Characteristics and Types of Poetry Complete with Examples, Making it Easy to Understand

Kapanlagi.com - There are many forms of literary works, besides pantun (quatrains) and poetry, we also know about syair (poetry). Interestingly, syair does not purely originate from the homeland. Syair is a form of ancient Indonesian literary work that originated from the Arab land. Because it was influenced by a distant country, syair has characteristics that differ from pantun, which is typical of the archipelago. These characteristics can be seen from the characteristics of syair.

Similar to poetry and pantun, syair is written in the form of stanzas. The difference is that syair is delivered in a long form like a story. Not just an ordinary story, syair also contains deep meaning and messages.

The term syair itself comes from the Arabic word, Syi'ir or Syu'ur which means 'conscious feeling'. Meanwhile, in the Great Indonesian Dictionary (KBBI), syair is defined as an old poem in which each stanza consists of four lines and has the same ending sound.

To better understand what poetry is, consider the following discussion about the characteristics and types of poetry that have been summarized from various sources.

1. Number of Lines in Each Stanza

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The first characteristic of poetry can be seen from the number of lines in each stanza. In one stanza, the poem is always composed of 4 lines. For example, observe the excerpt of a poem by St. Takdir Alisjahbana below:

Stop the story of the Hindustan king (line 1)

Also mentioned is a saying (line 2)

Abdul Hamid Syah, the Sultan (line 3)

Sit down and enjoy, Your Majesty (line 4)

2. Number of Words in Each Line

In addition to the number of lines in a stanza, there are also rules regarding the number of words in each line of a poem. The number of words in each line of a poem is between 4-6 words only. For a clearer explanation, observe the example of a poem excerpt below:

Paksi / Simbangan /konon / namanya (consists of 4 words)

Beautiful / and / sweet / all of her actions (consists of 5 words)

Her eyes / shining / like diamonds (consists of 4 words)

Her beak / charming / unmatched (consists of 4 words)

3. Number of Syllables per Line

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Both syair and pantun belong to the category of old poems. Similar to pantun, the number of syllables in each line of syair is also limited to 8-12 syllables. To make it clearer, you can observe the example of a syair excerpt below:

The/ flying/ Sim/bang/an is/ mov/ing/-mov/ing/ (11 syllables)

Flow/ing/ in/ Kam/pung/ Ba/yan/ Jo/ha/ri/ (10 syllables)

Her/ face/ is/ seen/ by/ her/ prince/ Nu/ri/ (12 syllables)

Her/ face/ is/ bright/ and/ her/ beauty/ is/ shi/ning/ (11 syllables)

4. Rhyming a-a-a-a

Although they both belong to the category of old poems, there is a noticeable difference between pantun and syair. One of the differences lies in the ending or rhyme. One characteristic of syair is that it rhymes a-a-a-a, while as we know, pantun rhymes a-b-a-b. Observe the example of a syair excerpt below:

Paksi Simbangan, they say (ending with a)

Beautiful and sweet, all the way (ending with a)

Her eyes sparkle like a gem's ray (ending with a)

Her beak is unmatched, they say (ending with a)

5. Every Line is Content

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Another characteristic that distinguishes it from pantun is that each stanza of pantun always consists of a sampiran (introductory part) and isi (content). This is different from syair which does not have a sampiran, because each line is a unified content. For more clarity, let's take a look at the following example of syair.

Stop the story of the king of Hindustan
Listen to this saying as well
Abdul Hamid Syah, the Sultan
He sits happily

Abdul Muluk, his son
A young nobleman, already grown up
Beautifully explains his intentions
At the age of thirteen

His appearance is perfect and beautiful
Cleverly explains wisdom
Causing hearts to be confused
Love for him is both noble and lowly

Rahmah, the noble princess
Her appearance is so beautiful, hard to resist
Sweet and pleasant in behavior
At the age of ten, my lord

6. Contains Story

As mentioned earlier, poems are presented in the form of stories or narratives. Therefore, each line and stanza are interconnected and form a plot. The stories or narratives conveyed in poems often touch on elements of myths, history, religion/philosophy, or pure imagination.

7. Types of Poems

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Similar to poetry and pantun, it turns out that there are also many types of poems. These types of poems are grouped based on the theme or content of the story within them. Here are some types of poems.

1. Panji Poem
Panji poem is written as a means of entertainment. This type of poem usually has themes of adventure and warfare. In addition, panji poems often also contain elements of love stories.

2. Religious Poem
Religious Poem is the most important type of poem. There are four types of religious poems, namely sufi poems, poems about Islamic teachings, poems about the story of the Prophet, and advice poems.

3. Historical Poem
As the name suggests, historical poems are poems written based on historical events. Most historical poems contain stories of warfare.

4. Figurative Poem
Figurative poems are written with the aim of conveying messages in the form of figurative language. These poems are also called animal and flower poems. In addition, the content of these poems can also be in the form of satire.

5. Romantic Poem
Romantic poems, of course, contain themes of love. This type of poem is also often found in stories of entertainment, hikayat, and folklore.

Those are some characteristics and types of poems. Hopefully, it is useful and can increase knowledge.

(kpl/psp)