not hold true for me right now. That is why I wrote this poem, in the hopes that others will relate to the notion of loss and time. Thank you.

    in Son Death Poems

    Time cannot erase the sorrow and pain that I feel,
    Nor can it make things better
    Or force my heart to heal.

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    My loving son and best friend left me on October 8, 2022. He had a heart of gold and loved his boxer dogs. My heart is broken beyond repair. My only son was 55 years old. He loved his two...

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  8. Remember

    • By Victor C. Kleinschmit
    • Published by Family Friend Poems May 2016 with permission of the Author.

    I write poetry from the heart. I find my inspiration from photos on the internet. I'll see a picture that inspires me and then I write down those feelings. This particular poem was inspired after reading In Flanders Fields. I also liked the photo. Hope you enjoy!

    in Memorial Day Poems

    Someone's child, left long ago,
    A strange land,
    Someone's foe.

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    I liked this poem. It's short and simple but has emotion.

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  9. Never Give Up

    • By Becky
    • Published by Family Friend Poems December 2015 with permission of the Author.

    I wrote this poem because I was feeling a little down one day, and sometimes I just need to boost my self-confidence, so I wrote a poem about it, hoping it could help other people as well. I hope you like it, and I hope it gives you a bit of a confidence boost.

    in Inspirational Poems by Teens

    Never give up,
    Never give in.
    Move onward and upward with strength from within.

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    This poem has given me hope, I am currently doing my B tech of which I was about to deregister it because its all seemed so hard to uphill, but reading this poem gave me strength to face...

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  10. Nature's Law

    • By Pistol
    • Published by Family Friend Poems May 2015 with permission of the Author.

    The only poem I have ever written. I'm scared of what the world is becoming.

    in Environment Poems

    The waves are rolling toward the shore.

    A silent world - an empty core.
    Lifeless land with nothing more.

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    This expresses my thoughts about the world in a way I could never explain. I loved this!

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  11. Indian Summer

    Fall is my absolute favorite time of the year! I wrote this poem on a bench in the palace gardens of Versailles (France), on a beautiful day in the Fall. I tried to capture the moment, while experimenting a little bit with the form of the poem.

    in Fall Poems

    The woods are ablaze with golden light,
    And the sky seems painted by a child
    In the deepest blue, an impossible hue.

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    Lovely poem, Bettina. I have never been to Europe but plan to visit it someday. But I have stayed in the North eastern part of USA for quite a few years, and hands down fall is my favorite...

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  12. She Makes A House A Home

    • By Maggie Bernard
    • Published by Family Friend Poems May 2016 with permission of the Author.

    My name is Maggie Bernard, and this is a poem I wrote for my mom. She means the world to me, so I wanted to write a poem to show her the appreciation that most daughters feel for their mothers.

    in Mother Poems

    The lady who has loved you as you've grown
    will always love and cherish you for all time.
    She has the greatest heart ever known.

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  13. A Minute

    No matter how special you are, you need someone to listen to you and be your friend.

    in Inspirational Friend Poems

    Everyone, young or old,
    Needs someone to listen
    As their stories are told.

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  14. I Used To Love You

    • By Avery Rose
    • Published by Family Friend Poems December 2016 with permission of the Author.

    This poem is about how love, no matter how strong, will still fade if unrequited.

    in Moving On Poems

    I used to love you,
    Gently, carefully...
    As I was afraid of falling too deep.

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  15. To The Unforgettable

    • By Lily Rae
    • Published by Family Friend Poems March 2019 with permission of the Author.

    I was deeply in love with a guy I was with, and one day I woke up to him dumping me. It was unexpected and was by far the most painful breakup I've experienced. He didn't give me a genuine reason why and just said it was for the best, so I've been trying to make sense of it all.

    in Breaking Up Poems

    I know we'll never be the same.
    Behind my love,
    I'm filled with shame.

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    Age. Family. Work... could play a huge part. Or he might be married. Men can be master deceivers.

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  16. Cow In My Soup

    • By Kevin T. Pearson
    • Published by Family Friend Poems September 2019 with permission of the Author.

    As a child, when we had soup, I would crumble crackers in with it. When they became soggy, sometimes they would take different shapes, and I would let my imagination loose.

    in Funny Poems for Kids

    My mom said, "Eat all your soup,
    every piece of chicken and every noodle."
    But there's a cow in my soup.

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  17. Summer

    • By Ramin R. Alam
    • Published by Family Friend Poems June 2016 with permission of the Author.

    What this poem means to me is the freedom of finally being out of school and being able to do anything. Going out whenever, not having to wake up early, hanging out with friends. These are all things I think of when summer comes to mind. The reason I chose to write this poem is because summer is my favorite season and it's where my most memorable moments happen.

    in Summer Poems

    The sun is out.
    The children scream and shout
    All about.

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  18. He Is Your Child First

    • By Sharon Southern
    • Published by Family Friend Poems January 2017 with permission of the Author.

    When my son was fifteen, he was diagnosed with a rare cancer. Cancer is one of those things that happens to other people, so I thought. This poem was therapeutic to create, a must to my recovery. It helped me to finally move on.

    in Prayer Poems

    She is unsure about her situation,
    Her many trials and tribulations,
    But she is trusting in His word.

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