Poetic form
What is a Cinquain?
Definition
A cinquain is a five-line poem — either the classroom pattern of noun, adjectives, verbs, phrase, and synonym, or Adelaide Crapsey's counted form of 2-4-6-8-2 syllables.
Two different poems share this name. The didactic cinquain — the one taught in schools — builds five lines from a recipe: a noun, two adjectives, three -ing verbs, a four-word phrase, and a closing synonym. It's a brilliant teaching tool because it forces a young writer to circle one subject from five angles.
The literary cinquain belongs to Adelaide Crapsey, an American poet who, around 1911, distilled her study of haiku and tanka into a form of five unrhymed lines counting 2, 4, 6, 8, then 2 syllables. The shape is a small wave: it swells line by line toward the eight-syllable crest, then breaks on a two-syllable drop. Crapsey wrote her best ones while dying of tuberculosis, and the form still carries that quality — a breath drawn in slowly and let go fast.
Structure of a cinquain
- School cinquain: noun / two adjectives / three -ing verbs / four-word phrase / synonym
- Crapsey cinquain: five lines of 2, 4, 6, 8, then 2 syllables (22 in all)
- Both build toward line 4, then close with a snap
- Unrhymed in either form
How to write a cinquain
- Pick your subject and write the last line first — know where the snap lands.
- For the school form, choose adjectives and verbs that add news, not echoes of the noun.
- For the Crapsey form, let line 4 carry the emotional swell before the two-syllable drop.
- Read the finished poem as one sentence of attention, not five separate facts.
2 cinquain examples
Classic and original cinquain poems, free to read in full.
Common questions
How many syllables are in a cinquain?
In Adelaide Crapsey's form, 22 — arranged 2, 4, 6, 8, 2 across five lines. The classroom cinquain counts words instead of syllables, so its totals vary.
What is the pattern of a cinquain?
School version: a noun, two adjectives, three -ing verbs, a four-word phrase, and a synonym. Crapsey version: five unrhymed lines of 2-4-6-8-2 syllables.
Who invented the cinquain?
The counted form was created by American poet Adelaide Crapsey around 1911, inspired by Japanese haiku and tanka. The word-pattern classroom version came later as a teaching exercise.