A little note…
One good thing I have always found in writing formal structured poems is that it does not always end up being the form of poem I started out writing and often has no formal structure at all but it was the attempt that led to the final result. For example the poem “Lust” was originally going to be the example of a Pantoum but I got to playing around with it and having fun with what I was writing and it turned into something I liked so I posted it as it was in Emotional Poetry and had to write a different example for here.
Onward to the topic at hand...
What is a Pantoum?
The Pantoum is a rhyming refrain type of poem that consists of a series of quatrains rhyming ABAB BCBC CDCD and so on with the final quatrain using the first and third lines from the first. There is no limit to the number of quatrains.
Structure of the poem…
Each quatrain (stanza) consists of four lines in which the second and fourth lines of a quatrain will be the first and third lines in the succeeding quatrain and a new second and fourth line will be added. This pattern continues up to the last quatrain when the first and third lines of the first quatrain are repeated in the final quatrain. The third line of the first quatrain is the second line of the last quatrain and the first line of the first quatrain is the last line of the last quatrain. I will give two more examples of the pattern for clarity.
If your Pantoum contained 5 quatrains the scheme would be…ABAB BCBC CDCD DEDE FAFA
Each quatrain repeats lines from a previous quatrain as shown in the pattern above B is used in the first and second quatrains C is used in the second and third quatrains and this pattern continues on up to the last quatrain which repeats lines from the first.
Another example…
1 2 3 4 The first quatrain has four brand new lines that just spilled from your mind.
2 5 4 6 The second quatrain uses two lines from the first quatrain (2,4) and adds two new lines (5,6)
5 7 6 8 The third quatrain uses two lines from the second (5,6) and adds two new lines 7,8
7 9 8 10 The fourth quatrain uses two lines from the third 7,8 and adds two new lines (9,10)
This pattern continues on up to the last quatrain where the second and fourth lines from the previous quatrain will be the first and third lines of the last quatrain and then we will use the first and third lines from the first quatrain as the fourth and second lines of the final quatrain. In this example it would be;
9 3 10 1
There is no meter or metrical structure to a Pantoum but there is also no restriction against it as long as you keep the pattern.
History…
The Pantoum originated in nineteenth century France and became popular in Europe and later North America in the twentieth century. This form of poetry is based on a form from Malaya called Pantun. It first appeared in France in the work of Ernest Fouinet but it was the work of Victor Hugo and C. Baudelaire who popularized the form.
If you want to know more about this form of poetry and would like to read more poems of this type then I suggest reading…The Making of a Poem, edited by Mark Strand and Eavan Boland.
Hidden from view
From you my life is no mystery
Nothing remains hidden from view
As we walk down this path of discovery
There will always be something new
Nothing remains hidden from view
Do you wonder if there are secrets untold
There will always be something new
As the pages turn our lives unfold
Do you wonder if there are secrets untold
Secrets of the past waiting to be found
As the pages turn our lives unfold
One to another we are bound
Secrets of the past waiting to be found
You look into my eyes reading my mind
One to another we are bound
Down the road we travel we became entwined
You look into my eyes reading my mind
As we walk down this path of discovery
Down the road we travel we become entwined
From you my life is no mystery
I love writing poems about the relationship I have with my lover and best friend.
Hugs,
Eiregirl
Mon Apr 24, 2006 5:18 pm
irisheyes
Joined: 18 Jun 2005
Posts: 420
Eiregirl
Beautifully written and full of emotion.
Thanks for taking the time to show us this.
I would love to try something along that structure.
Keep up the great work.
Hugs
Irisheyes
XXX
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