Quatrain is a theme of traditional poetry and a form of modern poetry. Quatrains are composed of four sentences. Depending on the number of words in each sentence, they can be divided into five-character quatrains, seven-character quatrains and six-character quatrains. Five-character quatrains and seven-character quatrains are more common, while six-character quatrains are rarer.
Characteristics of quatrains
Quatrains can be divided into regular quatrains and ancient quatrains according to the strictness of the metrical requirements. There are four basic sentence patterns in rhythmic sentences. Five words: (A) Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping, (B) Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping, (C) Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping, (D) Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping. There is a certain degree of flexibility in the pairing of flat and oblique, that is, the so-called "one, three, and five are irrelevant, and two, four, and six are clear", which means that the oblique and oblique of the first, third, and fifth (only seven words) characters can be handled flexibly, and The equality of the second, fourth, sixth and last characters must be strictly observed. But the premise is that you can't commit Guping and Sanping.
In terms of rhyme, the rhyme must rhyme according to the rhyme part of the rhyme book. After the late Tang Dynasty, it was allowed to use neighbor rhyme in the first sentence. The law can be in a specific format. It is common for the first sentence of a five-character quatrain to not fall into rhyme, and it is common for the first sentence of a seven-character quatrain to fall into rhyme. If a quatrain uses antithesis, it is often used in the first couplet. Ancient quatrains, that is, ancient quatrains, are a kind of quatrains in which harmony and rhythm are absolutely opposite. Although they rhyme, the rhythm is relatively free. In other words, it can be said that some poets did not want to be bound by meter and created it.