Pantun and Haiku Writing Competition

Guidelines on writing Pantun and Haiku (in English)

FOUR-LINE PANTUN

In its most basic form, the pantun consists of a quatrain which employs an abab rhyme scheme.

The pantun must satisfy the following structural format:

a)     The lines of the pantun must rhyme in alternate line position and on the last word, i.e., the last word of Line 1 must rhyme with the last word of Line 3; the last word of Line 2 must rhyme with the last word of Line 4. The rhyme is described as a-b-a-b.

b)    Each line must be made-up of 8 to 12 syllables, the best being 9 or 10. The number of words is immaterial.

The message of the pantun is contained in the second half, i.e. the last two lines. The first two lines simply act as a "lead" or an "indicator" or "prelude" as to what follows. The most important role of this indicator is simply to perform the rhyming function. The first two lines together do make sense in themselves but have no relationship in meaning to the second half.      

HAIKU 

The structure of a traditional haiku is as follows:

• There are only three lines, a total of 17 syllables. The first line is 5 syllables.
• The second line is 7 syllables. The third line is 5 syllables like the first.
• Punctuation and capitalisation are up to the poet, and need not follow the rigid rules used in structuring sentences. A haiku does not have to rhyme, in fact usually it does not rhyme at all.