Syair (Jawi: شعير) is a form of traditional Malay (also subsequently modern Indonesian and Malaysian) poetry that is made up of four-line stanzas or quatrains. The syair can be a narrative poem, a didactic poem, a poem used to convey ideas on religion or philosophy, or even one to describe a historical event.
In contrast to pantun form, the syair conveys a continuous idea from one stanza to the next, maintains a unity of ideas from the first line to the last line in each stanza, and each stanza is rhymed a-a-a-a-a. Syair is sung in set rhythms that differ from syair to syair. The recitation of syair can be accompanied by music or not.
Etymology[edit]
The word syair is derived from the Arabic word shi’r, a term that covers all genres of Arabic/Islamic poetry. However, the Malay form which goes by the name syair is somewhat different and not modeled on Arabic poetry or on any of the genres of Perso-Arab poetry.[1]
History[edit]
The earliest known record of syair is from the work of Hamzah Fansuri, a famous Malay poet in the 17th century.
The most famous syair is a 1847 poem by Raja Pengiran Indera Mahkota Shahbandar: Syair Rakis. It is considered to be the passage to modern Malaysian literature and mourns the loss of Labuan.
References[edit]
External links[edit]
- Media related to Syairs at Wikimedia Commons