Index of Poetry. Highlights for Poetry. Books of Poetry Form. How to Write Poetry. | ||
Essays on how to write specific forms:
Haibun. Haiku. Hay(na)ku. Rengay. Tanka. Tan-renga. Concrete. Ghazal. Lai. Pantoum. Prose poem. Rondeau. Rubáiyát. Sestina. Skaldic verse. Sonnet. Terza rima. Triolet. Tritina. Villanelle. | ||
Las formas de la poesía en Español:
El Poema Concreto. | ||
Books of Poetry Form. | ||
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The Pantoum Verse Form
by Ariadne Unst
History. Form. Your Composition. References. Example.
Do you want a form that unfolds memories of the past, of a slower time? Then the Pantoum with its dreamy and enchanting repetitions may be the form you need.
The Pantoum originated in France, based on a form from Malaya. The Pantoum's name and form derive from the Malayan pantun.
If you enjoy the music inherent in forms with refrains, also see the Triolet and the Villanelle.
Historically, the Pantoum became popular in Europe and later North America in the nineteeth and especially the twentieth century.
[Note: in the Malayan, the pantun follows the same rhyme and line patterns as the Pantoum. But pantun is traditionally improvised; the first two lines of each quatrain present an image or an allusion; the second two lines of each quatrain convey the theme and meaning, and may not have an obvious connection with the first two lines.]
1 2 3 4 - Lines in first quatrain. 2 5 4 6 - Lines in second quatrain. 5 7 6 8 - Lines in third quatrain. 7 9 8 10 - Lines in fourth quatrain. 9 3 10 1 - Lines in fifth and final quatrain. |
The repetition in a Pantoum made this form popular with audiences. The repetition allowed the listener to catch the poem more clearly at first hearing or first reading.
Here are some steps to take in composing one:
Just because you start with the intention of writing a Pantoum, you do not have to keep your poem in that form if it does not work for you. Your attempt to write a formal poem may help you find words that you would not have found otherwise. And you may decide that you choose to end up with a poem in a different form, perhaps even a prose poem.
The Making of a Poem: A Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms, Edited by Mark Strand and Eavan Boland. | Additional recommended books of Poetry Form. |
Index of Poetry. Highlights for Poetry. Books of Poetry Form. How to Write Poetry. |
Copyright
© 2002-2016 by Ariadne Unst.
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