Quintain Poetry: The Four Syllable Quintain Stanza

 

4 Syllables Fixed Quintain Poem

xxxxx 4 Syllables Q # 2148, 2153, 2157, 2190, 
                              #2196, 2219, 2225, 2489, 2542

wisdom and luck
help you survive
keeping you safe
during the day
and in the night
- Mike Garofalo, # 2489

How are you son?
Got too much sun?"
His head was red,
The red had spread...
Sunburn---Bonehead!
Mike Garofalo, # 2148

"Some go local
Some go express
Some can’t wait
To answer Yes!”
- A Quartet by Muriel Rukeyser

Each of the five lines in a 4 Syllables Fixed
Quintain Poem must be only 4 syllables long.

Quintains - Research

Quintains: 2,500+ Quintains (Free Online)

Quintain Poetry Rhyme Schemes

Syllable Counting for Quintains

Quintain Sonnet Forms ( 5252, 555, 553 )

Quintains: Bibliography, Links, Research

Poetry - Research

Poetry by Michael P. Garofalo

 

Quintain Poem Rhyme Schemes. Research by Michael P. Garofalo.

Rhyme Schemes for Quintains

By Michael P. Garofalo

 

Q = Quintain Rhyme Scheme
Quintains, Pentastichs, Tankas, Quintillas
End of Line rhyme
Sorted by Rhyme Pattern

AAAAA Bellingham Q #1517, 1580, 1586, 1632, 1643, 1697, 1814, 1908
AAABB Cayucos Q # 423, 1744, 1759, 1807, 1810, 1892
AAABC Ferndale Q #824, 1742
AABAA Forks Q #477, 1801, 1858, 1866
AABAB Illwaco Q # 1648, 1740
AABBA Limerick Q #577, 927, 1113, 1642, 1652
AABBB Eureka Q #7, 1554, 1584, 1883, 1960
AABBC Astoria Q # 1616, 1680, 1803
AABCC Mendocino Q # 1869, 1980
AACBB Envelope Pepperwood Q #1213, 1617, 1806
ABABA Sicilian Q #702. 1107, 1611
ABABB English Q #726, 1197, 1498
ABACC Inverness Q # 1788, 2131
ABBAA Spanish Q #1464, 1465, 1485, 1575, 1666, 1800, 2211
ABBBA Queets Q #1609, 1743, 1776
ABBBB Newport Q # 1667, 1674, 1669
ABBCB Ventura Q #1000, 1618
ABBCC Yachats Q # 1781, 1804, 1505
ABCBA Envelope Q #288, 1806
ABCBB Coos Q #669, 1213, 1577, 1767, 1784, 1984
ABCCA Brookings Q #1113, 1967, 1974
ABCCC Fortuna Q #1460, 1777, 1865, 1955
ABCDA Crapsey Q #170, 214, 280, 1191, 1489, 1499
ABCDC Monchielle Q #1594
ABCDE Concrete Q #1203, 1441, 1473
ABCDE Didactic Q #1551, 1852
ABCDE Free Verse Q #4, 1730, 1861, 1867, 1877, 2081
ABCDE Gogyohkas Tanka Q # 1661, 1504, 1760, 1762
ABCDE Imagist Q # 1716, 1723, 1751
ABCDE Minimalist Tanka Q #141, 222, 1769
ABCDE Pentastich Q #194, 585, 597, 1730, 2011
ABCDE Prose Poem Q #1455, 1561, 1672, 1867, 1877
ABCDE Tankas Traditional Q #603, 604, 2021, 2031
ABCDE Wakas Q #603, 902, 1022, 2041
!@ #@! Shape/Concrete Q #1441, 1203
X$&eG Typographical Q #187, 189, 470, 1012, 1203, 1553, 1940
xxxxx Free Verse Q # 4, 1730, 1861, 1867, 1877, 2081
xxxxx Iambic Pent Q # 1960, 1980,
xxxxx If-SwitchQ # 1505, 1939, 1955, 1967
xxxxx Ms. Ai Q # 21, 1328, 1520, 1723, 1912, 2019, 2518, 2915, 2974

Quintains - Research

Poetry - Research

Quintain Poetry Rhyme Schemes

Bundled Up: Volume 1
1,000 Quintain Poems

 

Q = Quintain Rhyme Scheme
Quintains, Pentastichs, Tankas
End of Line Rhyme
Sorted by Scheme Title

