Syair ( Jawi: شعير) is a form of traditional Malay (also

Brunei Brunei, officially Brunei Darussalam, is a country in Southeast Asia, situated on the northern coast of the island of Borneo. Apart from its coastline on the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak, with ...

and Malaysian)

poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

that is made up of four-line

stanza In poetry, a stanza (; from Italian ''stanza'', ; ) is a group of lines within a poem, usually set off from others by a blank line or indentation. Stanzas can have regular rhyme and metrical schemes, but they are not required to have either. ...

s or

quatrain A quatrain is a type of stanza, or a complete poem, consisting of four Line (poetry), lines. Existing in a variety of forms, the quatrain appears in poems from the poetic traditions of various ancient civilizations including Persia, Ancient India ...

s. The syair can be a narrative poem, a

didactic Didacticism is a philosophy that emphasises instructional and informative qualities in literature, art, and design. In art, design, architecture, and landscape, didacticism is a conceptual approach that is driven by the urgent need to explain. ...

poem, a poem used to convey ideas on

religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

, or even one to describe a historical event. In contrast to

pantun ''Pantun'' ( Jawi: ) is a Malayic oral poetic form used to express intricate ideas and emotions. It generally consists of an even number of lines and is based on ABAB rhyming schemes. The shortest consists of two lines, known as the in Mal ...

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

The word syair is derived from the

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

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.

History

The earliest known record of syair is from the work of

Hamzah Fansuri Hamzah Fansuri ( Jawi: حمزه فنسوري ; also spelled Hamzah Pansuri, d. 1590 ?) was a 16th-century Sumatran Sufi writer, and the first writer known to write mystical panentheistic ideas in the Malay language. He wrote poetry as well as pro ...

, a famous Malay poet in the 17th century. The most famous syair is a 1847 poem by Raja

Pengiran Indera Mahkota Pengiran Mohammad Salleh ibnu Pengiran Sharifuddin (1790s–1858) or commonly referred to by his title Pengiran Indera Mahkota, was a Bruneian nobleman and politician who was governor of Sarawak in 1827. He founded the city of Kuching in 1827 ...

Shahbandar: Syair Rakis. It is considered to be the passage to modern Malaysian literature and mourns the loss of

Labuan Labuan (), officially the Federal Territory of Labuan (), is an island federal territory of Malaysia. It includes and six smaller islands off the coast of the state of Sabah in East Malaysia. Labuan's capital is Victoria, which is best kno ...

References

External links

*{{Commonscatinline, Syairs Poems in Malay