CM Simpson: Writer & Gamer

Just when I thought I’d discovered every variation of cinquain there was, I found another—the Cinq Cinquain. To the best of my knowledge, this form consists of five cinquain verses, making it similar to both the garland and crown forms. 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 collection to come out later this year: The Hidden Face Still caged My nightmare half Reigned in tight; no carnage today Dark soul prowling dissatisfied Restless Psycho Murderous rage Held back, steadied, tight-leashed Soothed and calmed to quietitude Lonely Baresark Old genes passed down A legend not need...

This week, we’re looking at yet another form of cinquain—I have called it a Grammar Cinquain. This form varies from the two base Crapsey forms, using different word-types instead. The first line is made of a single noun, the second line has two adjectives, the third line has three ‘-ing’ words’, the fourth line has a phrase, and the fifth line has a synonym or alternative word for the noun in the first line. 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 collection to come out later this year: Goblins Inspired by those horrible green critters of many fantasy tales, this piece is my first grammar cinquain. It w...

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...

This week, we’re looking at yet another form of cinquain—the Crown Cinquain. Again, it uses either a Crapsey Form 1 or a Crapsey Form 2 as a base, but this time it has five cinquain verses linked together to form a single large poem that is 25-lines long. 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, inspired by thoughts of a magical world: The fey Glittering bright Form gems on ancient trees Brightening the forest giants Glowing Shadows Flee from their light Flee from their laughter, The gleam of their smiles, their laughter Their swords The woods Are protected Defended by fierceness That terrifies despite its size An i...