Astoria Q = AABBC
Bellingham Q = AAAAA
Brookings Q = ABCCA
Cayucos Q = AAABB
Concrete Q = !@ 5 @!
Coos Q = ABCBB
Crapsey Q = ABCDA
Didactic Q = ABCDE
English Q = ABABB
Envelope Q = ABCBA
Envelope Pepperwood Q = AACBB
Eureka Q = AABBB
Ferndale Q = AAABC
Forks Q = AABAA
Fortuna Q = ABCCC
Free Verse Q = ABCDE
Free Verse Q = xxxxx
Gogyohkas Tanka Q = ABCDE
Iambic Pent Q = xxxxx
If-SwitchQ = xxxxx
Ilwaco Q = AABAB
Imagist Q = ABCDE
Inverness Q = ABACC
Limerick Q = AABBA
Mendocino Q = AABCC
Minimalist Tanka Q = ABCDE
Monchielle Q = ABCDC
Ms. Ai Q = xxxxx
Newport Q = ABBBB
Pentastich Q = ABCDE
Prose Poem Q = ABCDE
Queets Q = ABBBA
Shape/Concrete Q = !@ #@!
Sicilian Q = ABABA
Spanish Q = ABBAA
Tankas Traditional Q = ABCDE
Typographical Q = X$&eG
Ventura Q = ABBCB
Wakas Q = ABCDE
Yachats Q = ABBCC

 

Quintains - Research

Poetry - Research

Bundled Up: Volume 1
1,000 Quintain Poems

Quintain Poetry Rhyme Schemes

By Michael P. Garofalo

Updated January 16 2026

 

Quintain Sonnet Fom One (5252) by Mike Garofalo

 Michael P. Garofalo began his detailed study of Quintains and Sonnets in 2021. He began composing poetry in the three "Quintain Sonnet Forms," (555, 5252, 553) which began appearing in 2021 in his online collection of Poetry, The Gushen Grove Sonnets and Bundled Up, Volume 1: Quintains, Pentastichs, and Tankas. 

His invented term "Quintain Sonnet Forms," refers simply to a short sequence of quintain stanzas, with the total lines of the poem being from 15 to 13 (555, 5252, 553). 5 = quintain,pentastich, tanka, waka; 2 = a couplet; and 3 = a triplet (haiku or senryu). 

The poet composer is free to write quintains with rhyme by formula, free rhyme, blank verse, free verse, or nonsensical word smithing.

Here are some notes on Mike Garofalo's quintain writing style and options.

SM8 Sonnet Model 8

Garofalo Quintain Sonnet Form First

5 2 5 2 = 14 Lines

Quintain Couplet Quintain Couplet

The Couplets are often connected thematically with each other.
Getting the Couplets to rhyme is the best target.

Mike Garofalo has authored and published online over 1,300 Quintains, and has a his own style and options for writing quintains.

Can be rhymed verse, blank verse, or free verse.

Typographically, mostly Left Justified; but with some variations in indentation, spacing, layout.

Makes free use of punctuation.

Some use of hypertext and reference links.

Some authors and Ms. Ai (AI) have suggested using fixed rhyme schemes for 5252 such as:

5 ABABB
2 CC
5 DEDEE
2 FF

Or

5 ABABA
2 CC
5 DDEED
2 FF

"The interlocking rhymes withing each quintain provide a sense of musicality and development, while the two rhyming couplets at the end of each section offer a sense of resolution. Ultimately, the structure (5252) is the defining element of this modern sonnet form. The specific rhyme scheme is left to the poet's creative interpretation. There is no single "official" rhyme scheme for Michael P. Garofalo's 5252 quintain sonnet, as he is the originator of this modern form. Poets writing in this form can adapt the rhyme scheme to fit their own needs and creative expression." - Ms. Ai

 

A Google drop-down Translation Menu. Read the poetry on the webpage in over 50 different languages.

Many of these Sonnets are cellphone readable with ease. However, due to the limitations on the width of the lines on a cellphone screen, these Sonnets can appear to be longer with indentations for the ending of long lines. Viewed on a larger desktop screen, with CTrl+- text adjustment, the same Quintain Sonnet can been seen as just 14 lines. Consequently, this cellphone line length limitation affects the writing style.

 

Examples of the Garofalo Sonnet Form 5252 in The Gushen Grove Sonnets: #1, 2, 4, 9, 10, 13, 21, 23, 32, 39, 931.

Listening to Change #931

I listened to another say
what I resisted to hear
what was alien to me
what outlined my ire
what I wanted to fight

But then I settled down
loosened my blockhead mind

Thought things over patiently,
listened more carefully,
saw matters from other sides,
respected the integrity
and sincerity of other kinds

Of thinking outside my closed boxes
Of my habits of opinions needing overhaul.

