Cinquain, Poetic Form Exercise Options

[Alan]

Not to Daniel's liking.

Deleted.

[JustDaniel]

get it
right, friend Alan!
don't just slice up statements;
make each line say a part of it --
your whole

[Larry]

you're whole
undivided
a completed person
we are all created the same
at birth

p.s.

Hello All,

I would like to clarify what is and what is not a cinquain. It comes in many forms and styles and is known by various other names. Most, if not all of the cinquains in this thread, are a blend of the Didactic and Crapsey cinquain forms and though related to the classic form invented by Crapsey, they follow neither the original form in the number of stressed syllables / iambic feet nor the criterion of accentual verse laid down by the inventor. Therefore, since we seem to be writing using this hybrid style, there are certain rules which may be followed and can be described thusly:

first line is a two syllable title or the subject of the poem;
the second line consists of four syllables of adjectives/adverbs describing that title;
the third line is a six syllable phrase that gives more information about the subject;
the fourth line of eight syllables describes feelings related to that subject;
and the fifth line is a two syllable synonym or other reference for the subject from line one.

A true Didactic Cinquain uses words instead of syllables and stresses/metrical feet. It resembles a Lanterne more than the classic cinquain.
A true classic Crapsey Cinquain consists of 1, 2, 3, 4, and 1 stresses per line and these lines consist of 2, 4, 6, 8, 2 syllables with iambic feet being the standard.

As far as each line being written as a "stand alone" statement; in the hybridized form prevalent in this thread it may or may not be a hard and fast rule. This parameter of "stand alone" in the cinquain is only true with two other forms of cinquain; those being the Tetractys and the Lanterne (also described as an untitled quintain verse).

If we were to strictly adhere to Adelaide Crapsey's classic form, most of our posts (including my own) would be ruled as non-conforming so let's all do the best we can and have fun trying to emulate the masters of this form.

Larry

[JustDaniel]

Where did you dig up the rules for the "hybrid form", Larry.

I've seen similar rules for what some children's poetry teachers call "cinquain" -- but that has nothing to do with Ms Crapsey's concept, so far as I see. She was creating a kind of American haiku, as I understand it.

I'm not sure which rules you'd have us follow here. Could you be more clear? ... and if you want it to be official, someone will have to go back and edit the opening tile, methinks.... or start a new one and abandon this one.

Let's see what happens.

sLightly up in the air, Daniel

I'm up
hangin' on air
danglin' participles
waitin', wonderin' an' perplexed
hung down

[Larry]

Daniel,

Ms. Crapsey's cinquains may have been inspired by the haiku and tanka but have little else to do with either of these forms except for the five lines used in the tanka. From reading her works and those of other authors who strictly adhere to the American Cinquain form in style/structure/metrical patterns, etc. there are rules laid down for the purist (I don't believe any of us fit that category). Those rules include required stressed syllables and foot patterns for each specific line. Since these requirements have not been met in most of the cinquains in this thread, (I went through and read them all); I felt that we were utilizing a hybridized form and the closest thing I saw which matched this form was a combination of the simplistic "Didactic cinquain" which uses a "word" format instead of a syllabic one; and the American Cinquain which uses syllables for the 2, 4, 6, 8, 2 parameters. The rules are a compilation by me of both forms; leaving out some requirements and including others which seemed to fit what I saw was being written in this thread.

I'm not too much on rules and feel most were made to be broken or have already been shattered long ago by poets who didn't want to be tied down to the old ways of writing. The rules were merely an illustration of my observation/perusal of prior cinquains in the thread of this forum. They might be construed to be guidelines in writing this form of cinquain or just a bunch of B.S. observations. I tried to fit what was being written into certain rules, not write some rules to go by when posting cinquains in this thread.

We don't need to edit anything, go back and change anything, make anything official or start a new thread. I've seen no strict compliance with the parameters invented by Ms. Crapsey and do not wish that the "invented" rules I penned be followed any closer than hers have been followed. I am just a student of "FORM POETRY" and thought my observations of what is construed to be an "American Cinquain" thread, but is in fact a variation, might be of interest to others. If not, TOT!

Now, back to the thread.

hung down
I'm not hung up
some rules are specific
trying to learn and to locate
the ropes

[JustDaniel]

Europe
has languages
that I don't understand
but then so does our wide-open
US

[Alan]

use less
water is scarce
yet are flooded, with droughts
I wish all experts would pipe down
splish splash

Alan

Dear Larry,

Thank you, if I were to even attempt to follow ALL of the rules from all sources, I would give up poetry. For me, the main thing is the communication, and in these threads, the joy of instant creating, and sparking off others' contributions. I like nothing better than to see multiple postings from several of us on a single day.

[JustDaniel]

splish, splash
I was bathing
long about Saturday
and realized a party was
hap'nin'

[Alan]

Darin
to be so bold
go naked into world
with only a modest rocker
to wear

ALan

[JustDaniel]

towel
is all Alan
needs when he goes public
but that's over his bathing suit
of course!




_{P.S. Why in the world did you delete your piece a couple frames above, Alan. This is simply an EXERCISE thread, after all! I hope there's no offense taken. We're all here both to learn and to have fun doing it, sharing w/ each other in the process.}

[Alan]

of course
mighty towel
only just suffices
to hide very modest expanse
of coarse

Alan

[JustDaniel]

off course
flies my golf ball
so I go bounding out
into the middle of the street --
ker-splat!

[Larry]

curse plat
of the golf course
surveying the deep rough
wishing lie was in other woods
tiger

[Alan]

tiger
not burning bright
when wife caught him clubbing
invented back window driver
doe-eyed

Alan

[Larry]

dough wide
but very thin
when making a pizza
the ingredients go down well
bread sticks

[Alan]

bread sticks
to top palate
when not lubricated
eschew margarine, butter's best
unsticks

Alan

[JustDaniel]

drum sticks
hard to swallow
if they're used on a snare;
one would best drum up a doctor
post haste

[Alan]

post host
a thank you card
show appreciation
or angle for a re-invite
thank you

Alan

[JustDaniel]

thin cue
makes billiards
a pleasurable game
but an unacceptable club
in fight

[Alan]

in fight
entertainment
so what more do they want
a chorus line of gnubile girls
on tap ?

Alan