Pantoum
*Pantoum:
In western poetry Pantoum is the word used
for the Malayan pantun, a poetic form that first
appeared in the 15th century in Malayan Literature
(Padgett, 133), specifically, the pantun berkait,
a series of interwoven quatrains. An English translation
of a pantun berkait appeared in William
Marsden's A Dictionary and Grammar of the Malayan
Language in 1812 (Wikipedia).
In English
the pantoum has become a poem of indeterminate
length. It is composed of quatrains in which the
second and fourth lines of each stanza serve as the
first and third lines of the next stanza, continuing
throughout the poem, until the last stanza, where the
first line of the poem reappears as the last and, in
some English pantoums, the third line of the
first stanza becomes the second line of the last stanza
(as above). Thus, the pantoum begins and ends with
the same line, and throughout the poem, the cross rhymes
scissor the couplets, developing different themes
concurrently, one theme in the first couplet and a
second theme in the second couplet (Preminger). Ideally,
the meaning of lines shifts when they are repeated
although the words remain exactly the same: this can be
done by shifting punctuation, punning, or simply
recontextualizing (Wikipedia). The use of rhyme in
Pantoum is optional (Padgett).
The Pantoun
was introduced to the West by the French orientalist
Ernest Fourinet and adopted by Victor Hugo. Other French
writers who write pantoums include Théodore de Banville,
Louise Siefert, Leconte de Lisle, Théophile Gautier and
with considerable variation, Charles Baudelaire
(Preminger).
In 19th
century England the Pantoum was developed Austin Dobson
in "The Town" and James Brander Matthews in "En Route" (Padget).
American
poets such as John Ashbery, Some Trees (1956),
Marilyn Hacker, Donald Justice, Carolyn Kizer, and David
Trinidad have done work in the pantoum form. Neil Peart
used the form for the lyrics of "The Larger Bowl (A
Pantoum)" on Rush's 2007 album, Snakes & Arrows
(Wikipedia).
Part of the
pleasure of the pantoum is the way
recurring lines hypnotically and gently flow in and out
of each other sometimes surprising us when they
unexpectedly fit together in revealing ways.
Pantoum
Published in Sketchbook
Karin
Anderson, AU—Pantoum:
Rich Raspberry Red
Sandra
Martyres, IN—Pantoum:
Acting Dreams & A Glass of Wine
Resources
"Pantoum".
The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics.
Alex Preminger and T. V. F. Brogan, editors. MJF
Books: Princeton University Press. 1993. pp. 875-876.
"Pantoum".
Shadow Poetry (This web site contains four example
poems).
"Pantoum".
The Teachers & Writers Handbook of Poetic Forms,
Ron Padgett, editor. New York: Teachers & Writers
Collaborative, 1987, pp. 133-135.
"Pantoum".
Wikipedia
