NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Javanese poetry

Javanese poetry (poetry in the Javanese or especially the Kawi language; 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 tembang macapat. All three types follow strict rules of poetic construction. These forms are highly influential in Javanese gamelan. The Chinese poem Quatrain on Heavenly Mountain by Emperor Gaozong. ... The Javanese language is the spoken language of the people in the central and eastern part of the island of Java, in Indonesia. ... Kawi is a language from the islands of Java, Bali and Lombok. ... Gamelan - Indonesian Embassy in Canberra A gamelan is a kind of musical ensemble of Indonesian origin typically featuring metallophones, xylophones, drums, and gongs. ...

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 believed that the indigenous forms represented an older tradition. The ancient forms of these, known as kakawin, use meters from Indian poetry, specifying the number of syllables in each line, their vowel length, and the location of caesurae. Exactly how this ancient form sounded when sung is hard to know, as the modern form has been influenced by gamelan structures. It may have resembled modern Indian or Balinese chant. Jaap Kunst (or Jakob) (b. ... In literature, meter or metre (sometimes known as prosody) is a term used in the scansion (analysis into metrical patterns) of poetry, usually indicated by the kind of feet and the number of them. ... Literature in Sanskrit, one of Indias two oldest languages, and the basis of several modern languages in India. ... A syllable (Ancient Greek: ) is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds. ... In linguistics, vowel length is the perceived duration of a vowel sound. ... This article or section may be confusing for some readers, and should be edited to be clearer. ... Gamelan - Indonesian Embassy in Canberra A gamelan is a kind of musical ensemble of Indonesian origin typically featuring metallophones, xylophones, drums, and gongs. ... Bali is an Indonesian island located at , , one of the Lesser Sunda Islands. ... Chant is the rhythmic speaking or singing of words or sounds, either on a single pitch or with a simple melody involving a limited set of notes and often including a great deal of repetition or statis. ...

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.^[1] Surakarta (its formal name; locally it is referred to as Solo) is an Indonesian city of approximately 500,000 people located in Central Java. ...

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. Martopangrawit believes that this began only in the late 19th century, at the time of Paku Buwana IX (r. 1861-93).^[2] A GendÃ©r is a type of metallophone which is used a lot in Balinese and Javanese Gamelan music. ...

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, 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 the study of phonology in linguistics, the rime or rhyme of a syllable consists of a nucleus and an optional coda. ...

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.

Padmasustra listed 11 types of sekar madya forms used in Surakarta.^[3] Many of them, however, are no longer used. The ones in modern use are:

Two meters were classified as macapat forms in the past, but are now considered sekar madya:

As an example, consider the following Kinanthi verse, a stanza from the Serat Centhini:

The text for these songs is frequently used in works for the gamelan, frequently sung by the gerong. Indeed, many modern gendhing share common macapat texts, especially Kinanthi, fit into their individual melodic pattern. Sumarsam believes that the singing of these forms led to the development of the early gendhing gerong, in the mid-19th century.^[5] Wayang performances make use of the Mahabharata and Ramayana in macapat form, created in the 18th and 19th centuries.^[6] Gerong is the Javanese verb meaning to sing in a chorus. ... Manuscript illustration of the Battle of Kurukshetra The (Devanagari: ), is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India, the other being the . ... The (Devanagari: ) is a Sanskrit epic attributed to the poet Valmiki and is an important part of the Hindu canon (smá¹›ti). ...

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Poetry of Different Cultures and Languages

