Tuesday 5 March 2013

Quintessential Quinzaine

Quinzaine is a lucky form.
How lucky is it?
Does it win?

Above is an example of today's form, Quinzaine.  A quinzaine has three lines, fifteen syllables, no rhyme and is arranged with seven syllables in the first line, five in the next and three in the last.  The first line is a statement and the last two are questions regarding the statement.

I have been enjoying quinzaine quite a lot and I think I might try writing a childrens' book with a series of these lovely little poems.  So far, it has been fun exercise.

Apples are red and roundish.
How round can they be?
Are they red?

Some apples are red and green.
So now are they green?
Why not red?

Apples are sometimes yellow.
Does yellow taste good?
Do I care?



I suspect quinzaine is a lot like haiku in the way that people think it's very easy, but in order to write well balanced, meaningful pieces, much attention beyond syllable count must be paid.  When your chosen form is forcing you to be economical with language, every word matters in a profound way.





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