How to Write a Quintana Poem

I developed this form in 2007 when quatrains (four-line stanzas) didn't quite fit my inspiration and quintains (5-line stanzas) seemed awkward without any guidelines. I did write in sestets (six-line stanzas), and while that was somewhat satisfying, it wasn't a perfect solution. Sometimes five lines are just right. Like haiku, a line set apart from the constraints and patterns of previous lines in a stanza can accentuate a point or thought. The solution to otherwise clumsy "loose ends" was to tie them to each other.

Based on quintains, the quintana uses classic meter (see "Poetic Meter") and a set rhyming pattern. As mentioned, what sets the quintana apart from other quintain poems is its unique handling of its last lines in each stanza. Themes are not specifically set by the form, though a poignant description of the world is preferable to internalized subjects.

The fifth line of each stanza may have different poetic aspects than the first four lines, but the meter and length of fifth lines must correspond to all of the other fifth lines. There is no upper limit as to number of stanzas, but the minimum is two to insure a fifth-line pattern.

The standard rhyming pattern for a quintana is:

a-b-a-b-i ... c-d-c-d-i ... e-f-e-f-i ... g-h-g-h-i

or some variations:

a-b-a-b-i ... c-d-c-d-I ... e-f-e-f-j ... g-h-g-h-j

a-a-b-b-I ... c-c-d-d-i ... e-e-f-f-j ... g-g-h-h-j

x-a-x-a-e ... x-b-x-b-e ... x-c-x-c-e ... x-d-x-d-e ('x' lines do not rhyme)

Many other rhyming variations are allowed as long as there are rhyming lines and they don't conflict with quintana's guidelines. In a rhyming pattern, lines ending in a sound designated by "a" only rhyme with other "a" lines, "b" lines only with other "b" lines, and so on.

Example:

Dormant

With harvest time now months ago
and fallen leaves long whisked away,
a grapevine seems to suffocate,
its barren limbs a sad display,
a remnant of its life before.

A passerby might mourn the loss,
remembering the green of spring.
For now concern would be misplaced
as dormancy will keep the sting
of winter from its living core.

If only humans had this lapse,
protection from these hardened times,
a dormant season sans the pain
of money, love or social crimes,
of life too tortured to ignore.

Alas, the vines know fully well
that warmth will soon awaken roots.
As slumber ends the green will find
recovered leaves and growing shoots,
a vineyard's luscious spring decor.