Envelope Quintet

[Tinker]

Explore the Craft of Writing Poetry
Italian Verse
Envelope Quintet (Italian) is a 5 line verse in which the center lines are enclosed by the rhyme of the outer lines.

The elements of the Envelope Quintet are:

1. stanzaic, a quintet may be a stand alone poem or can be written in any number of 5 line stanzas.
2. meter at the discretion of the poet.
3. rhymed abcba or aabaa or abbba , subsequent stanzas may link or continue the rhyme scheme: linked abcba cdedc or abcba deced / continued is simply abxba cdxdc etc. x being unrhymed.

   Out West by Judi Van Gorder
   
   Ever since seeing John Wayne
   on the movie screen
   I've had a thing for the cowboy.
   Like them long and lean
   and if shy, I don't complain.
   
   He rode up on his cutting horse.
   and cocked his Stetson
   brim down low and I played coy.
   For me no Jetson
   caught my eye, but he did, of course.
   
   I like the old time country ways
   riding down a dusty trail
   bumping knees just brings me joy
   it does not ever fail
   to spark my heart into a blaze.