Poetry Forms – Part 2

A Garland Cinquain is a form poem composed of thirty lines divided into six stanzas. The syllable counts of the lines are 2, 4, 6, 8, and 2. The poet creates the last stanza from lines taken from the preceding five stanzas. In this form, the poet takes the fist line in stanza five from the first line of the first stanza. The following lines come from stanzas 2, 3, 4, and 5 in that order.

This is a challenging form because the lines in the last stanza makes the knowt and come from lines in the other five stanza. It is challenging to write the poem so that the last stanza fits and makes sense. The part about making sense is a personal preference.

For more infomation on the Garland Cinquain and other types of Cinquains see A Cinquain Glossary by John Daleidan. For examples of garland cinquains see Garland Cinquains by John Daleidan.

Please note that I will be posting two or three of my own Garland Cinquains in a few days. I am in the process of writing and rewriting these poems now.