Poetic Form: Cinquain

Writer's Digest describes a cinquain as follows:  "the cinquain is comprised of 2 syllables in the first line, 4 in the second line, 6 in the third, 8 in the fourth, and 2 in the fifth."  

Here's the funny thing though . . . that's not what I thought it was.  But, I love learning something new so off to Wikipedia I went . . . turns out the type of cinquain we teach kids in school is a variation and is called:  

Didactic cinquain[edit]

The didactic cinquain is closely related to the Crapsey cinquain. It is an informal cinquain widely taught in elementary schools and has been featured in, and popularized by, children's media resources, including Junie B. Jones and PBS Kids. This form is also embraced by young adults and older poets for its expressive simplicity. The prescriptions of this type of cinquain refer to word count, not syllables and stresses. Ordinarily, the first line is a one-word title, the subject of the poem; the second line is a pair of adjectives describing that title; the third line is a three word phrase that gives more information about the subject; the fourth line consists of four words describing feelings related to that subject; and the fifth line is a single word synonym or other reference for the subject from line one.

Well, didactic cinquain it is.  

Walk

continuous, persistent

keep on moving

strong, focused, sore, glad

Exercise

But what if it were a classic cinquain . . . 

Walking

Moving forward

Consistently stepping

Sore but glad for the strong focused

Effort

Hmmmmm.  

All content (words or images) by Liza Lee Miller unless otherwise noted.
© 2013, Liza Lee Miller.
Poem form:  Cinquain