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American Cinquains The American cinquain is an unrhymed, five-line poetic form defined by the number of syllables in each line—the first line has two syllables, the second has four, the third six, the fourth eight, and the fifth two (2-4-6-8-2). They are typically written using iambs.

American Cinquain Example: Snow by Adelaide Crapsey Because Adelaide Crapsey created the cinquain as a poetic form, the best example of a cinquain is a poem that she wrote titled “Snow.” The snow!”

a short poem consisting of five, usually unrhymed lines containing, respectively, two, four, six, eight, and two syllables. any stanza of five lines.

A bio poem is a simple poem written about a person, and it follows a predictable pattern. Bio poems generally don’t rhyme, and they can be autobiographical or biographical.

The poem is about/deals with a person/character within the first rhyme. In most cases, the first line names a person, and the second line ends with something that rhymes with the name of the person. One of the most remembered Clerihew from Bentley’s collection is: Sir Humphrey Davy Abominated gravy.

A traditional Japanese haiku is a three-line poem with seventeen syllables, written in a 5/7/5 syllable count. Often focusing on images from nature, haiku emphasizes simplicity, intensity, and directness of expression.

These rules apply to writing haiku:

• There are no more than 17 syllables.
• Haiku is composed of only 3 lines.
• Typically, every first line of Haiku has 5 syllables, the second line has 7 syllables, and the third has 5 syllables.

The most basic definition of haiku is a three line poem where the 1st and 3rd lines are 5 syllables and the 2nd line is 7 syllables. Traditionally, haiku are about nature and usually use seasonal or weather words.

Traditional Haiku Structure

1. There are only three lines, totaling 17 syllables.
2. The first line is 5 syllables.
3. The second line is 7 syllables.
4. The third line is 5 syllables like the first.
5. Punctuation and capitalization are up to the poet, and need not follow the rigid rules used in structuring sentences.