Tuesday, January 5, 2010

A Few Cinquains

I've come across several ways define a cinquain, some more strict than others, but they all have 5 lines.
1 word <- Title
2 words<- Description
3 words<- Action
4 words<- The feeling
1 word<- Recall Title
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or
1 noun
2 adjectives
3 action (-ing words)
4 word phrase
1 word describing the noun
 ---------------------------

or by the number of syllables:
2
4
6
8
2
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Here goes. . . .

Dogs
Forever faithful
Obey their masters
For love and kibble
Friends.
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Cats
So tempramental
Come and go
Now I feel used
Scat!!
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And finally- an attempt to adhere to all three formats in one poem!

Dogs                                        
Loyal, trusting                          
Panting, licking, snuggling
Provide unconditional love
Unhuman.
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Double check me on that- the perfect cinquain based on all three sets of guidelines should go like this:

[1 word, noun, title, 2 syl]
[2 adjective description of the above line, 4 syl]
[3 -ing action words, 6 syl]
[4 words conveying feeling, 8 syl]
[1 word describing the first line, 2 syl]

It wouldn't be easy to adhere to all formats at once for every cinquain you write- when stcking to both the word count and syllable guidelines you're pretty much confined to two-syllable words!

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