Javanese poetry (

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek '' poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings ...

in the Javanese or especially the

Kawi language Old Javanese or Kawi is the oldest attested phase of the Javanese language. It was spoken in the eastern part of what is now Central Java and the whole of East Java, Indonesia. As a literary language, Kawi was used across Java and on the island ...

; Low Javanese: ''tembang''; High Javanese: ''sekar'') is traditionally recited in song form. The standard forms are divided into three types, sekar ageng, sekar madya, and sekar macapat, also common with the ngoko terms: tembang gedhé, tembang tengahan, and tembang macapat. All three types follow strict rules of poetic construction. These forms are highly influential in Javanese

gamelan Gamelan () ( jv, ꦒꦩꦼꦭꦤ꧀, su, ᮌᮙᮨᮜᮔ᮪, ban, ᬕᬫᭂᬮᬦ᭄) is the traditional ensemble music of the Javanese, Sundanese, and Balinese peoples of Indonesia, made up predominantly of percussive instruments. T ...

Sekar ageng

The most sacred are the ''sekar ageng'' (Low Javanese: ''tembang gedhé''; "great songs"). These were traditionally held to be the most ancient of the forms, but

Jaap Kunst Jaap Kunst (12 August 1891 in Groningen – 7 December 1960 in Amsterdam) was a Dutch musicologist. He is credited with coining the term "ethnomusicology" as a more accurate name for the field then known as comparative musicology. Kunst studied t ...

believed that the indigenous forms represented an older tradition. The ancient forms of these, known as

kakawin Kakawin are long narrative poems composed in Old Javanese, also called "'' Kawi''", written in verse form with rhythms and meters derived from Sanskrit literature. Poets used a formalized literary language, rather than the vernacular. Poets ...

, use

meters The metre ( British spelling) or meter ( American spelling; see spelling differences) (from the French unit , from the Greek noun , "measure"), symbol m, is the primary unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), though its pre ...

from

Indian poetry Indian poetry and Indian literature in general, has a long history dating back to Vedic times. They were written in various Indian languages such as Vedic Sanskrit, Classical Sanskrit, Tamil, Odia, Maithili, Telugu, Kannada, Bengali, Assame ...

, specifying the number of

syllable A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of Phone (phonetics), speech sounds typically made up of a syllable nucleus (most often a vowel) with optional initial and final margins (typically, consonants). Syllables are often considered t ...

s in each line, their

vowel length In linguistics, vowel length is the perceived length of a vowel sound: the corresponding physical measurement is duration. In some languages vowel length is an important phonemic factor, meaning vowel length can change the meaning of the word, ...

, and the location of

caesura 300px, An example of a caesura in modern western music notation A caesura (, . caesuras or caesurae; Latin for "cutting"), also written cæsura and cesura, is a metrical pause or break in a verse where one phrase ends and another phrase begins. ...

e. Exactly how this ancient form sounded when sung is hard to know, as the modern form has been influenced by

structures. It may have resembled modern Indian or

Bali Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and N ...

nese

chant A chant (from French ', from Latin ', "to sing") is the iterative speaking or singing of words or sounds, often primarily on one or two main pitches called reciting tones. Chants may range from a simple melody involving a limited set of notes ...

. The modern form of sekar ageng are always in stanzas of four lines, and the number of syllables in each (''lampah'') is fixed and divided into parts (''pedhotan'') by caesurae. (Vowel length is no longer distinguished.) These indications are ordinarily indicated with the form; for example, sekar ageng ''Bongsa patra'', lampah 17, pedhotan 4,6,7. According to Padmasasustra, there are 44 types of sekar ageng used in

Surakarta Surakarta ( jv, ꦯꦸꦫꦏꦂꦠ), known colloquially as Solo ( jv, ꦱꦭ; ), is a city in Central Java, Indonesia. The 44 km2 (16.2 sq mi) city adjoins Karanganyar Regency and Boyolali Regency to the north, Karanganyar Regency and Sukoh ...

. A sekar ageng is sometimes used as a type of buka (song introduction) known as a ''bawa''. It is sung solo, or may be supported by the gendér. Only the first line is used in the introduction, and the rest may follow in the actual

gendhing ''Colotomy'' is an Indonesian description of the rhythmic and metric patterns of gamelan music. It refers to the use of specific instruments to mark off nested time intervals, or the process of dividing rhythmic time into such nested cycles. I ...

. Martopangrawit believes that this began only in the late 19th century, at the time of

Paku Buwana IX Pakubuwono IX (also transliterated Pakubuwana IX) was the ninth Susuhunan (ruler of Surakarta). He was born in 1830, the second son of Pakubuwano VI, and reigned from 1861 until his death in 1893. He is attributed as author of ''Serat woro isworo ...

(r. 1861-93).

