Rustavelian Quatrain or Shairi

Shairi, or Rustavelian Quatrain

Shota Rustaveli wroteThe Knight in the Panther's Skin, Georgia's national epic, towards the end of the twelfth century. It tells of a young prince helping to find a friend's beloved, who has been captured by devils. Rustaveli used a particularly difficult form for it, known by the Georgian word shairi. 

The recommended rules for English-language shairi are: 4-line stanzas, with all four lines rhyming with one another. The lines are unusually long, having 15 or 16 syllables, and all the rhymes are of either two or three syllables.  

Note for purists

In Georgia, each line of a shairi has exactly 16 syllables, and they recognise two varieties of the form. In a magali (high) shairi stanza the syllables divide 4/4//4/4 (in each of the four lines), whereas in a dabali (low) shairi they divide 5/3//5/3. InThe Knight in the Panther's Skin (or Vepkhis Tqaosani, if you prefer), Rustaveli alternated magali and dabali stanzas for the entire length of the poem - no fewer than 1576 stanzas. 

© Bob Newman 2004, 2005. All rights reserved.

Pasted from <http://volecentral.co.uk/vf/rustaveli.htm> 

 Example Poem

 Redirected Feelings     (Rustavelian Quatrain)

She faced each day with deep desires- that seemed to her distressing.

Her husband's morally correct, and counts his wife a blessing 

and's careful to avoid an act that might call for confessing, 

and sadly that means he won't watch his pretty wife undressing. 

His attitude left her in doubt that her looks were appealing. 

So secretly she bought some clothes- the kind that are revealing, 

then once each week would flash to men the charms she'd been concealing. 

To watch men stare at cleavage bare, aroused in her warm feelings. 

She soon could not deny the rush- the moist and warm sensation- 

so weekly outings multiplied; then there was escalation. 

Her exhibition soon became a road to fun flirtation,

a road she knew was but a path, a path to her damnation. 

She told herself, "This path is wrong! I'll stop, what I'm inviting. 

I'll find a hobby stay at home although that's less exciting." 

She switched her gears, and it appears, more people she's delighting, 

She's famous now, and satisfied with her erotic writing.

©Lawrencealot - February 28, 2014

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Double Seven

This interesting form was created by Lisa La Grange of Allpoetry.

It is stanzaic, consisting of any number of quatrains.

Each quatrain will have its own abab rhyme pattern,

Where the a-rhymes will always be feminine.

It is isosyllabic, each line being seven syllable.

It is metric, each line having two metric feet, the first foot being four syllables, and the second foot being three syllables.

The a-rhyme lines consist of a secundus paeon + an amphibrach: da DUM da da / da DUM da

The b-rhyme lines consist of a tertius paeon + an anapest

 da da DUM da / da da DUM

So the meter of a stanza is thus:

da DUM da da da DUM da

da da DUM da, da da DUM

da DUM da da da DUM da

da da DUM da da da DUM

Example Poem

Just-Married(Double Seven)

I wonder if the bridegroom

has accepted yet the fact

that access to the bathroom

will be science, inexact.

I she wants to go shopping

and he's planned a poker game,

I think that he'll be copping

friends a plea they'll know is lame.

But he may find his laundry

looks much better than before

and find there is no quandary

for it's him she does adore.

© Lawrencealot - February 24, 2014

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Where the red letters indicate lines with feminine rhyme.

Trochetta

The Trochetta, created by Lisa La Grange of Allpoetry.

Stanzaic,              three or more quatrains

Syllabic,               8/5/8/5

Rhyme pattern:  abab (a-rhymes are feminine)

Meter:                  trochaic

My Example poem

Puppy Dreams     (Trochetta)

Dogs do dream I have a notion-

dreams of pleasant things.

Mine can't dream about the ocean

nor the pomp of kings.

Ocean's spray he's not discovered,

royalty's abstract!

Grizzy burrows under covers

firm against my back.

Twitches might mean he is running

after his green ball;

Maybe he's supine and sunning

waiting for my call.

© Lawrencealot - February 22, 2014

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Oddquain Butterfly

Oddquain

Oddquain is a short, usually unrhymed poem consisting of seventeen syllables distributed 1, 3, 5, 7, 1 in five lines, developed by Glenda L. Hand.

Oddquain variations:

oddquain sequences - poems made up of oddquain stanzas

crown oddquains - a five stanza oddquain sequence

reverse oddquains - a oddquain with a reverse syllable pattern of 1-7-5-3-1

mirror oddquains - a two stanza oddquain sequence of the pattern 1-3-5-7-1 1-7-5-3-1

oddquain butterflies - a “merged mirror oddquain” where the two stanzas of a mirror oddquain are merged together, one of the middle 1 syllable lines is dropped, resulting in one nine line stanza of the form 1-3-5-7-1-7-5-3-1. Please note that a oddquain butterfly is not a “oddquain” because it doesn’t have five lines, but it is “butterfly” made up of two oddquains that were merged together into one poem.

