Friday, March 11, 2011

POETRY FRIDAY: An Original Cinquain








The cinquain is a poem of five lines and twenty-two syllables that was developed by a woman named Adelaide Crapsey.

THE CINQUAIN
Two syllables
Four syllables
Six syllables
Eight syllables
Two syllables

Here’s a cinquain that I wrote a few years ago. I think it’s perfect for posting at this time of year.

Winter,
Weary and worn,
Wearing a muddy white
Robe, frees her icy grip, makes way
For spring.


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At Wild Rose Reader, I have an original end-of-winter poem.
The Poetry Friday Roundup is at Liz in Ink.

2 comments:

Jonathan Auxier said...

This post led to me spending a chunk of the afternoon reading Adelaide Crapsey's cinquians -- my favorite being this:

TRIAD

These be
Three silent things:
The falling snow...the hour
Before the dawn...the mouth of one
Just dead.

Now I can say I learned something new today -- thanks!

Elaine Magliaro said...

Thanks, Jonathan. I've read a number--but not all--of Crapsey's cinquains. Is there a collection of her poetry that you can recommend to me?

Children's poet Myra Cohn Livingston said the cinquain was one of her favorite poetic forms.

Here's one of Myra's cinquains from her book "Monkey Puzzle and Other Poems":

Birches: Doheny Road

We, the
white ladies, stand
before winter, disrobed,
uncovered, watching for one sign
of grace.