American poetry | Anglo-Welsh poetry | Arabic poetry | Australian Poetry | Bengali poetry | Biblical poetry | British poetry | Canadian poetry | Chinese poetry | Cornish poetry | Dgèrnésiais | English poetry | Old English poetry | Finnish poetry | French poetry | Greek poetry | Hebrew poetry | Indian poetry | Irish poetry | Italian poetry | Japanese poetry | Javanese poetry | Jèrriais poetry | Kannada (Indian) poetry | Korean poetry | Latino poetry | Manx poetry | Old Norse poetry | Ottoman poetry| Pakistani poetry | Persian poetry | Scottish poetry | Serbian epic poetry | Slovak poetry | Spanish American poetry | Spanish poetry | Urdu poetry | Welsh poetry The poetry of the United States began as a literary art during the colonial era. ... Anglo-Welsh poetry is a subset of Anglo-Welsh literature. ... Arabic poetry is poetry composed and written down in the Arabic language either by Arab people or non-Arabs. ... Australian literature in English began soon after the establishment of the country by Europeans. ... Like the Bengali language Bengali poetry finds its lineage to Pali and other Prakrit socio-cultural traditions. ... This article is concerned with Biblical poetry, specifically poetry in the Hebrew Bible. ... British poetry is poetry written by British poets. ... Canadian poetry is poetry written in Canada, by Canadians. ... Quatrain on Heavenly Mountain by Emperor Gaozong Hand-painted Chinese New Years poetry pasted on the sides of doors leading to peoples homes, Old Town, Lijiang, Yunnan, China. ... The opening verses of Origo Mundi, the first play of the Ordinalia (the magnum opus of mediaeval Cornish literature), written by an unknown monk in the late 14th century Cornish literature refers to written works in the Cornish language. ... DgÃ¨rnÃ©siais, also known as GuernÃ©siais, Guernsey French, Guernsey Norman French, or patois is the variety of Norman language spoken in Guernsey. ... Many regard William Shakespeare as the greatest English poet ever. ... Old English poetry is based upon one system of verse construction which was used for all poems. ... Finnish poetry is the poetry of the Finnish language. ... French poetry is a category of French literature. ... // Ancient Greek literature (before AD 300) Main article: Ancient Greek literature Classical Greek Ancient Greek literature refers to literature written in Ancient Greek from the oldest surviving written works in the Greek language until the 4th century and the rise of the Byzantine Empire. ... Hebrew poetry is poetry written in the Hebrew language. ... Indian poetry, including in the languages of Tamil and Sanskrit, has a long history, from the Vedic times onwards. ... A 1907 engraving of William Butler Yeats, one of Irelands best-known poets. ... // A Dante Alighieri B Angelo Barile Bruno Barilli Luigi Bartolini C Dino Campana Vincenzo Cardarelli Dario Chioli Girolamo Comi F Franco Fortini G Margherita Guidacci Luca Ghiselli J Piero Jahier L Mario Luzi M Alda Merini Grazyna Miller Eugenio Montale O Arturo Onofri P Cesare Pavese Q Salvatore Quasimodo U... Grave of the Japanese poet Yosa Buson The best-known forms of Japanese poetry (outside Japan) are haiku and senryu. ... JÃ¨rriais literature is literature in JÃ¨rriais. ... Kannada poetry is poetry written in the Kannada language spoken in Karnataka state of India. ... Korean poetry is oral or written poetry, given in performance or written down, in the Korean language, or by Koreans overseas. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Manx literature is literature in the Manx language. ... Old Norse poetry encompasses a range of verse forms written in a number of Nordic languages, embraced by the term Old Norse, during the period from the 8th century to as late as the far end of the 13th century. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Pakistani poetry as a tradition partakes of Urdu poetry, which see. ... Persian literature is literature written in Persian, or by Persians in other languages. ... Scottish literature is literature written in Scotland or by Scottish writers. ... Songs of Serbian epic poetry rarely, if ever, rhyme, but they are easy to remember as each line has exactly ten syllables and caesura after fourth syllable. ... The following is a list of the most important poets of Slovak literature, for a list of Slovak authors of prose and drama see Slovak prose: Middle Ages (800 – 1500) Constantine (827-869) – born in Thessaloniki Maurus (?-1070) Leonard z Uničova (15th century) Renaissance (1500-1650) Martin Rakovský (1535-1579... Dear User, this is severely unedited. ... Spanish poetry is the poetic tradition of Spain. ... Like other languages, the history of Urdu poetry does not have a firm starting point and shares origins and influences with other linguistic traditions within the Urdu-Hindi-Hindustani mix. ... Welsh poetry may refer to poetry in the Welsh language, Anglo-Welsh poetry, or other poetry written in Wales or by Welsh poets. ...

Contents

Sekar madya and tembang macapat

Notes

Reference