Sekar madya and tembang macapat

''Sekar madya'' (Low Javanese: ''Tembang tengahan''; "middle songs") are supposed to lie between the other two genres, but there is no agreement about which genres are considered sekar madya and which are ''tembang macapat'' (old orthography: ''machapat''). Both of these, in contrast to sekar ageng, use varying number of lines of varying length, but always in a specific form. Furthermore, the vowel sound of the final syllable must match a specific pattern (note that this is different from

syllable rime A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds typically made up of a syllable nucleus (most often a vowel) with optional initial and final margins (typically, consonants). Syllables are often considered the phonological " ...

, as consonants that follow, if any, do not have to match). The pattern of the length of lines is known as ''guru wilangan'', ''guru pètungan'', or ''guru wichalan'', while the pattern of vowels is known as ''dhongdhing'' or ''guru lagu''. In the schemes below, the number represents the guru wilangan, while the letter is the guru lagu of the corresponding line. In addition to these formal structures, each of these forms has a specific mood. The typical use is indicated after the form for many of the structures below. Padmasoesastra listed 11 types of sekar madya forms used in Surakarta. Many of them, however, are no longer used. The ones in modern use are: * Juru demung: 8A, 8U, 8U, 8A, 8U, 8A, 8U * Wirangrong: 8I, 8O, 10U, 6I, 7A, 8A * Balabak: 12A, 3É, 12A, 3Á, 12A, 3Á Two meters were classified as macapat forms in the past, but are now considered sekar madya: * Megatruh (or Duduk wuluh): 12U, 8I, 8U, 8I, 8O * Gambuh: 7U, 10U, 12I, 8U, 8O (there are a number of variants of this form) The common macapat forms are: * Dhandhang gula: 10I, 10A, 8É(O), 7U, 9I, 7A, 6U, 8A, 12I, 7A; neutral character, used especially for introducing another poem * Sinom: 8A, 8I, 8A, 8I, 7I, 8U, 7A, 8I, 12A; didactic poems * Asmarandana: 8I, 8A, 8O(É), 8A, 7A, 8U, 8A; love poems * Kinanthi: 8U, 8I, 8A, 8I, 8A, 8I; love poems * Pangkur: 8A, 11I, 8U, 7A, 12U, 8A, 8I; violent passions or fighting * Durma: 12A, 7I, 6A, 7A, 8I, 5A, 7I; violent passions or fighting * Mijil: 10I, 6O, 10É, 10I, 6I, 6U; love poems * Mas kumambang: 12I, 6A, 8I, 8A; longing or homesickness * Pucung: 12U, 6A, 8I, 12A; neutral character, used for riddles As an example, consider the following Kinanthi verse, a stanza from the

Serat Centhini ''Serat Centhini'' is a twelve volume compilation of Javanese tales and teachings, written in verse and published in 1814. The work was commissioned, directed and partially written by Crown Prince Mangkunegoro, later enthroned as Pakubuwono V of ...

: :Ki Jayèngraga agupuh :anggamel rebab respati :rebabé langkung prayoga :watangan pinonthang gadhing :kosok pinatra pinrada :batok jamangan balenggin These forms are the basis of

kidung Kidung is a form of Old Javanese poetry. They differ from kakawin in that they use Javanese meters instead of imported Sanskrit ones, and mostly appeared later. The subject matter is based on historical events. Like kakawin, they later became an i ...

poetry. The text for these songs is frequently used in works for the gamelan, frequently sung by the

gerong ''Gerong'' ( jv, ꦒꦼꦫꦺꦴꦁ, translit=gerong) is the Javanese verb meaning "to sing in a chorus." ''Penggerong'' is the proper name of a member of the chorus, but often the word gerong is used to refer to the unison male chorus that sings ...

. Indeed, many modern gendhing share common macapat texts, especially Kinanthi, fit into their individual melodic pattern.

Sumarsam Sumarsam (born 27 July 1944) is a Javanese musician and scholar of the gamelan. Life Sumarsam was born in Dander, Bojonegoro, East Java, Indonesia. He first performed gamelan at the age of seven. He began his formal gamelan education in 1961 at ...

believes that the singing of these forms led to the development of the early gendhing gerong, in the mid-19th century. Wayang performances make use of the

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kuruk ...

and

Ramayana The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th to 4th centuries BCE, and later stages ...

in macapat form, created in the 18th and 19th centuries.Sumarsam, page 96.

Notes

References

* Kunst, Jaap. ''Music in Java: Its History, Its Theory and Its Technique''. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1949. Pages 122-125 discuss the forms, and is the source for the article except when noted above. *

. ''Gamelan: Cultural Interaction and Musical Development in Central Java''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995. {{Poetry of different cultures and languages Javanese culture Poetry by language Indonesian literature