Etheree checker
Shape a ten-line draft against 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 · 9 · 10. Same syllable engine as the lyriic poetry editor — private in your browser.
This draft hits 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 · 9 · 10.
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Counts use English syllables from the bundled dictionary. The standard etheree is ten lines totaling fifty-five syllables (1 through 10). Reverse and double etherees are common variants; this checker models the rising 1–10 form only.
A short history
The etheree is a twentieth-century American syllabic form named for Arkansas poet Etheree Taylor Armstrong (1918–1994). It is a ten-line poem in which each line’s syllable count equals its line number: one syllable on line one, two on line two, and so on through ten — fifty-five syllables in all.
Teaching sources treat it as unmetered and typically unrhymed: the only fixed rule is the rising syllable ladder. Reverse etherees (10 down to 1), double etherees (1–10 then 10–1), and stacked multiples appear in workshops, but the standard single stanza remains the 1-through-10 shape.
Famous poems
Canonical scarcity
Unlike haiku or the sonnet, the etheree has no fixed literary canon of widely anthologized poems. It lives mainly in workshops, online form guides, and contemporary practice pieces.
Wouldn’t Chu? — Lawrencealot
Duck / Pigeon / Meadow lark / Ring-neck pheasant / swallow, sparrow, hawk…
Often cited on poetry-form sites as a clear 1–10 teaching example (bird names expanding into flight).
Pain — Attributed (PoetrySoup / form guides)
Pain / Pain, / My friend, / You give me / Many lessons…
A frequently reprinted sample etheree in online dictionaries of the form; useful for seeing how a single opening word widens across the ladder.
How the etheree works
An etheree is ten lines with syllable counts 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 · 9 · 10 — one syllable on the first line, ten on the last, fifty-five in total. lyriic’s catalog uses that pattern with stanzaLines 10.
The form is syllabic only: no required foot, stress contour, or rhyme scheme. Reverse etherees (10 down to 1) and double etherees (1–10 then 10–1) are related workshop variants outside this checker’s rising ladder.
Use the live deltas to keep each line on its target count; imagery, theme, and end-rhyme stay entirely yours.
Notes on this form
lyriic does not enforce rhyme, meter beyond syllable length, or theme. Tradition usually leaves those free.
Common questions
- What is an etheree poem?
- An etheree is a ten-line syllabic poem: line one has one syllable, line two has two, and so on through ten syllables on line ten (fifty-five syllables total). It is usually unrhymed and unmetered beyond that count.
- Does lyriic include an etheree meter ruler?
- Yes. Open the Etheree writer, or choose Etheree under Meter in Settings, for live 1–10 syllable ticks beside each line as you write.
- Is my etheree uploaded?
- No. Syllable checks run locally in your browser. lyriic is local-first and does not require an account.