This week, we’re looking at an eighth kind of cinquain—the Didactic Cinquain. Unlike the other forms, this one doesn’t use a syllable count as a base. Instead, it relies on a word count for each line. The first line of this cinquain is a noun—which also acts as the title, the second line consists of two adjectives describing the title, the third line consists of a three-word phrase further describing the title, the fourth line has four words describing feelings about the title, and the fifth line is a single word, usually a synonym, that references the title subject. For those of you who are new to this series, a cinquain is a five-line poem that has a set number of syllables (or word types) per line. Sometimes the title of a cinquain acts as a sixth line. Cinquains were invented by Adelaide Crapsey was an American poet who was inspired by the rules of Japanese poetry to create her own poetical form, the cinquain. Here’s an example, originally written for a poetry coll...
