What is a Tetractys?

The poetic form of the tetractys is a poem with only five lines. Each line adds another syllable until the last line which has ten.

What is the Stucture of a Tetractys?

A tetractys consists of 5 lines.

Each line has a set number of syllables see below:

Line 1 – 1 syllable
Line 2 – 2 syllables
Line 3 – 3 syllables
Line 4 – 4 syllables
Line 5 – 10 syllables

An Example of a Tetractys Poem

Double Tetractys poem

For a more complex form there is the double tetractys, which is similar but has ten lines and is structured as shown below.

Line 1 – 1 syllables
Line 2 – 2 syllables
Line 3 – 3 syllables
Line 4 – 4 syllables
Line 5 – 10 syllables
Line 6 – 10 syllables
Line 7 – 4 syllables
Line 8 – 3 syllables
Line 9 – 2 syllables
Line 10 – 1 syllable

An Example of a Double Tetractys Poem

Why don't you try writing a tetractys poem and enter it into one of our poetry competitions.

For information on poetry types other than a tetractys visit our poetry glossary – poetry types.