Five Lines In One Garland

Five lines In one garland Tied in together stand And the whole thing as if one shines, Cinquain! ______________________________________________________ Cinquain, despite its apparent French connection, is an American poem-form of recent origin. It has five lines forming a single stanza of 22 syllables. The number of syllables in each line: - 2 in the first line, and 4 in the second, - 6 in the third line, and 8 in the fourth, and - 2 again in the fifth line. The first four lines are iambs, and the fifth one a spondee (with two stressed syllables) . It builds up a climax progressively, the fifth line being some sort of conclusion with a surprise. ______________________________________________________ Cinquains | 24.11.08 |