How to Write a Cinquain Poem

Cinquain Vocabulary

Know the various types of cinquain. The Crapsey cinquain structure is more restrictive than an American cinquain. While an American cinquain requires a specific number of syllables per line, the Crapsey cinquain takes it a step further and requires a certain number of stressed syllables per line. The Crapsey structure goes like this: Line 1 = 2 syllables (1 stressed); Line 2 = 4 syllables (2 stressed); Line 3 = 6 syllables (3 stressed); Line 4 = 8 syllables (4 stressed); Line 5 = 2 syllables (1 stressed). The American cinquain structure goes like this: Line 1 = 2 syllables; Line 2 = 4 syllables; Line 3 = 6 syllables; Line 4 = 8 syllables; Line 5 = 2 syllables.

Know what a syllable is. Syllables are units of pronunciation having one vowel sound. Each word is made up one or more syllables. The word “it” is only 1 syllable. The word “hello” is 2 syllables (hel-lo). The word “happily” is 3 syllables (hap-pi-ly). If you’re unsure of how many syllables are in a word, there are online services that can help you. The website How Many Syllables is useful. You just type in your word and it breaks it into syllables for you. Be aware that you only need to worry about syllables if you’re writing a classic American cinquain or a Crapsey cinquain. For instance, a “Word Cinquain” only requires you to count the words in each line, no matter how many syllables are in each word.

Scan the poem to check for meter. Most poetry has a rhythm to it. This is called its “meter” and can be measured by counting the number of stressed and unstressed syllables in each line. Keep in mind that you only need to pay attention to the meter if you’re specifically interested in writing a Crapsey cinquain. William Shakespeare famously used iambic pentameter in his plays and sonnets. Iambic pentameter comprises 10 syllables, with 5 of those syllables stressed. Here is a sample line from Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 73”, with the stressed syllables capitalized: “That TIME of YEAR thou MAYST in ME beHOLD.” Notice how in iambic pentameter the syllables alternate between unstressed and stressed. You do not have two stressed syllables together in iambic pentameter, although this is possible with other types of meter (for example, spondaic meter).

Learn how to count stressed and unstressed syllables. To count the stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry, read it out loud. As you read, clap your hands together each time a syllable feels longer than the others. As an example, think of the noun “rebel” versus the verb “rebel”. In the noun, the first syllable is stressed, like this: REbel. In the verb, the second syllable is stressed, like this: reBEL. As you pronounce the words you should be able to feel which are longer (stressed) and which are shorter (unstressed). If English is not your first language, you can look up the word in an online dictionary to hear the proper pronunciation.

Crapsey Cinquain Guide

Decide on your poem’s theme. This could be anything you want to write about. It could be playful, funny, serious, or sad — it’s up to you. However, remember that an effective poem tells a story, so think about what type of story you want to tell. In this example, the topic will be an evil cat who has fallen asleep on you and just woken up from his nap. Maybe this is a metaphor for someone who feels great anxiety when they wake up each day. Perhaps the cat is a metaphor for the sunlight shining in through the curtains in the morning as you lie in bed.

Title your poem. Cinquain poems don’t need to be titled, but Crapsey always titled hers. If you’re writing a Crapsey Cinquain, you’ll need to title yours. In this example, the title is “Lucifer Rises”.

Write your first line. Your first line must have 2 syllables. One of those syllables must be stressed. E.g. “You see” Note that “see” is the stressed syllable here.

Write your second line. This line must have 4 syllables. Two of those syllables must be stressed. E.g. “His back arch up” Note that “back” and “up” are the stressed syllables here.

Write your third line. This line must have 6 syllables. Three of those syllables must be stressed. E.g. “His claws, they dig so deep” Note that “claws”, “dig” and “deep” are the stressed syllables here.

Write your fourth line. This line must have 8 syllables. Four of those syllables must be stressed. E.g. “You tense, he yawns, your stomach tears” Note that “tense”, “yawns”, “stom” (as in STOMach), and “tears” are the stressed syllables here.

Write your fifth and final line. This line is like the first line. It has only 2 syllables. Of those syllables, only 1 syllable should be stressed. E.g. “He grins” Note that “grins” is the stressed syllable here.

Read your poem. Give your poem a read and make sure it meets the metric requirements of a Crapsey cinquain. Here is a breakdown of the syllables and stresses (capitalized) of each line of our sample poem: Line 1: You SEE - 2 syllables, 1 stress Line 2: His BACK arch UP - 4 syllables, 2 stresses Line 3: His CLAWS, they DIG so DEEP - 6 syllables, 3 stresses Line 4: You TENSE, he YAWNS, your STOMach TEARS - 8 syllables, 4 stresses Line 5: He GRINS - 2 syllables, 1 stress

Enjoy your completed poem! ”Lucifer Rises” You see His back arch up His claws, they dig so deep You tense, he yawns, your stomach tears He grins

American Cinquain Guide

Decide on what type of American cinquain you will write. American cinquains are much more flexible than Crapsey ones. Generally, an American cinquain will follow a 2 / 4 / 6 / 8 / 2 syllable count, but there are variations on this. For example, the “Word Cinquain” follows this structure: Line 1 = 1 word; Line 2 = 2 words; Line 3 = 3 words; Line 4 = 4 words; Line 5 = 1 word. For the purposes of this example, we’ll follow the more common style that focuses on syllables.

Decide on your poem’s theme. This could be anything that interests you. It can be funny, sad, serious, satirical — whatever you want. In our example, we’ll compare school to a giant monster who wants to eat us. A title isn’t necessary, but we’ll add one in our example. The title will be “Schoolhouse”.

Write your first line. Your first line must have 2 syllables. It can be one or two words. Line 1 e.g., ”Gaping”

Write your second line. Your second line can have as many words as you want in it, but they have to add up to 4 syllables. This means you’ll have 1 to 4 words max in this line, depending on how many syllables each word contains. Line 2 e.g., “Its mouth awaits”

Write your third line. Your third line can have as many words as you want in it, but they need to add up to 6 syllables. This could be anywhere from 1 to 6 words. Curious about what words might contain 6 syllables? Capitalization and encyclopedia are two examples. Line 3 e.g., “Hungry, slowly chomping”

Write your fourth line. Again, the amount of words isn’t as important as the amount of syllables in this line. You need to have 8 syllables in line 4. This can be anywhere from 1 to 8 words. Most 8-syllable words might be difficult to fit into a poem, but it can still be fun trying. Here are a couple of examples of 8-syllable words: heteronormativity and indecipherability. Line 4 e.g., “Stumble in, consumed, digesting”

Write your fifth line. This is your final line, and it will mirror your first line. It can be either 1 or 2 words, but it needs to be 2 syllables. Line 5 e.g., “Learning”

Read your poem. Give your poem a read and make sure it meets criteria of whatever cinquain you’re writing, whether it be a syllable-based one or a word-based one. Here’s how our example breaks down (note the hyphens to mark syllables): Line 1: Gap-ing (2 syllables) Line 2: Its mouth a-waits (4 syllables) Line 3: Hun-gry, slow-ly chomp-ing (6 syllables) Line 4: Stum-ble in, con-sumed, di-gest-ing (8 syllables) Line 5: Learn-ing (2 syllables)

Enjoy your completed poem! “Schoolhouse” Gaping Its mouth awaits Hungry, slowly chomping Stumble in, consumed, digesting Learning