The Cinquain (sin-kwane)

 The cinquain (standardized by American poet Adelaide Crapsey) is a fixed length, non-ryming verse form consisting of twenty-two(22) syllables arranged in five lines, each of which has a fixed length. In addition the lines are usually iambic which means the accent starts on the second syllable then falls on every-other syllable in the line. In the example below all 'da's would be accented.

The Syllabic Pattern (iambic)
Line #syllables Pattern
1 2 ta da
2 4 ta da ta da
3 6 ta da ta da ta da
4 8 ta da ta da ta da ta da
5 2 ta da

This is one of mine:

On Love © Russ Dodson 1969
Love is
Love always was
And love shall ever be
The most important thing in life
To me

Adelaide Crapsey - from the Poets' Corner at Geocities
Adelaide Crapsey - A Brief History
Adelaide Crapsey - Discovering Adelaide

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