CPC #5: Crapsey Cinquain

My Dear Readers

Great news! I’ve been selected to participate in my first ever juried art show! And it’s happening this weekend. I scheduled this week’s challenge ahead of time to be sure it would go out as expected, but I myself will be absent for the next couple days. You do mean a lot to me though, and I promise to read all your poems as soon as the show is over. Happy writing!

Cinquain Poetry Challenge #5

The Crapsey Cinquain

You’ve been waiting for this one, haven’t you? 🙂

American poet Adelaide Crapsey invented the modern cinquain form, inspired by Japanese haiku and tanka. In her 1915 collection titled Verse, published one year after her death, Crapsey included 28 cinquains.

Crapsey’s cinquains utilized a syllable count of 2-4-6-8-2. In addition, though little emphasized by critics, each line in the majority of Crapsey cinquains has a fixed number of stressed syllables, as well, following the pattern 1-2-3-4-1. The most common metrical foot in her 28 published examples is the iamb, though this is not exclusive. Lines generally do not rhyme. In contrast to the Eastern forms upon which she based them, Crapsey always titled her cinquains, using the title as a sixth line.

Crapsey Cinquain summary:
• 5-line stanzas inspired by the haiku and tanka
• syllabic count: 2-4-6-8-2
• meter optional, but iambic is common
• rhyme optional
• titled, where the title is used as a sixth line
• may be centered or left-justified

Sample:

I thought it fitting to give you one of Adelaide Crapsey’s poems as an example, since it is her work we emulate:

“November Night”

by Adelaide Crapsey

Listen…
With faint dry sound,
Like steps of passing ghosts,
The leaves, frost-crisp’d, break from the trees
And fall.

Write Your Own

Now it’s time for you to write your own Crapsey Cinquain.

1. 1. Write your poem.
   2. Publish to your blog.
   3. Come back here and click the link to add your post to the linkup.
   4. Encourage your friends to join the party!
   5. Read other people’s posts and leave a comment.

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