Quintains: Five Line Poems

"A quintain (also known as a quintet) is any poetic form or stanza that contains five lines. Quintain poems can contain any line length or meter."

Master Class on Quintains

8 Types of Quintains

"There are many variations of the quintain that have developed over the centuries, some of which are specific to different cultures. Here are the most common types of quintains:

1. 1. Cinquain: A cinquain is a poem or five-line stanza with a rigid syllable count for each line. This modern form was invented by American poet Adelaide Crapsey. The first line contains two syllables, the second line contains four, the third line contains six, the fourth line contains eight, and the last line contains two.
2. 2. English quintain: The English quintain follows a rhyme scheme of ABABB, in which the final two lines form a rhyming couplet. Though an English quintain requires an ABABB rhyming pattern, there is no established foot or measure.
3. 3. Limerick: The limerick follows a rhyming scheme of AABBA. The “A” lines are composed using iambic tetrameter, while the “B” lines are written in iambic trimeter. Limericks usually stand alone as a five-line poem and often contain bawdy or humorous subject matter. Nineteenth-century English poet Edward Lear, whose works include the famous limerick “There Was Once an Old Man with a Beard,” popularized this form.
4. 4. Spanish Quintain: The Spanish quintain (also known as the quintilla) is a type of five-line poetry that is eight syllables in length, each line written in iambic tetrameter. It usually follows a rhyme scheme of ABBAA or AABBA, but this five-line poetry form can follow any rhyme scheme (including ABAAB), as long as no more than two consecutive lines rhyme at a time.
5. 5. Pentastich: A pentastich is a free verse or blank verse form of quintain poetry. Each five-line stanza contains no rhyme or meter.
6. 6. Sicilian quintain: The Sicilian quintain employs an ABABA rhyme sequence. Though the original form of the Sicilian quintain had no specific form or meter, it is now common for it to be written iambic pentameter. In the Shakespearean sonnet “Sonnet 99,” the author’s first stanza is a Sicilian quintain, followed by two four-line stanzas (quatrains).
7. 7. Tanka: The tanka is a Japanese form of quintain poetry. Much like a haiku, the tanka has particular syllable requirements. In Japanese, the tanka is written as one unbroken line consisting of 31 syllables, but when it is converted into English poetry, it is usually broken up into five lines. In this case, the first and third lines contain five syllables, while the second, fourth, and fifth lines contain seven syllables.
8. 8. Envelope quintet: An envelope quintet is a five-line verse in which the inner lines are enclosed by the rhyming outer lines. The rhyme scheme may look like ABCBA, AABAA, or ABBBA (in which the middle lines form a rhyming tercet)."
9. 
   

Quintains and Tanka: Bundled Up
By Mike Garofalo

25 Steps and Beyond: Collected Works
Poetry, Indexes, Anthologies, Research
By Michael P. Garofalo

Recent Poetry by Michael P. Garofalo

 

25 Steps and Beyond:
The Collected Works

By Mike Garofalo

Poetry, Anthologies, Indexes
Studies, Blog, Guides, Travel
Ethics, Art, Koans, Spirituality

 

Highway 101 and Hwy 1

Stepping Over Epiphanies

Sonnets from Gushen Grove

Haiku - North Sacramento Valley

Above the Fog

Daodejing: Indexes, Concordance, Anthology

A Fork in the Crypto Road

The Spirit of Gardening

Exhibits at the Cyber Garden Gazebo: TextArt

Flowers in the Sky

Biography: Mike Garofalo

At the Edges of the West, Volume 1

At the Edges of the West, Volume 2

A Wreck Ahead Comes Into View

Cloud Hands Blog

Cuttings: Month by Month Snippings

How to Live a Good Life

Stuck in Some Concrete Poetry

US Interstate 5 and Hwy 99

The Raven Broke Open the Magical Clam

Pulling Onions: 1,000 One Liners

Four Days at Grayland Beach

Meetings with Master Chang San Feng

25 Steps and Beyond Anthology

Biography: Mike Garofalo

More Poetry by Mike Garofalo

Poetry Research

Interstate 5 and Hwy 99

Five Senses

Memories of Pacific Coast Places

One Old Daoist Druid's Final Journey

Uncle Mike's Cellphone Poetry Series

Fireplace Records Koan Collection

Brief Poems and Haiku

Tao Te Ching: Concordance, Anthology

Zen Buddhist Koans: Research, Indexes

Blooming Onions Pulled from the Mind-Ground

Zen Poetry

Virtues and the Good Life

Villanelle Form Poems

Sonnet Form Studies

Biography: Mike Garofalo

Monthly Observations and Poetry

Green Way Research Index

Body-Mind-Somatics Arts

Tai Chi Chuan and Qigong

Neo-Pagan Spirituality Studies

the scissors of my decisions

more to come ...

