vijfregelige

Vijfregelige is a Dutch adjective that literally means “five-lined” and is used to describe poetry or verse that consists of five lines. The term is formed from vijf, meaning five, and regelig, related to lines or verses. In Dutch-language literary discussions, vijfregelig is a descriptive label rather than a fixed formal category, and it can be applied to any poem or stanza that has five lines.

In practice, five-line poems described as vijfregelig may follow various metrical, syllabic, or thematic schemes. There is no single universal rule accompanying the label; the length and rhythm of the five lines can differ depending on the tradition, the poet’s choices, or the context in which the piece is written. Because of this, vijfregelig often serves as a convenient shorthand for a constraint-based form rather than a rigidly defined style.

The term is sometimes used in discussions of Dutch or Flemish poetry to distinguish five-line forms from other line-countly forms, such as tercets (three-line) or quatrains (four-line). It may also be used in pedagogical contexts, where students are asked to compose a vijfregelig gedicht to practice concise expression within a five-line limit. While related to the broader English concept of a cinquain, the Dutch gebruik of vijfregelig is not tied to a single internationally standardized pattern.

See also: cinquain; stanza; Dutch poetry; five-line verse.