Pasted from <http://www.shadowpoetry.com/resources/wip/oddquain.html>

Thanks to Shadow Poetry for the above.

I have selected only the Mirror Oddquain here, to represent the oddquain series, simply to introduce a cousin into the Cinquain family tree.

Related forms: Baxter's Hexastitch, Butterfly Cinquain, Cinquino, Crapsey Cinquain, CinqCinquain, Cinquain Chain, Cinquain Swirl,  Didactic Cinquain, Mirror Cinquain, Oddquain Butterfly, Standard Cinquain 

My example poem.

This is Odd

'Tis

odd because

the numbers are not

even, though that's not even

strange.

Even even numbers can

at times strike me odd

I swear to

God.

© Lawrencealot - February 21, 2014

Butterfly Cinquain

The Butterfly Cinquain isn't a cinquain at all:it is a nonostich (9 lines)and uses the syllable count of the Crapsey Cinquain and then reverses it, therefore the misnomer.

The Butterfly Cinquain is:

○ 9 line poem.

○ syllabic, 2-4-6-8-2-8-6-4-2 syllables per line. 

unrhymed.

  Pasted fromhttp://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?showtopic=1001

Thanks to Judi Van Gorder for the above.

Related forms: Baxter's Hexastitch, Butterfly Cinquain, Cinquino, Crapsey Cinquain, CinqCinquain, Cinquain Chain, Cinquain Swirl,  Didactic Cinquain, Mirror Cinquain, Oddquain Butterfly, Standard Cinquain 

My Sample poem

Plastic Trees     (Butterfly Cinquain)

Don't like

fake plastic trees.

When one sets out to trick

the senses of someone they like

they ought

to learn to fake sincerity;

The real thing is the best

the plastic should

be real.

© Lawrencealot -  November 16, 2014

Mirror Cinquain

• The Mirror Cinquain is:
• decastich (10 line poem)
• syllabic, 2-4-6-8-2  2-8-6-4-2 syllables per line.
• unrhymed.
• titled.

Pasted from http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?showtopic=621#cinq

This is a mixture of the standard Cinquain and a Reverse Cinquain. Basically a standard followed by a reversed.

Pasted from <http://bensonofjohn.co.uk/poetry/formssearch.php?searchbox=Mirror%20Cinquain>

So, using the usual syllable counting convention, a mirror cinquain = 2,4,6,8,2 blank line 2,8,6,4,2 syllables. This pattern repeats for longer mirror sequences.
Related forms: Baxter's Hexastitch, Butterfly Cinquain, Cinquino, Crapsey Cinquain, CinqCinquain, Cinquain Chain, Cinquain Swirl,  Didactic Cinquain, Mirror Cinquain, Oddquain Butterfly, Standard Cinquain 

Example Poem

Soulful Husbandry    (Mirror Cinquain)

Two wolves

lives in each of

us to make us what we

are, though we train them how to serve

our goals.

They both

compete to make us what we are.

So train them well and choose

the wolf that you

will feed.

© Lawrencealot - February 20, 2014

Cinquain Chain

• Cinquain Chain or Corona of Cinquains is stanzaic invented verse made up of a series of Crapsey Cinquains linked in a chain or corona by the last line of each cinquain repeated as the first line of the next cinquain.

Pasted from http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?showtopic=621#cinq

My thanks to Judi Van Gorder for the above.

Related forms: Baxter's Hexastitch, Butterfly Cinquain, Cinquino, Crapsey Cinquain, CinqCinquain, Cinquain Chain, Cinquain Swirl,  Didactic Cinquain, Mirror Cinquain, Oddquain Butterfly, Standard Cinquain 

My Example poem

You Can Call Me, Darling    (Cinquain Chain)

Once we've

come to know each

other and shared a meal

or drink, a wink, or even more

a kiss,

a kiss

even on the cheek,

or put each other down

in fun with social repartee

well then ...

well then

you might call me

darling and I'd not flinch.

It's a sweet affectation, beats

Hey you!

Hey you

works, and implies

perhaps you know me not

yet by name and darling implies

much more.

Much more-

yet everyone

is your darling, even those I know

are rude and lacking very much

to like.

To like

me and call me

darling has it's merits.

Do you want to call me darling?

Call me.

© Lawrencealot - February 20 2014

Cinquain Swirl

• Cinquain Swirl is an invented verse form based on 2 or more Crapsey Cinquains syllable count written without breaks using L5 of each cinquain as L1 of the next cinquain. When centered on the page the lines form a swirling effect.
• Writing.com Syllable count is 2-4-6-8-2-4-6-8-2-4-6-8-2 etc. It can be written in any number of lines that complete the 2-4-6-8-2 cycle.
• At Poet's Garrett L1 of the first cinquain is repeated as the 2 syllable line similar to a refrain throughout the poem. 2-4-6-8-2-4-6-8-2 It can be written in any number of lines that complete the 2-4-6-8-2-4-6-8-2 cycle.

