Quinzaine Poem

"Quinze" in French means fifteen. A quinzaine is an unrhymed verse of fifteen syllables distributed in three lines. The first line makes a statement and the next two lines ask a question relating to the statement. Here is an example:

The colored leaves are falling
Will it soon be time
rake or play?

Here is the pattern:

Line 1: Statement of 7 syllables
Line 2: Beginning of question with 5 syllables
Line 3: End of question with 3 syllables

Sept Poem

A "Sept" poem is one about any subject with a specific syllable pattern. Below is an example:

My
Little
Spinning top
Just goes around
and around
then it
stops!

Here is the pattern:

Line 1: 1 syllable
Line 2: 2 syllables
Line 3: 3 syllables
Line 4: 4 syllables
Line 5: 3 syllables
Line 6: 2 syllables
Line 7: 1 syllable

Septet Poem

A "Septet" poem is again one about any subject with a specific syllable pattern. Here is an example:

A small boy
Clutched his teddy bear
As he toddled off to bed,
Wanting it to keep him company
In the darkness of the night.
He peacefully slept
Through the night.

Here is the pattern:

Line 1: 3 syllables
Line 2: 5 syllables
Line 3: 7 syllables
Line 4: 9 syllables
Line 5: 7 syllables
Line 6: 5 syllables
Line 7: 3 syllables

Terquain Poem

A "terquain" is a simple three-lined poem about any subject. Each line states something about the subject. There are no rhymes or syllable patterns. Here is an example:

Baseball
Hitting, fielding, catching
Fun!

Here is the simple pattern:

Line 1: one word subject
Line 2: two or three words describing the subject
Line 3: one word (a feeling about or synonym of the subject)

Next Back to Index