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Quintain poems are poetic forms composed of five lines in a single stanza. They can follow different rhyme schemes, such as ABABA, AABBA, or ABCAB.
Quintain poems allow poets to explore a wide range of themes and emotions within a concise structure. The brevity of the form challenges poets to convey their ideas succinctly while creating a sense of completeness in each poem.
Quintains can be playful, romantic, contemplative, or deeply philosophical, making them a versatile and accessible verse form.
Robert Frost’s ‘The Road Not Taken’ explores life’s choices, opportunities, and the ensuing lingering regret of untaken paths.
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
‘Rivers to the Sea’ by Sara Teasdale explores poetry’s turbulent impact, as the moon fails to calm strong emotions.
But what of her whose heart is troubled by it,
The mother who would soothe and set him free,
Fearing the song’s storm-shaken ecstasy
Oh, as the moon that has no power to quiet
‘For Heidi With Blue Hair’ is a six-stanza poem that uses action and dialogue to paint a literary picture where little to no physical setting is provided.
When you dyed your hair blue
(or, at least ultramarine
for the clipped sides, with a crest
of jet-black spikes on top)
‘Absence’ explores grief’s solitude, contrasting unchanged scenes with internal turmoil, capturing the stark reality of loss.
I visited the place where we last met.
Nothing was changed, the gardens were well-tended,
The fountains sprayed their usual steady jet;
There was no sign that anything had ended
William Blake’s ‘Introduction to the Songs of Experience’ is a poem that weaves together themes like spirituality and the struggle between reason and imagination.
Hear the voice of the Bard!
Who Present, Past, & Future sees;
Whose ears have heard
The Holy Word
‘The Present Crisis’ by James Russell Lowell is an anthem against slavery and, by extension, other racially-induced crimes. Penned in 1845 as a protest against the permission of slavery in Texas, this long poem now serves as a voice for all people of color who continue to face discrimination today.
Slavery, the earth-born Cyclops, fellest of the giant brood,
Sons of brutish Force and Darkness, who have drenched the earth with blood,
Famished in his self-made desert, blinded by our purer day,
Gropes in yet unblasted regions for his miserable prey;—
‘At that hour when all things have repose’ by James Joyce is a lyrical poem that explores themes of lovelorn solitude and the sublime beauty of music.
At that hour when all things have repose,
O lonely watcher of the skies,
Do you hear the night wind and the sighs
Of harps playing unto Love to unclose
‘Don’t Quit’ by Edgar Albert Guest is a simple poem about facing the difficulties in one’s life and persevering through them.
When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
when the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
when the funds are low and the debts are high,
and you want to smile but you have to sigh,
‘Exposure’ offers an in-depth view of life in the frosted winter of Northern France, where soldiers on duty would be left exposed to the elements.
Watching, we hear the mad gusts tugging on the wire,
Like twitching agonies of men among its brambles.
Northward, incessantly, the flickering gunnery rumbles,
Far off, like a dull rumour of some other war.
‘The Mask’ by Elizabeth Barrett Browning is a highly relatable poem that explores society’s expectations and how they often mean you can’t express yourself fully.
I HAVE a smiling face, she said,
I have a jest for all I meet,
I have a garland for my head
And all its flowers are sweet, —
Hardy’s ‘A Wife in London’ reveals the irony of war, as a widow receives her fallen husband’s hopeful letter after his death.
She sits in the tawny vapour
That the Thames-side lanes have uprolled,
Behind whose webby fold-on-fold
Like a waning taper
‘Growing Old’ is about the reality of aging and how ones youthful expectations will not be fulfilled as one’s body losing beauty and strength.
What is it to grow old?
Is it to lose the glory of the form,
The luster of the eye?
Is it for beauty to forego her wreath?
‘He Prefers Her Earthly’ by Thomas Hardy is a profoundly moving poem that compares and contrasts the physical and spiritual presence of a dead loved one.
This after-sunset is a sight for seeing,
Cliff-heads of craggy cloud surrounding it.
—And dwell you in that glory-show?
You may; for there are strange strange things in being,
Stranger than I know.
‘The Schoolboy’ by William Blake is told from the perspective of a young boy who believes school is negatively impacting him.
I love to rise in a summer morn,
When the birds sing on every tree;
The distant huntsman winds his horn,
And the skylark sings with me:
By utilizing different types of flowers, Lamb’s ‘Envy’ showcases that envy is an unnecessary quality to possess.
his rose-tree is not made to bear
The violet blue, nor lily fair,
Nor the sweet mignionet:
And if this tree were discontent,
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