Pasted from <http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?showtopic=621#cinq>

   

In Cinquain Swirl and Cinquain Chain Poems are American style poems with French names.

In a Cinquain Swirl, Cinquain poems with a 2-4-6-8-2 syllable beat are melted together to form a longer poem, and the 2 syllable beat is repeated as the refrain, 2R-4-6-8-2R-4-6-8-2R-4-6-8-2R.

In a Cinquain Chain, Cinquain poems are linked together to form a longer poem, and the 2 syllable beat is repeated as the refrain in all the 2 beats lines, 2R-4-6-8-2R-2R-4-6-8-2R-2R-4-6-8-2R, or as the first and last line of the poem with the 2 beat lines between Cinquain repeated, 2R1-4-6-8-2R2-2R2-4-6-8-2R3-2R3-4-6-8-2R1.

Both, Cinquain Swirls and Cinquain Chains may or may not have rhyme. They must be at least 2 Cinquain long, but they have no limit to the number of Cinquain used. The examples below are of 3 Cinquain in length.

Examples: by Frank G. Poe, Jr.

My Blog Swirl                                                My Blog Chain

Follow,                                                            Follow,

You’re hypnotized.                                         You’re hypnotized.

You will follow my blog.                               You will follow my blog.

Click on follow; you will follow.                  Click on follow; you will follow.

Follow,                                                            You must,

You must tell friends.                                    You must,

You cannot imagine                                       You must tell friends.

Life without following my blog.                    You cannot imagine  

Follow                                                             Life without following my blog.

You need my blog.                                         You need,

Soon, you will awaken.                                  You need,

You will not remember this poem.                You need my blog.

Follow…                                                         Soon, you will awaken.

.                                                                       You will not remember this poem.

.                                                                       Follow…

Pasted from <http://frankandpoe.blogspot.com/2010/12/cinquain-swirl-and-cinquain-chain-poems.html>

Well ...After much exploration to try to iron out the differences above, I found many cinquain swirls written without any refrain at all.  So my specifications shall state that the Cinquain Swirl is an aggregation of Crapsey Cinquains strung together omitting the two syllable Line 5, except for the poems ending line.

Save the refrain for the Cinquain Chain.   (If you like.)

2, 4, 6, 8, 2, 4, 6, 8, 2, 4, 6, 8, 2

Related forms: Baxter's Hexastitch, Butterfly Cinquain, Cinquino, Crapsey Cinquain, CinqCinquain, Cinquain Chain, Cinquain Swirl,  Didactic Cinquain, Mirror Cinquain, Oddquain Butterfly, Standard Cinquain 

My Example

Choose Happy

Finding

not a single

reason joy needs to wait,

I'll use this and every season

Piling

 up high my plate.

Stack it up with cheer then

Grinning; spread it- spread it all around. 

Therein

 lies our path to

winning,  giving gloom no

ground. Steer your bark with fear

behind you putting hope now in

control.

(c) Lawrencealot - February 20, 2014

Cinquino

• Cinquino is seems to me is a gimmicky invented verse form that reverses the syllable count of the Crapsey Cinquain. It was found in a book on poetry for teachers and was created by a 20th century American educator James Neille Northe.
  
  The Cinquino is:
• a poem in 5 lines.
• syllabic, 2-8-6-4-2 syllables per line.
• unrhymed
  
  I Am
  
  alone
  time flies on flitting fairy wings
  up down and all around
  I am here now
  alive
  ~~ jvg

Pasted from <http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?showtopic=621#cinq> 

Thanks to Judi Van Gorder for the above.

Related forms: Baxter's Hexastitch, Butterfly Cinquain, Cinquino, Crapsey Cinquain, CinqCinquain, Cinquain Chain, Cinquain Swirl,  Didactic Cinquain, Mirror Cinquain, Oddquain Butterfly, Standard Cinquain 

My example

So Multiprocess      (Cinquino)

time flies

unless you're waiting for the pot

to boil, you all know that

it's relative

in fact

© Lawrencealot - 2/19/2014

EPJohnson Quintet

This is a form I simply documented, attributing it to

Emily Pauline Johnson, because in the four hundred twenty plus

forms I have documented, I've never come across a quintet with

This rhyme pattern.  I used the first stanza of her poem "The Lost Lagoon" as the template for the metric schema.

The form is stanzaic, consisting of two or more quintets.

It is of Canadian origin.

The rhyme scheme is A1bbbA2 A1cccA2...etc.

 (Indicating that the ending words of L1 and L5 are repeated in each stanza.)

