Pantoum

David Justice- Pantoum of the Great Depression

Our lives avoided tragedy
Simply by going on and on,
Without end and with little apparent meaning.
Oh, there were storms and small catastrophes.

Simply by going on and on
We managed. No need for the heroic.
Oh, there were storms and small catastrophes.
I don't remember all the particulars.

We managed. No need for the heroic.
There were the usual celebrations, the usual sorrows.
I don't remember all the particulars.
Across the fence, the neighbors were our chorus.

There were the usual celebrations, the usual sorrows
Thank god no one said anything in verse.
The neighbors were our only chorus,
And if we suffered we kept quiet about it.

At no time did anyone say anything in verse.
It was the ordinary pities and fears consumed us,
And if we suffered we kept quiet about it.
No audience would ever know our story.

It was the ordinary pities and fears consumed us.
We gathered on porches; the moon rose; we were poor.
What audience would ever know our story?
Beyond our windows shone the actual world.

We gathered on porches; the moon rose; we were poor.
And time went by, drawn by slow horses.
Somewhere beyond our windows shone the actual world.
The Great Depression had entered our souls like fog.

And time went by, drawn by slow horses.
We did not ourselves know what the end was.
The Great Depression had entered our souls like fog.
We had our flaws, perhaps a few private virtues.

But we did not ourselves know what the end was.
People like us simply go on.
We had our flaws, perhaps a few private virtues,
But it is by blind chance only that we escape tragedy.



"Pantoum poems are an ancient Indonesian verse form, which consist of four stanzas with lines set up as follows: 1-2-3-4, 2-5-4-6, 5-7-6-8, 1-7-8-3. Because the lines are repeated, the poem has a lovely flow. The trick to writing a good pantoum poem is writing lines that will nicely go both before and after adjacent lines".

The Pantoum is a style that I have never seen before but it is certainly very interesting. I think that this style's greatest effect is the emphasis it places on certain emotions through the repitition of lines. Known as anaphora, these lines being used more than once creates an even gloomier situation than if they had just been used once. Hearing "oh, there were storms and small catastrophes" multiple times has a great effect on the reader. It seems that there is absolutely no hope for anyone in the Great Depression. The final line sums it up best, "But it is by blind chance only that we escape tragedy". Nothing the people do can save them, they have lost all control over their own lives.