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ContentsIntroduction
A Quintet can also be an object of beauty,such as when two lovers use it to converse as in a Tanka or
a Cinquain and combined as a series of poems it can be dramatic as Coleridges use of it in the
"Rime of the Ancient Mariner" or Philip Larkin's "Home is so sad"
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Sicilian QuintainLets look at an example of the form
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English Quintain
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QuintellaIn the Example below, the poet uses two couplets and links back to the starting rhyme in this very graphic poem:
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CinquainNow, however, when anyone refers to a Cinquain, they usually mean the version of form set out by Adelaide Crapsey. This form still consists of five lines, but now has a specific syllable count starting with a two syllable line, and followed by three lines which increase by two syllables each time and the final line reverting to a two syllable line again. The example below might explain it better. In addition, the lines are usually iambic, that is, the stresses fall on every other syllable, eg:
Many poets have written Cinquains as a sequential series of unlinked poems. As a variation to this it is possible to link them by using the last line of the first stanza as the first line of the next. The final stanza linking the last line back to the first line of the first stanza.
Taking the chain one step further the first line becomes the link between the former stanzas and swirling effect is created and the poem can go on 2, 4, 6, 8, 2, 4, 6, 8, 2, 4, 6, 8, 2, ad infinitum.
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Limerick
Though light and humorous in nature, Limericks can be more difficult to write than they at first appear to be and do require definite poetic skill. Limericks usually come in two forms: a five-line stanza, as in the above example, or a four-line form. Traditionally, the first and fifth lines ended in the same word, as in this anonymous example:
The other form is a four-line stanza, though the only real difference is typographical. The 3rd and 4th lines are combined, but the now internal rhyme is kept. Here are two examples from the undisputed master of the Limerick, Edward Lear:
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