Let's Play with Quatrain!
Quatrain. A stanza of poetry consisting of four lines. Existing in various forms, the quatrain appears in poems from ancient civilizations including Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome continues into the 21st century where it is seen in works published in several languages (as quoted from Wikipedia). In my mother tongue (which is similar with Malaysia, but actually different), there is something similar called Pantun. In its most basic form, Pantun consists of a quatrain which employs an a-b-a-b rhyme scheme. It goes something like this (forgive me if I made it in Bahasa Indonesia first, then translate it as close as possible in English)...
sumur tenang dari batu
jatuh ke dalam tenggelam juga
umur orang siapa yang tahu
sia-sia cinta dipendam saja
quiet well which made of stone
falls inside one could get drown
mortal age is God's alone
what good comes out a love's unknown
Well, that was just a random thought in my head, and I put it as an example because I'm not sure if I'm allowed to quote someone's work here. But, I believe that most countries in the world have their own style of quatrain, and I would looove to hear the one from your country, friends! Some cultures in Indonesia also use the poems as song and greeting for a traditional wedding. The groom would come to the bride's house and greet her with a quatrain, and the family members of the bride shall reply with a quatrain, and so on. I think that's definitely a culture worth to keep.
Tomorrow, I will discuss about other thing which is still related to literature. May you have a wonderful day, everybody.
Comments
Hello Shirley. I’d like to present one of the most famous Ukrainian’s poets Taras Shevchenko. Shevchenko may seem to you a bit familiar because another famous Shevchenko is a very popular soccer player. I should say Shevchenko is rather common surname in Ukraine. Taras Shevchenko’s poetry is slightly sad and radiates his immeasurable pain caused by slavery. Yes, gifted poet, writer and painter was born in slavery! It’s not surprising that he was connected to free minded people and as a consequence of it was severely punished as a criminal by authorities. Regrettably, Taras Shevchenko never saw slavery free Ukraine. He died in the same year 1861 when slavery was abolished. Don't envy, friend, a wealthy man: A rich man's life is spent Without a friend or faithful love -- Those things he has to rent. Don't envy, friend, a man of rank, His power's based on force. ………………………………….. Don't envy anyone my friend, For if you look you'll find That there's no heaven on the earth, No more than in the sky.
poetry is defenitly a mirror that help to understand different cultures and traditions.there is no certain common between devloped countries and developing ones when it comes to toughts and how to express them
I loved your blog. And my teacher is the best!
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