Pantoums
Pantoums are a traditional form of poetry originating from Malaysia, characterized by their structure of quatrains and a unique line repetition strategy. The form typically features four-line stanzas where certain lines from preceding stanzas are repeated in subsequent ones, creating a rhythmic and thematic continuity throughout the poem. Traditionally, pantoums, or pantuns, include a couplet called the pembayang that sets the mood, followed by a concluding couplet known as the maksud that often provides resolution or philosophical insight. While Malaysian pantoums are rooted in oral traditions, they gained prominence in the fifteenth century and were later adapted by French poets in the 19th century, leading to their entry into English poetry.
Modern pantoums have evolved beyond the strict ABAB rhyme scheme and uniform line lengths that characterized their classical forms, allowing for more flexibility in rhyme and syntax. This adaptability has made the form appealing to contemporary poets, particularly in the United States, where poets like John Ashbery have experimented with its conventions. The pantoum's structure encourages reinterpretation of repeated lines, making it ideal for exploring philosophical themes. However, the adaptation of pantoums in European contexts has sparked discussions about cultural appropriation, prompting some critics to question their continued use in languages outside Malaysian.
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Pantoums
Pantoums are traditional Malaysian poems composed in quatrains (four-line stanzas) and marked by the strategic repetition of lines from previous verses in subsequent verses throughout the poem. While there is no formal convention with respect to the number of stanzas, the original pantoums of Malaysian oral tradition typically contain two to three. Pantoums likely became a formalized Malaysian poetic genre in the fifteenth century and were later adapted by French poets, from whom the form entered English. Scholars and commentators often liken pantoums to other highly structured poetic forms, including the ghazal and the villanelle.
The pantoums popularized by French poets in the nineteenth century mainly used strict ABAB rhyme schemes in their quatrains. This convention waned in influence after the form entered English and became modernized by American poets during the twentieth century. Contemporary pantoums are less rigid in their rhyme schemes, with some displaying informal or loose use of rhyme or near-rhyme.
Background
Pantoums, known in Malaysia as pantuns, derive from ancient oral traditions. Though the precise origins of the form are unclear, cultural commentator Ding Choo Ming traced a developmental course spanning millennia and preceding the arrival of the Hindu religion in the Indo-Malay region in the late centuries of the BCE era. The Malaysian author and scholar Muhammad Haji Salleh subscribed to a more specific view, rooting the beginnings of the pantoum in the ancient culture of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Though default treatments of the pantoum by Western scholars associate it uniquely with Malaysian culture, some experts believe the form is more accurately described as Austronesian.
Irrespective of these differing scholarly viewpoints, modern pantoums derive directly from a form first encountered by European traders exploring Malaysia in the fifteenth century. Despite some variations, the classical Malaysian pantoums of this era are presented in quatrains with ABAB rhyme schemes and uniform line lengths containing anywhere from eight to twelve syllables. The first quatrain in a traditional pantoum begins with a couplet, known as a pembayang, which establishes a particular mood and frequently poses a rhetorical question or riddle that is addressed or answered in the maksud, the final couplet of the poem’s concluding quatrain. While these traditional pantoums have variable lengths, most span a maximum of four quatrains. The pembayang and maksud further subdivide the traditional pantoum into two discrete thematic parts, with the first part rooting itself in familiar elements of the human or natural world and the second part veering into philosophical abstraction.
The earliest references to pantoums in European scholarly literature are attributed to the Irish linguist and orientalist William Marsden, who referenced them in his 1812 work, A Grammar of the Malayan Language. The French scholar Ernest Fouinet is credited with completing the first translations of Malaysian pantoums into a European language, which he contributed to the 1829 poetry collection Les Orientales (The Orientals) by the French author and statesman Victor Hugo.
Overview
The French-language pantoums popularized in the nineteenth century preserved the form’s presentation in quatrains and its traditional ABAB rhyme scheme, albeit with some variations. For example, Charles Beaudelaire wrote a popular pantoum titled “Harmonie du soir” (“Evening Harmony”) that deployed an ABBA rhyme scheme. Despite these divergences, the European pantoums adapted from traditional Malaysian forms developed a signature pattern of verbatim repetition in which the second and fourth lines of the first stanza recur as refrains in the first and third lines of the second stanza. Pantoums then repeat this structure throughout their stanzas until they reach their conclusion, which traditionally repeats the poem’s first line as its last line. In many examples, the final stanza’s second and fourth lines also repeat the first and third lines of its opening stanza.
Commentators note that the pantoum form lends itself particularly well to philosophical themes since the form’s structure invites reinterpretations of the meanings of each repeated line. Some modern pantoums, particularly those that emerged when the form was discovered and embraced by twentieth-century poets in the United States, experiment with line repetitions by introducing slight variations on syntax or punctuation to give them new meanings as they are repeated throughout a poem. The quintessential example of such a strategy was written by the American poet and art critic John Ashbery, who included a pantoum (simply titled “Pantoum”) in his 1956 poetry collection, Some Trees.
Ashbery, frequently described as one of the most influential American poets of the twentieth century, is credited with sparking interest in the form among contemporaries including Anne Waldman, Donald Justice, and Carolyn Kizer. These and other poets experimented with the conventions of the pantoum form, liberating it from strict rhyme schemes while retaining the line repetitions that represent the form’s poetic signature.
Though modern English-language pantoums are primarily associated with the United States, they have also appeared to lesser degrees in the contemporary literary traditions of the United Kingdom, Ireland, and other English-speaking countries. In the twenty-first century, the pantoum’s use by Europeans has become the subject of some scholarly consternation, with some commentators using it as an example of cultural appropriation. As such, some critics have called for pantoums to be discontinued in European languages, arguing that the pantoum has essentially become a literary symbol of European colonialism’s problematic legacy.
Bibliography
Andres, Zoe. “The Pantoum—A Timeless Poetic Style.” University of Waterloo, 1 Apr. 2019, uwaterloo.ca/writing-and-communication-centre/blog/pantoum-timeless-poetic-style. Accessed 22 Nov. 2023.
Braginsky, V.I. The Heritage of Traditional Malay Literature: A Historical Survey of Genres, Writings, and Literary Views. Brill, 2022.
Gaudet, Henry. “What Is the Pantoum?” LanguageHumanities, 14 Oct. 2023, www.languagehumanities.org/what-is-the-pantoum.htm. Accessed 22 Nov. 2023.
“How to Write a Pantoum Poem.” MasterClass, 26 Aug. 2021, www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-write-a-pantoum-poem. Accessed 22 Nov. 2023.
Keating, Kenneth. “‘A Tight, Mesmerizing Chain of Echoes’: The Pantoum in Irish Poetry.” Irish Studies Review, Vol. 28, No. 1 (2020): pp. 1–19.
Martiny, Erik (Ed.). A Companion to Poetic Genre. John Wiley & Sons, 2011, pp. 298–299.
“Pantoum.” Academy of American Poets, poets.org/glossary/pantoum. Accessed 22 Nov. 2023.
“Pantoum.” Poetry Foundation, 2023, www.poetryfoundation.org/learn/glossary-terms/pantoum. Accessed 22 Nov. 2023.