The Introductory Precursor is a solemn poetic form intended to amuse the audience concerning family, originating in The Cooperation of Umbras. The form guides poets during improvised performances. The poem is five tercets. Forms of parallelism are common throughout the poem, in that certain lines often share an underlying meaning, they are required to maintain phrasing and they have similar grammatical structures. Every line of the poem has a medial caesura.