Cinquain Poetry Guide: How to Write a Cinquain Poem in 4 Steps

Broadly speaking, a cinquain is a five-line poem. It is similar to the Japanese tanka, a type of poem with five lines and 31 syllables total. However, the term “cinquain” frequently refers to the American cinquain, which became popular in the early twentieth century. In the US, five-line poems are also sometimes called “quintains.”

American poet Adelaide Crapsey (1878–1914) introduced her unique form of the cinquain in a posthumous anthology called Verse. Among other works, Crapsey's collection contained 28 cinquains that helped solidify a new form distinct from Japanese poetry and other five-line styles. It is from Crapsey's poetry that the American cinquain came into being.

A cinquain by definition has five lines, but in an American cinquain, each line has its own specific number of syllables and stresses.

• First line: The first line of an American cinquain has two syllables and one stressed syllable.
• Second line: The second line of an American cinquain has four syllables and two stresses.
• Third line: The third line of an American cinquain has six syllables and three stresses.
• Fourth line: The fourth line of an American cinquain has eight syllables and four stresses.
• Fifth line: The last line of an American cinquain has two syllables and one stress.

Adelaide Crapsey largely achieved her balance of stressed syllables and total syllables by using an iambic rhythm, a type of poetic meter where every second syllable is stressed. A cinquain does not need to rhyme, but some poets have created rhyming cinquains while also adhering to the form’s other structural requirements.

The most famous examples of cinquain poetry come from the American poet Adelaide Crapsey. Twenty-eight cinquains appeared in her posthumous 1915 anthology Verse. One notable Crapsey cinquain is her poem "Youth”:

But me
They cannot touch,
Old Age and death ... the strange
And ignominious end of old
Dead folk!

To compose your own cinquain, follow these steps.

1. 1. Choose a subject for your poem. Cinquains can take many subjects. Some deal with the intricacies of nature, following in the tradition of Japanese haiku. Others deal with emotion like Crapsey's "The Guarded Wound." The subject of the poem should be one that can be adequately addressed in just five lines.
2. 2. Brainstorm iambic word phrases. To write an American cinquain in the style of Adelaide Crapsey, use iambic meter. An iamb features an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. Think of iambic phrases that apply to the subject you've chosen.
3. 3. Follow the cinquain syllable structure. The form of an American cinquain calls for five lines with two, four, six, eight, and two syllables in each successive line. There should be one, two, three, and four stresses for the first four lines, then one stress in the last line.
4. 4. Edit your poem for flow and clarity. In short-form poetry, every word takes on magnified importance. Surgically work on each line of your poem until every word is perfectly placed.

Although popular, Crapsey's cinquain represents only one way to compose this form of poetry. Other types of cinquains include:

1. 1. Reverse cinquain: In a reverse cinquain, the syllable pattern and stress pattern are reversed. This means that while the first line has two syllables and one stress (much like a standard American cinquain), the second line will have eight syllables and four stresses.
2. 2. Didactic cinquain: This variation on the American cinquain form focuses on word count rather than the standard number of syllables. The didactic cinquain is often used to teach the cinquain form to grade-school children.
3. 3. Butterfly cinquain: The butterfly cinquain is a nine-line poem that effectively combines a quintain with a quatrain. Like an American cinquain, it comes with its own idiomatic syllable pattern.
4. 4. Mirror cinquain: This variation is a back-to-back cinquain that begins with a standard American cinquain followed by a reverse American cinquain.
5. 5. Crown cinquain: This variation features a run of five consecutive cinquains that create a five-stanza poem totaling 25 lines in all.
6. 6. Garland cinquain: This ornate cinquain variation is made from a run of six standard cinquains. The sixth and final cinquain is composed of lines from the preceding five cinquains.

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