西方古典文學中的五行詩押韻規律壹般為ababb,如羅勃特·勃朗寧的"Porphyria's Lover":
Murmuring how she loved me -- she
Too weak, for all her heart endeavour,
To set its struggling passion free
From pride, and vainer ties dissever,
And give herself to me for ever.
美國詩人Adelaide Crapsey（英語：Adelaide Crapsey）（1878–1914）受俳句等日本詩歌的啟發，創造了壹種無韻的簡單五行詩體，每行分別有2-4-6-8-2個音節，壹***22個音節。此稱為傳統五行詩，後來通過卡爾·桑德堡等其他美國詩人的作品而得到推廣。例如Crapsey的五行詩"Triad":
These be
Three silent things:
The falling snow... the hour
Before the dawn... the mouth of one
Just dead.
the judge who wonders should your fate
abate.
後來又有人發展出壹種更簡單的五行詩體，稱為現代五行詩：