Write a Cinquain Poem

A cinquain (pronounced sin-cane) poem consists of five lines and one topic. Its invention is often attributed to the early 20th-century American poet Adelaide Crapsey. In fact, Crapsey’s cinquain is a variation on similar Italian, English, Spanish, and Japanese poems. The American cinquain is a popular and more flexible variation on Crapsey’s cinquain.

Steps

Sample Cinquains

Doc:Cinquain,Cinquain About Sunset,Cinquain About Flower

Learning the Vocabulary

1. Be aware that there are various types of cinquain. The Crapsey cinquain’s structure is more restrictive than an American cinquain.
   • While an American cinquain requires a specific number of syllables per line, the Crapsey cinquain takes it a step further and requires a certain number of stressed syllables per line.
   • The Crapsey structure goes like this: Line 1 = 2 syllables (1 stressed); Line 2 = 4 syllables (2 stressed); Line 3 = 6 syllables (3 stressed); Line 4 = 8 syllables (4 stressed); Line 5 = 2 syllables (1 stressed).
   • The American cinquain’s structure goes like this: Line 1 = 2 syllables; Line 2 = 4 syllables; Line 3 = 6 syllables; Line 4 = 8 syllables; Line 5 = 2 syllables.
2. Know what a syllable is. Syllables are units of pronunciation having one vowel sound. Each word is made up one or more syllables.
   • The word “it” is only 1 syllable. The word “hello” is 2 syllables (hel-lo). The word “happily” is 3 syllables (hap-pi-ly).
   • If you’re unsure of how many syllables are in a word, there are online services that can help you. The website How Many Syllables is useful. You just type in your word and it breaks it into syllables for you.
3. Know what meter is. Most poetry has a rhythm to it. This is called its “meter”, and can be measured by counting the number of stressed and unstressed syllables in each line.
   • William Shakespeare famously used Use Iambic Pentameter While Writing in his plays and sonnets.
   • Iambic pentameter comprises 10 syllables, with 5 of those syllables stressed. Here is a sample line from Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 73”, with the stressed syllables capitalized: “That TIME of YEAR thou MAYST in ME beHOLD.”
   • Notice how in iambic pentameter the syllables alternate between unstressed and stressed. You do not have two stressed syllables together in iambic pentameter, although this is possible with other types of meter (for example, spondaic meter).
4. Learn how to count stressed and unstressed syllables. To count the stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry, read it out loud. As you read, clap your hands together each time a syllable feels longer than the others.
   • As an example, think of the noun “rebel” versus the verb “rebel”. In the noun, the first syllable is stressed, like this: REbel. In the verb, the second syllable is stressed, like this: reBEL.
   • As you pronounce the words you should be able to feel which are longer (stressed) and which are shorter (unstressed). If English is not your first language, you can look up the word in an online dictionary to hear the proper pronunciation.
5. Forget everything you’ve learned. You don’t have to know how to count stresses or even syllables in order to write an American cinquain poem.
   • For instance, a “Word Cinquain” only requires you to count the words in each line.
   • You only need to know about syllables if you’re writing a classic American cinquain or a Crapsey cinquain.
   • You only need to know about stresses if you’re specifically interested in writing a Crapsey cinquain.

Writing a Crapsey Cinquain

1. Decide on your poem’s theme. This could be anything you want to write about. It could be playful, funny, serious, or sad — it’s up to you.
   • In this example, the topic will be an evil cat who has fallen asleep on you and just woken up from his nap.
   • Maybe this is a metaphor for someone who feels great anxiety when they wake up each day. Perhaps the cat is a metaphor for the sunlight shining in through the curtains in the morning as you lie in bed.
2. Title your poem. Cinquain poems don’t need to be titled, but Crapsey always titled hers. If you’re writing a Crapsey Cinquain, you’ll need to title yours.
   • In this example, the title is “Lucifer Rises”.
3. Write your first line. Your first line must have 2 syllables. One of those syllables must be stressed.
   • E.g. “You see”
   • Note that “see” is the stressed syllable here.
4. Write your second line. This line must have 4 syllables. Two of those syllables must be stressed.
   • E.g. “His back arch up”
   • Note that “back” and “up” are the stressed syllables here.
5. Write your third line. This line must have 6 syllables. Three of those syllables must be stressed.
   • E.g. “His claws, they dig so deep”
   • Note that “claws”, “dig” and “deep” are the stressed syllables here.
6. Write your fourth line. This line must have 8 syllables. Four of those syllables must be stressed.
   • E.g. “You tense, he yawns, your stomach tears”
   • Note that “tense”, “yawns”, “stom” (as in STOMach), and “tears” are the stressed syllables here.
7. Write your fifth and final line. This line is like the first line. It has only 2 syllables. Of those syllables, only 1 syllable should be stressed.
   • E.g. “He grins”
   • Note that “grins” is the stressed syllable here.
8. Read your poem. Give your poem a read and make sure it meets the metric requirements of a Crapsey cinquain. Here is a breakdown of the syllables and stresses (capitalized) of each line of our sample poem:
   • Line 1: You SEE - 2 syllables, 1 stress
   • Line 2: His BACK arch UP - 4 syllables, 2 stresses
   • Line 3: His CLAWS, they DIG so DEEP - 6 syllables, 3 stresses
   • Line 4: You TENSE, he YAWNS, your STOMach TEARS - 8 syllables, 4 stresses
   • Line 5: He GRINS - 2 syllables, 1 stress
9. Enjoy your completed poem!
   • ”Lucifer Rises”
   • You see
   • His back arch up
   • His claws, they dig so deep
   • You tense, he yawns, your stomach tears
   • He grins

