Cinquain
Day for 2013
Good
Morning:
Today
is Cinquain Day, referring to what is also called the ‘Crapsey Cinquain’ or,
sometimes, the ‘American Cinquain’. It is
a form created by Adelaide Crapsey early in the 20th century. It is a five-line form with the syllable
count as follows: 2-4-6-8-2, for a total of 22 syllables.
It
is an attractive form. Personally, I
find it to be a greater challenge than the more well-known, and more widely
dispersed, syllabic haiku. For me, the
last line, of 2 syllables, carries a lot of weight; if that last line is not
successful, it undermines the entire poem.
But
it is also a rewarding form to write in.
And there exists now a substantial quantity of Cinquain poetry. As a form, it appears to have found its
modest place in the world of English language verse.
For
those interested in this form I would like to recommend two publications: the
anthologies produced by Amaze
magazine for the years 2006 and 2007. Amaze was a journal devoted to the
Cinquain which published from, I believe, 2002 or 2001, through 2007. It was an excellent publication and I, for
one, was disappointed to see it go into hiatus.
But I understand how publishing a poetry magazine can be very time
consuming. And the legacy left by this
magazine is fruitful.
In
2006 and 2007 the editor, Deborah Kolodji, gathered the material for those
years into these two anthologies. The
anthologies begin with the Cinquain published that year. Amaze
published four times a year and the Cinquain are gathered according to the
issue, and then within each alphabetically by author. After the Cinquain are gathered articles,
including book reviews, the history of the Cinquain, and other topics. These articles are uniformly well-written and
informative.
I
have read these two anthologies several times.
The Cinquain in the anthologies show a variety of approaches to the
form. Taken together for the aspiring
Cinquain poet they offer inspiration and a sense of how the syllabic structure
of the Cinquain is treated.
So
if you find yourself attracted to this little jewel of a form, I recommend that
you get both of these anthologies. They
are available from lulu.com
Amaze:
The Cinquain Journal
2006
Annual
ISSN:
1935-8849
Amaze:
The Cinquain Journal
2007
Annual
ISSN:
1935-8849
Available
at www.lulu.com
To
find these two volumes at lulu, put the word ‘Amaze’ in the ‘search’ function
at the top of the page. The two
anthologies will appear five or six items down when the search is done.
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