Poetry Dances - Pantoum Poem - Instructions and Examples

A pantoum is a poem made up of quatrains (four-line stanzas). The key feature is repetition — the second and fourth lines of each stanza are repeated as the first and third lines of the next stanza. This pattern gives the poem a musical rhythm and a sense of echo or reflection.

The pantoum often circles back to where it began, either repeating the first line at the end or ending with a variation of it.

Examples

November's Child

It's November's style to beguile
She's such a precocious child
One day can be snow or sleet
While the next day's warm and mild

She's such a precocious child Repeated
Bare branches go begging for a winter coat
While the next day's warm and mild Repeated
"It's just the way I am" she gloats

Bare branches go begging for a winter coat Repeated
Chilling winds and flurries abound
"It's just the way I am" she gloats Repeated
"I love making snow angels on the ground"

Chilling winds and flurries abound Repeated
Sending shivers up my spine
"I love making snow angels on the ground" Repeated
Sit by the fireplace and sip some wine

Sending shivers up my spine Repeated
One day can be snow or sleet
Sit by the fireplace and sip some wine Repeated
It's November's style to beguile

The Stranger

Who is that stranger looking back at me
with head atilt and wonder in her eyes?
She mimics all my movements perfectly,
she's hard to recognize in her disguise.

With head atilt and wonder in her eyes, Repeated
she seems familiar in a strange, weird way.
She's hard to recognize in her disguise, Repeated
is she a friend I knew well yesterday?

She seems familiar in a strange, weird way. Repeated
She's older far than me, or so it seems.
Is she a friend I knew well yesterday? Repeated
Perhaps I met her somewhere in my dreams.

She's older far than me, or so it seems. Repeated
She mimics all my movements perfectly.
Perhaps I met her somewhere in my dreams, Repeated
who is that stranger looking back at me?

In many pantoums, the final line repeats the first line, creating a full circle. This is common but not required — you can end differently if it suits your poem’s tone.