Editing Cinquain (section)

==American cinquain==
The modern form, known as American cinquain<ref name="Garison"/><ref>{{cite journal|jstor=2926066|journal=American Literature|volume=57|number=2|date=May 1985|title=Death, Order, and Poetry|first=Karen|last=Alakalay-Gut|pages=263–289|doi=10.2307/2926066}}</ref> is inspired by Japanese [[haiku]] and [[tanka]]<ref>{{cite book|title=The poetry dictionary|first=John|last=Drury|publisher=Writer's Digest Books|year=2006|isbn=1-58297-329-6|page=61}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Toleos|first=Aaron|url=http://cinquain.org/theory.html|title=Cinquains explained|work=Cinquain.org|access-date=June 11, 2010}}</ref> and is akin in spirit to that of the [[Imagism|Imagists]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Stillman|first=Frances|title=The Poet's Manual and Rhyming Dictionary|year=1966|publisher=Thames & Hudson|location=London|isbn=0-500-27030-9}}</ref>

In her 1915 collection titled ''Verse'', published a year after her death, [[Adelaide Crapsey]] included 28 cinquains.<ref>{{cite web|last=Toleos|first=Aaron|url=http://www.cinquain.org/verse.html|title=''Verse'' and its legacy|work=Cinquain.org|access-date=June 11, 2010}}</ref> Crapsey's American Cinquain form developed in two stages. The first, fundamental form is a stanza of five lines of accentual verse, in which the lines comprise, in order, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 1 [[Stress (linguistics)|stresses]]. Then Crapsey decided to make the criterion a stanza of five lines of accentual-syllabic verse, in which the lines comprise, in order, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 1 stresses and 2, 4, 6, 8, and 2 syllables. Iambic feet were meant to be the standard for the cinquain, which made the dual criteria match perfectly. Some resource materials define classic cinquains as solely iambic, but that is not necessarily so.<ref name="Garison">{{cite magazine|last=Garison|first=Denis|title=An Introduction to the American Cinquain|magazine=Amaze|volume=1|issue=1|date=Summer 2002}}</ref> In contrast to the Eastern forms upon which she based them, Crapsey always titled her cinquains, effectively utilizing the title as a sixth line. Crapsey's cinquain depends on strict structure and intense physical imagery to communicate a mood or feeling.<ref>{{cite news|author=Erin Post|title=Fever Show|work=Lake Champlain Weekly|date=October 16, 2002}}</ref>

The form is illustrated by Crapsey's "November Night":<ref>{{cite book|last=Crapsey|first=Adelaide|year=1922|title=Verse|page=31}} Quoted in {{cite web|url=http://www.cinquain.org/cinquain.html|title=28 cinquains from Adelaide Crapsey's ''Verse''|work=Cinquain.org|access-date=June 9, 2010}}</ref>
<blockquote>
'''List'''en...<br>With '''faint''' dry '''sound''',<br>Like '''steps''' of '''pass'''ing '''ghosts''',<br>The '''leaves''', frost-'''crisp'd''', '''break''' from the '''trees'''<br>And '''fall'''.
</blockquote>
The Scottish poet [[William Soutar]] also wrote over one hundred American cinquains (he labelled them "epigrams") between 1933 and 1940.<ref>{{cite book|title=Flowers of Life, A Selection of Cinquains by William Soutar|year=2005|editor=Brian Strand|publisher=QQ Press, Rothesay|isbn=1-903203-47-3}}</ref>