Ready, kids? 'Cause here we go!
A cinquain (pronounced sin-cane) is a five-line, unrhymed poem. The syllable pattern goes 2-4-6-8-2. The subject matter is completely up to you, as is whether to title your work or not. It was inspired by the haiku and another Japanese poem, the tanka, which we may explore later. Here are a few examples:
The oak
in my backyard
holds twisted rope and wood
and knows the name of every child
that swings.
in my backyard
holds twisted rope and wood
and knows the name of every child
that swings.
(by Jeanne Cassler)
Grey shells
on walk, fresh spread
for summer's tourist surge,
await, as for a million years,
my tread.
on walk, fresh spread
for summer's tourist surge,
await, as for a million years,
my tread.
(by Alan Reynolds)
Poets often string several cinquains together to form the stanzas of longer poems as well.
Examples of this technique as well as the shorter form can be found here.
Here is my first-ever attempt at a cinquain:
In the Moment
Dreaming,
The future gleams,
But I can't forget now--
Babyhood is so fleeting; he's
sprouting!
See, we're learning together! I can't wait to see what you all come up with this week. Now, get writing!
15 comments:
Oh boy, I can't tell you how many of these I wrote before I did one that I was ok with sharing.
Laughter
fills the air, like
a sweet melodic tune.
Her soft giggle is music to
my ears.
Alicia: 1,000 points for persistence paying off in a big way. Great use of simile and metaphor in the same poem! Don't worry, I had to try a few times to get a good one too. In fact, the one I put on the blog I almost had an extra line by accident!! Whoops!!
Return
To be at home -
Visiting family
While joyful, carries sadness too:
Leaving.
Mimi,
I'll give you 500 points for a great encapsulation of a bittersweet reunion, 499 points for your haiku that you showed me but haven't posted yet, and 1 more point because you're my mom. :) Great job!!
my breath
comes heavy now
pounding feet letting go
of pain and worry all at once
heal, run.
Paige: 1,000 points for a terrific encapsulation of running through adversity. :)
Haiku
is easier
than trying to conceive
of a whole cinquain's-worth of lines,
un-rhymed.
(And hopefully that 4th line won't be broken up in posting....)
(Second attempt; for some reason or other, a notice came up about illegal characters in my URL.)
cicely
Cicely--no, your cinquain is intact. I agree, this form is harder than haiku. I wanted to do something longer than haiku but still not requiring a rhyme scheme. I have always found rhyming to be restrictive, but I will cover some rhyming kinds in time as well.
I award you 500 points for working a commentary on the poetic form INTO the poetic form, and 500 more for your persistence in trying to post despite the interwebs trying to eat it.
sorry you had trouble posting; hopefully that was a random Blogger error that won't happen again.
Oh dear
children awake
the sun has just risen
this is how my summer break goes
no sleep.
Ok, this is my first attempt and I know it's not very good. Although, it does tell you how my morning started. =)
Stephanie,
750 points for a terrific description of a teacher-mom's life on summer vacation, and 250 points for doing it on a sleep deficit. :)
Sun blinds
from windows and
makes odors even worse;
the city's still glorious in
summer.
(-totally unrelated-)
Can't be
any clearer
that we've all lost our way;
Jon and Kate are news while Iran
burns down.
Glad you could join us, sweetie.
a great pair of cinquains. I love the first, especially--great evocation of our fair city. 1500 points for doing two terrific pieces, but -500 for getting it in JUST before the deadline. ;-)
As for the second cinquain, I was actually pleasantly surprised last night to see that at least on CNN.com, Jon and Kate were relegated to the very bottom of the front page and they had a very large section dedicated to Iran.
On Cleaning My Room
Dust flies...
Out bunnies, out!
This is no place for you, hiding in corners I can't reach.
Ah-choo!
there was supposed to be a line break after "hiding." grr.
Stephanie:
Excellent work. Something tells me this experience happened to you recently. :) Your 3rd and 4th lines are conjoined right now but otherwise perfectly constructed. 1,000 sparkling-clean points to you. And a kleenex.
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