Malay Panfuns

PANTUN MELAYU

By

A. W. HAMILTON

AUSTRALASIAN P UBLISHING Co. Pty, Ltd.

SYD"EY, N . S.W .

. r

INTRODUCTION.

The most popular vehicle for the expression of

poetic feeling amongst Malays is a versicle which is
called in their tongue a pantun-pronounced pun-tone.
Each pantun is an entity which stands alone and
is without recognised authorship, being th e impromptu
production of some forgotten individual under the
stress of a passing emotion.
They appear as insets in Malay literature, and are
in vogue as emotional assets in th e composition of love
letters. Whilst ' th ey replace song, they have th e
merit that any verse may be applied to any suitable
tune.
Some pantuns are crooned as lullabys by mothers
to their children to dreamy old-world airs; others,
again, are carolled in th e home by growing lasses, so
that no Malay is without a stock of well-remembered
verses at his command.
At the adolescent stage yout hs and maidens,
who are allowed little or no direct intercourse, may
yet voice the tender passion aloud in snatches of
song which will not pass unheard and may evoke a
rejoinder.

Finally, pantuns are sung to musical accompaniment by players 'during th e course of theatrical
performances and by professional dancing-girls when
hired by a patron on some festive occasion for public
entertainment.
At these latter shows it is open to any male member
of the audience to take part in both song and dance
wherein each singer, in turn, matches pantun for
pantun or endeavours to cap the other's verses. Though
there is a predominance of erotic verse no ind elicacy of
expression is permissible in public and bawd y limericks
are almost unknown .
Pantuns are, in reality, quatrains in which the
first and third and second and fourth lines rhyme and
often possess a pleasing assonance in addition to th e
requisite balance.
The first two lines contain a poetic statement of
fact, expressed either as a whole or as two unconnected
or very slightly related images and chosen usually at
random for the sake of the imp ending rhyme, or because
of some relevancy to the meaning of the final lines.
The subject matter of this introductory couplet
may be a natural phenomenon, or a historical or ever yday event but, whatever its form.Tt is no more than a
lightly sketched in background for the complete
picture. The real significance of a pantun lies in the
last two lines wherein is expressed the meaning which
wanders over the wide field of human emotions.
Although the first and second couplets seldom form
part of the same concept there is often, though not

necessarily, a connecting thread of allusion between

them varying from mere sound-suggestion to a direct
simile, often taken from nature.
The connection is notalways easy to perceive but
its very vagueness allows the hearer to supply an
approximate interpretation, especially when there is
little more to work on than a hint embodied in very
concentrated language.
No quatrain possesses an absolutely fixed form
and the first two lines, particularly, are liable to
alteration, but many of the more popular ' verses,
through constant oral repetition, .have assumed a
definite shape.
, The immense popularity of the pantun in Malaya,
both amongst the native and immigrant races, more
especially the local-born Chinese, is due to the qualities
of brevity, simplicity, and adaptability, all of which
make for easy improvisation.
'
To the European ear they are none the less pleasing
and intriguing as the underlying thought, divested 'of
its unusual mantle, is delightfully familiar.
.' '
There are several printed collections of pantuns
of which the best, perhaps, is the anthology by R. J.
Wilkinson and R. O. Winstedt published in Singapore
as Pantun Melayu in the Malay Literature series.
In the following quatrains, translated from the
Malay pantuns which are printed in Romanized on
the opposite page, an attempt has been made to
reproduce in English verse the jingling rhythm and

direct diction to be found in the original, departing

no further from the meaning than th e exigencies of
rhyme and language demand.
A third of the one hundred and fifty verses have
already appeared in print, although in a slightly
different form in some cases, in a little volume entitled
Malay Sonnets which was published in Singapore in
1932 .
The present selection covers a wider field and
should prove sufficiently comprehensive to give th e
reader an insight into the storehouse of the Malay mind
and the beautiful imagery and delicacy of thought
woven into the texture of a Malay pantun.
The explanatory notes at the end of the book
elucidate metaphors or deal with matters of general
interest which crop up in th e body of the verses, whilst
the glossary of all the Malay words employed in them
will enable the interested reader to make out their
meaning for himself.
The frontispiece and cover design are by myoid
friend and contemporary Mr. W. G. Stirling.

A.W.H.

Malay Pantuns
(Quatrains)

MALAY PANTUNS.

REA LI T Y OF DR E AMS'"

Last night, about the moon I dreamt,

And tumbling nuts of coco-palm.
Last night, wit h you in dreams I spent ,
And pillowed lay upon your arm.
ILLU SIO N OF

DREA~I S

Place not your hope upon a cru st ,

But 'twixt t he sago plant the com.
'Twere better not in dreams to trust,
For where ar e dream s when comes t he mom ?
RESTLESS SLUMBER

Tho ' hot the da y, I've nought to dry,

Being used to sun things on a boulder.
I've spread my mat, yet sleepless lie,
So used to slumbering on your shoulder.
Captions. althongh t hey do no t exist in the Mala y orig inals. bave heen in trod uced
in order to outline the subject matt er of each verse.

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PANTUN MELAYU.

Sa-malarn sahaya mimpikan bulan , *

Nyiur gugur dengan tandan-nya.
Tidur sa-malam mimpikan tuan,
Rasa-ku tidur di-bantal lengan-nya.
2

Jangan harap kapada padi, *

Man di-tanam dalam gembia. *

of

J angan harap kapada mimpi,

Han siang mana-lah dia?
3

Han panas menjemur tidak,

Sahaya biasa jemur di-batu, '
Bentang tikar, * tidur tidak,
Sahaya piasa tidur di-pangku. *
Explanatory notes , based on the Malay text, will be found .a t the end of the
volume under the serial number of the verse.
"

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MALAY PANTUNS.

SLE E P THE OPI ATE

Fall , jackfruit, fall, if so you will,

But not on mango branches pray !
Close, sleepy eyes, so you be still ,
And dwell not on those far away.
NOCTURNAL LONELIKESS

Lip-lap, lip-lap , the plashing sound

Of water drained from a vessel shallow !
I start at night from sleep profound,
And weeping clasp my lonely pillow.
SPIRITUAL REUNION

To-night is the Moslem Sabbath eve,

So light a candle upon the chest .
Caress your pillow, a spell to weave,
That our souls may meet in dreamland blest .
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