Mike Garofalo lives in Vancouver, Washington,
Orchards Neighborhood, Clark County.

He is available for public readings or gigs
in Vancouver, south to Portland, and
north to Longview.

He writes, reads and studies poetry.
His hobbies include:
harmonica, walking, gardening,
taijiquan, string figures and tricks,
yurt camping, and web publishing.

He is a 6'6" Tai Chi Chuan big man,
at 80 years of age.
He has a decent, pleasant, and
friendly speaking voice.

Best to send him email.
Phone: 530-528-3646 (but he seldoms checks)

Mike will be studying, practicing, writing,
yurt camping, and walking outdoors at
Sunset Bay State Park, near Charleston
and Coos Bay, Oregon,
on February 10-13, 2025.

Happy 2025 New Year!!!

 

 

 

Michael Peter Garofalo (1946-) grew up in East Los Angeles,
was educated in Catholic Schools, lived with two other brothers,
graduated (B.A., M.S.) from local universities, married
Blanche Karen Eubanks, served in the US Air Force, worked
in and managed many City and Los Angeles County Public Libraries,
raised two children, socialized, traveled, and learned. Retired as
the Regional Administrator, East Region, Los Angeles County
Public Library in 1998. We moved to a rural 5 acre property
 in Red Bluff, in the North Sacramento Valley, CA. Webmaster
 since 1999. Worked part-time for the Corning School District
(Technology and Media Services Manager); and as a yoga,
Taijiquan, and fitness club instructor until 2016. Traveled
extensively in Northern California, Oregon, and Washington.
We both retired, and we moved to Vancouver, WA, in 2017.
Currently in 2025: reading, writing, gardening, harmonica
playing, string figures playing, activities with grand daughters,
home chores, yurt camping, learning to read Spanish,
exercise, traveling in the Northwest, walking, web publishing,
family events, poetry research, photography, Northwest research,
Nature mysticism, sports events, and other projects.

 

 

 

 

Exhibits at the Cyber Garden Gazebo: TextArt and Concrete Poetry
By Michael P. Garofalo

At the Edges of the West, Volume 1

  

Packing Up for Going Away

Today, I pack my yurt camping gear into my Ford Escape SUV.

Remember: 16 hours of night time, 8 hours of daylight.

Tomorrow, I will drive up Oregon 30 from
Vancouver, Portland, Scappoose,
St. Helens, Ranier-Longview Bridge,
Clatskanie, Cathlamet Ferry, to Astoria.
Sightseeing and lunch in Astoria.
Over the 4 mile Astoria-Megler Bridge on Highway 101.
Arrive at Cape Disappointment State Park, near Ilwaco.
Check into my yurt at 4 pm, unload, relax, take a nap.
Remember: 16 hours of night time, 8 hours of daylight.

Reading, research, and study,
Monday evening to Thursday morning.
What paperback books will I bring?

Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson
I Sing the Salmon Home: Poems from Washington State
The Ode Less Travelled: Unlocking the Poet Within
message from the vessel in a dream
Cascadia Field Guide: Art, Ecology, Poetry

Each typical early January day,
at Cape Disappointment State Park,
Ilwaco, WA: Cool, Windy, Rain.
However, the current weather reports
predict dry cool weather until Friday
this week. Horray!

Remember: 16 hours of night time, 8 hours of daylight.

Indoors: Reading, Writing, Harmonica, String, Qigong

Bring:
Writing tablet, pencils
Books
Cellphone, Tablet, MP3
Photography gear
Kites
Fireplace Tools
Firewood, starters
Fishing gear bag, license
Electronic, lights bag
Medicine and cleaning bag
Food supplies
Eating cooking utensils box
Sleeping bag 6lb
Blankets, throws, towels
Clothing bag
Shoes bag
Wet and cold weather gear
Trash bags
Toiletries
Eyeglasses
Backpack and hiking gear
Water bottles, thermos, canteen
Wallet and credit cards
Gas in Ford, cleaned, oiled, ready to drive
Maps as needed
Cane, walking stick
String Figures Kit, Caroline Jayne
Harmonicas (C Low, A Low) + Book