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A gem. I've been waiting for somebody to do some oriental stuff in here. I loved every word. Thanks so much for sharing this unique piece!



- Smikes

For John:

In poetry, a cinquain or quintain is a five line stanza, varied in rhyme and line, usually with the rhyme scheme ababb. An example of cinquain is the following stanza from Robert Browning's poem "Porphyria's Lover":

Murmuring how she loved me -- she
Too weak, for all her heart's endeavour,
To set its struggling passion free
From pride, and vainer ties dissever,
And give herself to me for ever.
Cinquain also has a more specialized meaning.

Under the influence of Japanese poetry, the American poet Adelaide Crapsey developed a poetic form she also called a "cinquain". Hers is a short, unrhymed poem of twenty-two syllables, five lines of 2, 4, 6, 8, 2 syllables respectively.

As far as I'm concerned, however, the influence of Oriental poetry in this form is hard to argue, despite the presence of rhyme. The tight structure and briefness of the form scream of Eastern influence. Just an opinion, of course; there are plenty of links out there to back me up, I'm sure, but who knows for sure?

In any event, Sandy May's poem is obviously of this second type.

Take care, my friend.

- Smikes