Pantoum Poetry

The "pantun" is a Malaysian poetic form that was introduced to the West by French novelist, essayist, and poet, Victor Hugo (1802-1885 which is why the French spelling, "pantoum" is used commonly. In its purest form, the Pantoum consists of 16 lines, organized into 4 stanzas of 4 lines each.

The first line of the poem must be the last line as well. The second and fourth lines of the each stanza will become the first and third lines of the next stanza. EXCEPT This pattern changes in the fourth stanza because the unrepeated first and third lines of the first stanza are used in reverse as the second and fourth lines. If the first stanza is represented by the numbers "1 2 3 4", The second stanza would be - 2 5 4 6, the third stanza becomes - 5 7 6 8 and the fourth stanza breaks the pattern and becomes - 7 3 8 1.

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"Play" by Shirle Bedient

Today sea blue rows of water with frothy tops push gently on the sand's edge
There's living to be done, the waves say, come out and play right now
The gulls will provide you music to the rhythm of the sea
It's possible that tomorrow the sea may be busy somewhere else

There's living to be done, the waves say, come out and play right now
Create a great pyramid of sand that will charm all who pass
The gulls will provide you music to the rhythm of the sea
In a moment they will all be gone, but it's a perfect solution for today

Create a great pyramid of sand that will charm all who pass
Let ideas sprout like sea grass and make a village of sand castles
In a moment they will all be gone, but it's a perfect solution for today
You just have this moment to pay tribute to the power of the sea

Let ideas sprout like sea grass and make a village of sand castles
The gulls will provide you music to the rhythm of the sea
You just have this moment to pay tribute to the power of the sea
Today sea blue rows of water with frothy tops push gently on the sand's edge

The challenge of painting
a "Pantoum" is trying to duplicate it's format by creating a loose grid of
16 squares and repeating the motif that corresponds to each line of the poem in the appropriate part
of the grid.