Poetry Forms (Haiku, Tanka, Cinquain)

What sets most poetry apart from prose, is the use of patterns. These may be patterns of rhythm or stressed beats, patterns of rhymes, patterns of words or lines, or a combination of any of these.

While most of us were taught that a HAIKU consists of three lines with a 5-7-5 syllable pattern, actually a hiaku has more freedom in form. In its most basic definition, a haiku consists of three lines - the first and last lines being almost equal in length, and the second a little longer. For example:

Storms rumble
Hail comes down swiftly
The wind howls

is still a haiku, even though it has a 3-5-3 syllable pattern.
[Side note: Hiakus by different authors were often strung together to make a much larger piece of work.]

TANKA is Japanese for "short poem".
It consists of five lines using a pattern in "accented syllables" or stressed beats. The following diagram shows this pattern:

line 1 -- 2 stressed beats ---- 5 syllables
line 2 -- 3 stressed beats ---- 7 syllables
line 3 -- 2 stressed beats ---- 5 syllables
line 4 -- 3 stressed beats ---- 7 syllables
line 5 -- 3 stressed beats ---- 7 syllables

On the right is the syllable pattern using an iambic meter. The number of syllables will change depending on the meter used. Remember that it's the stressed syllables which carry the pattern.

Weary and tired
I sit before the lit screen
Eyes that are blurry
Try to focus on the words
That I typed moments ago

The CINQUAIN is a poetry form created by an American poet by the name of Adelaide Crapsey. It is one of the true syllable pattern forms:

Triad by Adelaide Crapsey

line 1 -- 2 syllables ------- These be
line 2 -- 4 syllables ------- Three silent things:
line 3 -- 6 syllables ------- The falling snow... the hour
line 4 -- 8 syllables ------- Before the dawn... the mouth of one
line 5 -- 2 syllables ------- Just dead.

For practice: write a haiku and a tanka or a cinquain.

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