Octogram

An Octogram is a fixed modern poetic form created by poet S. Yocum. It is written in two stanzas with eight total lines. The rhyme pattern is usually read as ababccbB, and the syllable count is 8, 4, 8, 4, 8, 8, 8, 4. The final capital B indicates that the last line repeats or strongly echoes the second line.

An Octogram often includes: two four-line stanzas, eight total lines, a tight syllable pattern, linked rhyme, and a repeated or echoing final line. Because the form is short, the poem should move quickly and avoid filler. The repeated B line should feel important enough to return at the end.

To write an Octogram, begin with a strong four-syllable line for line two. This line will guide the B rhyme and may return as the final line. Then build the poem around the required syllable pattern: eight syllables in line one, four in line two, eight in line three, four in line four, eight in lines five, six, and seven, and four in line eight. Keep the rhyme pattern clear.

Auction Day

The auctioneer lifts up the clock,
It all must go.
The cedar chest gives up its locks,
The bidders know.

A spoon remembers Sunday stew,
A cracked blue vase turns toward the new,
The porch swing has no place to go,
It all must go.

“Auction Day” follows the Octogram form by using eight lines divided into two stanzas. The syllable pattern is 8, 4, 8, 4, 8, 8, 8, 4. The rhyme pattern is ababccbB: clock / locks, go / know / go / go, and stew / new. The final line repeats the second line, giving the poem closure and making the auction’s loss feel unavoidable.

Octogram is a fixed modern form created by S. Yocum. A stricter Octogram keeps the two-stanza structure, exact syllable count, rhyme pattern, and repeated final B line. A looser WoPoLian version may allow slant rhyme, but the eight-line shape and returning B line should remain clear.