An Elfchen

 


Dreams

Virtual Reality

Charged With Emotions

Unquenched And Unfulfilled Desires

Longing

 

‘Elfchen’ - I am now obsessed with this form of poetry!!! Try out, everyone can do this…Know what an Elfchen is and go back reading my poem above to understand the pattern.

 

An "elfchen" is a German poem with a specific structure of 11 words across five lines, following a 1-2-3-4-1 word count. It is also known as an "elevenie" in English, and the name combines "elf" (eleven) and "-chen" (a German diminutive suffix meaning "little"). The structure encourages a progression of thought, with the first line introducing a topic and the last line providing a summary or transformation. 

 

Line 1: One word (the topic)

Line 2: Two words (description of what the topic does)

Line 3: Three words (a location or descriptive phrase)

Line 4: Four words (a metaphor or deeper meaning)

Line 5: One word (a new word that summarizes or transforms from the original) 

 

One more Elfchen for you to understand the pattern –

Beads

Different colours

Woven into one

Thread of unified solidarity

Integration


 

© Anjana Premkumar 2026

 

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