Flamenca: Poetic Forms
Poetic Form Fridays are made to share various poetic forms. This week, we look at the flamenca, also known as the seguidilla gitana or Gypsy seguidilla, a Spanish quintain form.
Poetic Form Fridays are made to share various poetic forms. This week, we look at the flamenca, also known as the seguidilla gitana or Gypsy seguidilla, a Spanish quintain form.
Flamenca Poems
The flamenca is a Spanish quintain (or 5-line stanza) form with a staccato rhythm meant to replicate the click of heels by flamenco dancers. The flamenca goes by a few other names, including seguidilla gitana (or Gypsy seguidilla), playera, and/or sequiriya.
Here are basic guidelines of the flamenca:
- 5 lines
- lines 1, 2, 4, and 5 have 6 syllables
- line 3 has 5 syllables
- lines 2 and 5 assonate
Variation: Lines 3 and 4 may be combined to make an 11-syllable line and quatrain (or 4-line) stanza.
Also, here's a video of a poem titled "Tightrope: A Flamenca Poem" to help get you in the mood.
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Here’s my attempt at a flamenca:
two loons, by Robert Lee Brewer
We walked through the darkness
with a bunch of balloons
bound for a party
when along the wide lake
we caught sight of two loons
bathing in the light cast
by the moon's reflection
as if there were no
better place to stand still
in silent affection.
Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com and programming virtual conferences. He's the author of 40 Plot Twist Prompts for Writers: Writing Ideas for Bending Stories in New Directions, The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming, and more. Also, he's the editor of Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