Writing an American Cinquain

1. Decide on what type of American cinquain you will write. American cinquains are much more flexible than Crapsey ones. Generally an American cinquain will follow a 2 / 4 / 6 / 8 / 2 syllabic count, but there are variations on this.
   • For example, the “Word Cinquain” follows this structure: Line 1 = 1 word; Line 2 = 2 words; Line 3 = 3 words; Line 4 = 4 words; Line 5 = 1 word.
   • For the purposes of this example, we’ll follow the more common style that focuses on syllables.
2. Decide on your poem’s theme. This could be anything that interests you. It can be funny, sad, serious, satirical — whatever you want.
   • In our example, we’ll compare school to a giant monster who wants to eat us.
   • A title isn’t necessary, but we’ll add one in our example. The title will be “Schoolhouse”.
3. Write your first line. Your first line must have 2 syllables. It can be one or two words.
   • Line 1 e.g., ”Gaping”
4. Write your second line. Your second line can have as many words as you want in it, but they have to add up to 4 syllables. This means you’ll have 1 to 4 words max in this line, depending on how many syllables each word contains.
   • Line 2 e.g., “Its mouth awaits”
5. Write your third line. Your third line can have as many words as you want in it, but they need to add up to 6 syllables. This could be anywhere from 1 to 6 words.
   • Curious about what words might contain 6 syllables? Capitalization and encyclopedia are two examples.
   • Line 3 e.g., “Hungry, slowly chomping”
6. Write your fourth line. Again, the amount of words isn’t as important as the amount of syllables in this line. You need to have 8 syllables in line 4. This can be anywhere from 1 to 8 words.
   • Most 8-syllable words might be difficult to fit into a poem, but it can still be fun trying. Here are a couple of examples of 8-syllable words: heteronormativity and indecipherability.
   • Line 4 e.g., “Stumble in, consumed, digesting”
7. Write your fifth line. This is your final line, and it will mirror your first line. It can be either 1 or 2 words, but it needs to be 2 syllables.
   • Line 5 e.g., “Learning”
8. Read your poem. Give your poem a read and make sure it meets criteria of whatever cinquain you’re writing, whether it be a syllable-based one or a word-based one. Here’s how our example breaks down (note the hyphens to mark syllables):
   • Line 1: Gap-ing (2 syllables)
   • Line 2: Its mouth a-waits (4 syllables)
   • Line 3: Hun-gry, slow-ly chomp-ing (6 syllables)
   • Line 4: Stum-ble in, con-sumed, di-gest-ing (8 syllables)
   • Line 5: Learn-ing (2 syllables)
9. Enjoy your completed poem!
   • “Schoolhouse”
   • Gaping
   • Its mouth awaits
   • Hungry, slowly chomping
   • Stumble in, consumed, digesting
   • Learning

Tips

• Cinquain poems have different rhythms and don't always have to rhyme, but you can add rhyming to create a more noticeable "beat" in your poem.
• The cinquain has a specific structure that gives it a diamond-like shape when the text is center-aligned. For this reason, it can be referred to as “shape poetry”.
• When writing a cinquain try to really focus on one specific metaphor and/or emotion. The idea is to produce a powerful effect with just a few words.
• Some poets suggest focusing on something concrete for your cinquain topic, rather than on an abstract idea like sadness or love. Examples of concrete ideas could be your cat, your favorite dessert, or you little brother or sister.
• Some cinquain experts recommend writing about natural occurrences, as these will provide the strongest and most interesting metaphors.
• There are a lot of different styles of cinquains, so feel free to explore and play around with the poetic form. The only rule that applies to every style of cinquain is that it must be 5 lines.
• Some people list specific rules for what each line of a cinquain should be about (for example, Line 1 should be a one-word subject; Line 2 should be 2 adjectives; Line 3 should be three -ing verbs; Line 4 should be a four-word phrase; and Line 5 should be a specific word that explains Line 1). It’s not necessary to follow these rules, but it can be fun to try them out.
• Sometimes a cinquain can even form a sentence. While playing with different types of cinquains, you might give this a try.

Sources and Citations

See also

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• Write an Emo Poem
• Write a Poem
• Write a Concrete Poem
• Write Dark Poems
• Memorize a Poem Quickly
• Scan a Poem
• Write Shape Poems
• Write a Poem for a Boyfriend

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