Cinquain

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Cinquain /ˈsɪŋkeɪn/ is a class of poetic forms that employ a 5-line pattern. Earlier used
to describe any five-line form, it now refers to one of several forms that are defined by
specific rules and guidelines.

Contents

 1American Cinquain
 2Cinquain variations
 3Didactic cinquain
 4Other cinquains
 5See also
 6References
 7External links

American Cinquain[edit]
The modern form, known as American Cinquain [1][2] inspired by
Japanese haiku and tanka,[3][4] is akin in spirit to that of the Imagists.[5] In her 1915
collection titled Verse, published one year after her death, Adelaide Crapsey included
28 cinquains.[6] Crapsey's American Cinquain form developed in two stages. The first,
fundamental form is a stanza of five lines of accentual verse, in which the lines
comprise, in order, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 1 stresses. Then Crapsey decided to make the
criterion a stanza of five lines of accentual-syllabic verse, in which the lines comprise, in
order, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 1 stresses and 2, 4, 6, 8, and 2 syllables. Iambic feet were meant
to be the standard for the cinquain, which made the dual criteria match perfectly. Some
resource materials define classic cinquains as solely iambic, but that is not necessarily
so.[7] In contrast to the Eastern forms upon which she based them, Crapsey always titled
her cinquains, effectively utilizing the title as a sixth line. Crapsey's cinquain depends on
strict structure and intense physical imagery to communicate a mood or feeling. [8]
The form is illustrated by Crapsey's "November Night": [9]
Listen...
With faint dry sound,
Like steps of passing ghosts,
The leaves, frost-crisp'd, break from the trees
And fall.
The Scottish poet William Soutar also wrote over one hundred American Cinquains (he
labelled them "Epigrams") between 1933 and 1940. [10]

Cinquain variations[edit]
The Crapsey cinquain has subsequently seen a number of variations by modern poets,
including:

Variation Description

Reverse
a form with one 5-line stanza in a syllabic pattern of two, eight, six, four, two.
cinquain

Mirror
a form with two 5-line stanzas consisting of a cinquain followed by a reverse cinquain.
cinquain

Butterfly
a nine-line syllabic form with the pattern two, four, six, eight, two, eight, six, four, two.
cinquain

Crown
a sequence of five cinquain stanzas functioning to construct one larger poem.
cinquain

Garland a series of six cinquains in which the last is formed of lines from the preceding five,
cinquain typically line one from stanza one, line two from stanza two, and so on.

Didactic cinquain[edit]
The didactic cinquain is closely related to the Crapsey cinquain. It is an informal
cinquain widely taught in elementary schools and has been featured in, and popularized
by, children's media resources, including Junie B. Jones and PBS Kids. This form is
also embraced by young adults and older poets for its expressive simplicity. The
prescriptions of this type of cinquain refer to word count, not syllables and stresses.
Ordinarily, the first line is a one-word title, the subject of the poem; the second line is a
pair of adjectives describing that title; the third line is a three-word phrase that gives
more information about the subject (often a list of three gerunds); the fourth line consists
of four words describing feelings related to that subject; and the fifth line is a single word
synonym or other reference for the subject from line one.

For example:
Snow
Silent, white
Dancing, falling, drifting
Covering everything it touches
Blanket
Other cinquains[edit]
Form Description

is a five-line form of unrhymed Japanese poetry, totalling 31 moras structured in a 5-7-5-7-7

Tanka
pattern.

is a five-line poem of 20 syllables with a title, arranged in the following order: 1, 2, 3, 4, 10, with
Tetracty
each line standing as a phrase on its own. It can be inverted, doubled, etc. and was created by
s
English poet Ray Stebbings.

is an untitled five line quintain verse with a syllabic pattern of 1, 2, 3, 4, 1. Each line is usually

Lanterne
able to stand on its own.

See also[edit]
 Quintain (poetry)
 Gogyōshi
 Poetry

References[edit]
1. ^ Garison, Denis, An Introduction to the American Cinquain, Amaze: The Cinquain Journal
Vol 1 No 1 Summer 2002 Archived 2012-03-18 at the Wayback Machine
2. ^ Alakalay-Gut, Karen (May 1985). "Death, Order, and Poetry". American Literature. 57 (2):
263–289. JSTOR 2926066.
3. ^ Drury, John (2006). The poetry dictionary. Writer's Digest Books. p.  61. ISBN 1-58297-329-
6.
4. ^ Toleos, Aaron. Cinquains explained Retrieved 2010-06-11.
5. ^ Stillman, Frances, The Poet's Manual and Rhyming Dictionary, Thames & Hudson,
London ISBN 0-500-27030-9
6. ^ Toleos, Aaron. Verse and its legacy Retrieved 2010-06-11.
7. ^ Garison, Denis, An Introduction to the American Cinquain, Amaze: The Cinquain Journal
Vol 1, No 1, Summer 2002 Archived 2012-03-18 at the Wayback Machine
8. ^ Fever Show, article by Erin Post, Lake Champlain Weekly, October 16, 2002
9. ^ Crapsey, Adelaide (1922). Verse, p.31. Quoted in 28 cinquains from Adelaide
Crapsey's  Verse, at Cinquain.org. Retrieved 2010-06-09.
10. ^ Flowers of Life, A Selection of Cinquains by William Soutar, Ed. Brian Strand, QQ Press,
Rothesay ISBN 1-903203-47-3