Poetic Terms Dictionary
Structure

Quintain

From Latin quinque: five. Less common than the quatrain; the quintain's odd number creates an asymmetric, forward-moving energy.

Definition

A stanza of five lines, employed in the limerick, tanka, and various lyric forms.

Example

The limerick is an AABBA quintain; the envoi of a sestina is a three-line quintain; the cinquain is a syllabic form.

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