Le Voyage Magnifique

The Pantun was at one time an integral part of Malaysian life, used to propose marriage, to tell a proverb, or to celebrate just about any occasion, even shared between warriors about to battle. It is originally folk verse. I was surprised at how unlike it is from its French variation, the Pantoum , which I had previously believed was synonymous with the 15th-century Malaysian form.

The Pantun is said to go back much further in oral tradition but I could find no agreement on how far or what source, one refers to it as an ancient fishing song. The rhythm of the verse attempted to emulate the rhythm of the oars of the fishermen rowing out in unison.

It is a poem of two halves almost unrelated. Each half is a complete couplet . The first half, the shadow, sets the rhythm and rhyme of the poem, and the second half, the meaning, delivers the message. The form has been referred to as a riddle. These poems were to be exchanged between individuals, not recited to an audience.

The elements of the Pantun are:
1. most often a single quatrain, a tetrastich.
2. syllabic, all lines are of the same length, lines are written in 8 to 12 syllables each.
3. rhymed, rhyme scheme abab.
4. written in two complete couplets. The first, the shadow is to set the structure but its focus may be quite different from the second couplet, the meaning, in which the message is set.

The Choices We Make

Do I ignore or heed the voices,
the reminder that often festers?
We are all a product of choices,
our own and forgotten ancestors.
~~Judi Van Gorder

5. less commonly written in structural variations that still retain the shadow and meaning components and equal length, 8 to 12 syllable lines:
* The shortest is called Pantun Dua Kerat written in only 2 unrhymed lines.
* Also can be written as a sixain made up of 2 tercets, rhyme abcabc.
* And an octave rhymed abcdabcd.
* Or, three quatrains, lines 8 to 12 equal length lines, rhymed abab abab abab the poem turned on only 2 rhymes.
* The longest is Pantun EnamKarats Kerat written in 16 lines made up of 2 octaves rhyme abcdabcd abcdabcd The poem turned on only 4 rhymes.

So you have choices. Propose marriage, wax philosophic, celebrate life, brag about that fish you caught, even threaten your enemy, but for this contest do it in a Malaysian Pantun.

~ Tinker