It is syllabic, 8/9/9/9/8

The short lines are anapest, anapest, iamb

da da DUM da da DUM da DUM

With the  middle three lines being iamb,iamb,anapest,iamb

da DUM da DUM da da DUM da DUM

My example poem:

Surviving    

When a brother is left behind

it's seldom thought that his time was due.

No battle raged, and the sky was blue,

the day that Tim told us he was through.

"I've no more strength that I can find."

We would not leave our friend behind.

he talked about his sweet wife, his mom,

his father's farm, his young brother Tom

his faith in God, which so helped becalm

him all things good that he could find.

When we found those we'd left behind

to greet with loving so very warm

and praises we had escaped from harm--

we traveled next to Tim's father's farm

for in our hearts still Tim we find.

© Lawrencealot - February 19, 2014

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Trochee LaGrange

This is a form created by Lisa La Grange of Allpoetry
It is stanzaic, consisting of two or more quatrains
It is syllabic, 8/5/8/5
It is metric, all lines beginning with a trochee and an anpest,
And followed on the long lines with an amphibrach, giving this pattern:
DUM da da da DUM da  DUM da
DUM da da da DUM
DUM da da da DUM da DUM da
DUM da da da DUM
The rhyme scheme is abab, where the a-rhymes are feminine.

My Sample Poem

Let 'Em Grump     (Trochee LaGrange)

Finding not a single reason

happiness need wait,

I'll use this and every season

piling up my plate.

Stack it up with cheer and grinning,

spread it all around.

There lies our short-cut to winning-

let gloom have no ground.

Steer your bark with fear behind ye-

hope now in control.

Gloominess should never find ye

Let it disappear.

Grumpiness is stultifying

'ceptting for to view.

Sometimes it is satis fying

watching others spew.

Standing clear of doom forecasting

every chance you find

fosters a calm health that's lasting,

favoring your mind.

© Lawrencealot - February 17, 2014

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Cinq-Cinquain

Cinq-Cinquain

Type:	Structure, Metrical Requirement, Stanzaic
Description:	A poem of five cinquains.
Schematic:	xx xxxx xxxxxx xxxxxxxx xx And repeat four more times.
Rhythm/Stanza Length:	5
Line/Poem Length:	25
Status:	Incomplete
See Also:	Cinquain

Pasted from <http://www.poetrybase.info/forms/000/44.shtml>

My thanks to Charles L. Weatherford for the above.

Related forms: Baxter's Hexastitch, Butterfly Cinquain, Cinquino, Crapsey Cinquain, CinqCinquain, Cinquain Chain, Cinquain Swirl,  Didactic Cinquain, Mirror Cinquain, Oddquain Butterfly, Standard Cinquain 

My example poem

Within the Bounds?      (Cinq-Cinquain)

Thinking

of repeating

some rhymes in every verse

I know I can but should I now

Pray tell?

Sinking

self-defeating

doubts here would make it worse,

I'll proceed- rhyming anyhow.

Oh hell.

Drinking

while I'm beating

time, now seems so perverse,

although the rules don't disallow

Oh well.

Shrinking

from a fleeting

desire to intersperse

some lyricism here and now

to quell

stinking

doubts competing

that I'm cheating where terse

is sought and I use rhyme somehow

as well.

© Lawrencealot - February 16, 2014

    

I think this poems proves you ought not so something

Just because you can.

Didactic cinquain

A Didactic cinquain is sometimes used by school teachers to teach grammar, is as follows:

Line 1: Noun

Line 2: Description of Noun

Line 3: Action

Line 4: Feeling or Effect

Line 5: Synonym of the initial noun 

An alternate version of the cinquain poem, often called a “word cinquain” is

based on words, instead of syllables. “Word cinquains” have the following

pattern:

Line 1 1 word

Line 2 2 words

Line 3 3 words

Line 4 4 words

Line 5 1 word

Line 1 — a noun (a word that refers to a thing, such as apple or book or elephant).

Line 2 — two adjectives, or describing words, that tell the reader about that thing.

Line 3 — three words ending in -ing that are related to the thing, maybe saying what it does.

Line 4 — a four-word phrase (group of words) about the thing, or about the way it makes you feel.

Line 5 — another noun that is a synonym of (means the same as) the noun in line 1, or else is a different way of looking at that thing.

Pasted from <http://cinquain.net/>

Related forms: Baxter's Hexastitch, Butterfly Cinquain, Cinquino, Crapsey Cinquain, CinqCinquain, Cinquain Chain, Cinquain Swirl,  Didactic Cinquain, Mirror Cinquain, Oddquain Butterfly, Standard Cinquain 

My Example

Butch      (Didactic Cinquain)

Bulldog

solid, sturdy

snorting, panting, watching

always ready to be faithful

canine

© Lawrencealot - February 16, 2014