In my Creative Writing class we tried to create Pantoums. Pantoums are very similar to the format of a Villanelle. There’s a lot of repetition and they are really fun and easy to create. Because they are easy I would recommend beginning poets to try it out. In a Pantoum the lines are grouped in four lines or stanzas called quatrains. The first and last line must be the same in a Pantoum. In a Pantoum all lines are said twice. For all quatrains except the first, the first line of the current quatrain repeats the second line of the preceeding quatrain and the third line of the current quatrain repeats the fourth line of the preceeding quatrain. In addition, for the final quatrain, the second line repeats the third line in the first quatrain and its last line repeats the first line of the fisrt quatrain.
Here is an example of a Pantoum that I created in class. It was fun and simple and here it is:
1. Beaten by the sun at an afternoon meal 2. Glasses perspire with cold droplets 3. Bees hunt for aromatic treats 4. Good friends erupt with delight 2. Glasses perspire with cold droplets 5. Appetizers shrink away 4. Good friends erupt with delight 6. Eyes squint to protect from light 5. Appetizers shrink away 7. Turkey, Burgers, Nachos passed around 6. Eyes squint to protect from light 8. Teasing desserts tempt our growing stomachs 7. Turkey, Burgers, Nachos passed around 3. Bees hunt for aromatic treats 8. Teasing desserts tempt our growing stomachs 1. Beaten by the sun at an afternoon meal
