Where did the pantoum come from?
The pantoum developed in Malaysia in the fourteenth century as a short folk lyric composed of two rhyming couplets performed or sung. The word comes from the Malay language and means "two lines". It is similar to the French ballade and the Russian dumy. In literature, the pantoum form was popularized by the Egyptian poet Al-Shirani (1030–1103). He used it extensively in his poems, including one addressed to a woman who had rejected his love. The Malaysian version of the pantoum is known as the kepatihan, and it has similarities with the Arabic ghazal for which it may have served as an inspiration. Like the pantoum, the ghazal is usually composed of two quatrains followed by a concluding couplet. However, while the pantoum consists only of male or female voices, the ghazal includes spoken words interspersed with musical notes indicating that it can also be performed by a troupe of musicians. The first recorded use of the term "pantoum" in English was in 1829. It referred to a poem written in this form by Lord Byron.