POETS NORTHWEST

of Houston, Texas

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.  

History.

Historically, the Pantoum became popular in Europe and later North America in the nineteeth and especially the twentieth century.

The Pantoum tradition as a poem first appeared in France, in the work of Ernest Fouinet in the nineteenth century. Victor Hugo and Charles Baudelaire made the form fashionable. For more on this history and for examples of the Pantoum, see The Making of a Poem, edited by Mark Strand and Eavan Boland.

Examples include:

·         Linda Pastan's Something about Trees (in Imperfect Paradise);

·         Carolyn Kizer's Parents' Pantoum;

·         John Ashbery's Pantoum; and

·         Nellie Wong's Grandmothers' Song.

Form.

[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.]

In a traditional Pantoum:

·         The lines are grouped into quatrains (4-line stanzas).

·         The final line of the Pantoum must be the same as its first line.

·         A Pantoum has any number of quatrains.

·         Lines may be of any length.

·         The Pantoum has a rhyme scheme of abab in each quatrain. Thus, the lines rhyme alternately.

·         The Pantoum says everything twice:

1.      For all quatrains except the first, the first line of the current quatrain repeats the second line in the preceeding quatrain; and the third line of the current quatrain repeats the fourth line of the preceeding quatrain.

2.      In addition, for the final quatrain, its second line repeats the (so-far unrepeated) third line in the first quatrain; and its last line repeats the (so-far unrepeated) first line of the first quatrain.

·         Thus the pattern of line-repetition is as follows, where the lines of the first quatrain are represented by the numbers "1 2 3 4":  

       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.

In this example, we have 5 quatrains. You could have more. You could have fewer.

Your Composition.

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:

1.      Draft the first quatrain. Be sure to use the Pantoum's rhyme scheme. [When you have experience in writing the Pantoum, consider using the additional structure offered by the Pantun.]

2.      Layout the lines that will repeat - the second and fourth lines go to their positions in the framework of the second quatrain, while the first and third lines hold places in what will become the final stanza.

3.      Construct your second stanza.

4.      Layout the second and fourth lines of that quatrain in the framework of the next quatrain.

5.      Continue with these steps. Be sure to follow the above guidelines for form.

6.      When you are approaching the desired length for you Pantoum, start looking for lines that fit in your current quatrain and can also work in the final quatrain.

7.      Like packing an inflated helium balloon into a suitcase, tussle with modifying the repeated sentences to tug the poem into shape.

8.      As with all formal poems nowadays, it is vital that the form does not "drive" your poem. If the rhyme scheme and form begin to feel forced, then you must assert the poem's content.

A Last Word.

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.

Imperfect Paradise.

Imperfect Paradise is Linda Pastan's 4th collection, published in 1988.

I love Pastan's poems for their clarity, that they are not striving to be cleverly obscure. They are simply, radiantly, giving poetry.

It is only in looking at a collection of Pastan's poems that I see how many of her poems have attracted my appreciation in the past.

Fans of simile may be interested to note that she uses it very little, at most once per poem. But when she uses it, it is significant.

Structure.

The book is in 5 sections, with 12, 7, 9, 12, and 6 poems respectively.

Each section takes its title from a poem within the section. The last section uses the last poem in that section, and this title is also used for the book.

Of the 46 poems in the book, about a third are in a single narrow stanza of a page or so.

Many of the poems are in 2 or more sections with the same number of lines in each stanza. Specifically:

While Pastan does not often use traditional forms, the remarkable Something about Trees is a pantoum.

She also includes a single sonnet and a poem that is a 6-sonnet sequence.

Samples.

Any poet can appreciate that Linda Pastan has paid her dues, from reading the wry Rejection Slip (part 3 of the 5-part Ars Poetica):

The poignancy of her work shines especially in Accidents, which ends like this:

Her care and compassion illuminate her work, as in The Descent, which ends with this view of her mother: