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21. 21 Jul 2018 02:49

Radrook

How to Write a Villanelle


The Villanelle is not an easy poem to write because it seems like a sort of a puzzle when we first read it. and requires that we learn that strict pattern if we are to write it. It also challenges the writer not to sound monotonous via the repetition of the refrains. Not all writers can accomplish that so it is a a very demanding style. Nevertheless it does offer a chance to use its repetitive pattern to emphasize an emotion via a repetition and in that way create a mood and gradually intensify it. Most poets like a freer style but for those who feel intrepid enough to try it, here is how to do it.



The villanelle consists of five stanzas of three lines (tercets) followed by a single stanza of four lines (a quatrain) for a total of nineteen lines. It is structured by two repeating rhymes and two refrains: the first line of the first stanza serves as the last line of the second and fourth stanzas, and the third line of the first stanza serves as the last line of the third and fifth stanzas. The rhyme-and-refrain pattern of the villanelle can be schematized as A1bA2 abA1 abA2 abA1 abA2 abA1A2 where letters ("a" and "b") indicate the two rhyme sounds, upper case indicates a refrain ("A"), and superscript numerals (1 and 2) indicate Refrain 1 and Refrain 2.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villanelle


The pattern is below set against the famous poem: "Do not go gentle into that good night" by Dylan Thomas:

Do not go gentle into that good night, [Refrain 1 (A1)]
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light. [Refrain 2 (A2)

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night., [Refrain 1 (A1)]

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.. [Refrain 2 (A2)

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night., [Refrain 1 (A1)]

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light... [Refrain A 2 )
And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.

Do not go gentle into that good night.., [Refrain 1 (A1)]
Rage, rage against the dying of the light. [Refrain 2 (A2)

---------------------------------------------
Refrain 1 (A1)
Line 2 (b)
Refrain 2 (A2)

Line 4 (a)
Line 5 (b)
Refrain 1 (A1)

Line 7 (a)
Line 8 (b)
Refrain 2 (A2)

Line 10 (a)
Line 11 (b)
Refrain 1 (A1)

Line 13 (a)
Line 14 (b)
Refrain 2 (A2)

Line 16 (a)
Line 17 (b)
Refrain 1 (A1)
Refrain 2 (A2)

The villanelle has no established meter,] although most 19th-century villanelles have used trimeter or tetrameter and most 20th-century villanelles have used pentameter. Slight alteration of the refrain line is permissible.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villanelle

http://writerdreams.freeforums.net/thread/38/write-villanelle

22. 13 Jul 2020 02:12

asdk88

Not a big fan of poetry but still like this:

A narrow Fellow in the Grass
Occasionally rides --
You may have met Him -- did you not
His notice sudden is --

The Grass divides as with a Comb --
A spotted shaft is seen --
And then it closes at your feet
And opens further on --

23. 29 Sep 2020 00:26

ellisael

Because I could not stop for Death – (479)
BY EMILY DICKINSON

Because I could not stop for Death –
He kindly stopped for me –
The Carriage held but just Ourselves –
And Immortality.

We slowly drove – He knew no haste
And I had put away
My labor and my leisure too,
For His Civility –

We passed the School, where Children strove
At Recess – in the Ring –
We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain –
We passed the Setting Sun –

Or rather – He passed Us –
The Dews drew quivering and Chill –
For only Gossamer, my Gown –
My Tippet – only Tulle –

We paused before a House that seemed
A Swelling of the Ground –
The Roof was scarcely visible –
The Cornice – in the Ground –

Since then – 'tis Centuries – and yet
Feels shorter than the Day
I first surmised the Horses' Heads
Were toward Eternity –

From [url=https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47652/because-i-could-not-stop-for-death-479]poetry foundation[/url]

24. 13 May 2023 18:15

Billa

I'm a fan of Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti! Although it is VERY long to post on here as you might be aware. Here is a poem of mine own.


The horizon gave a grapefruit glow upon her possessive hour
And then they were gone. Scattered, shapeless unison
A roost of poppy seeds swallowed by pink cotton.

Yet as loud as a flock of blackbirds ribcage locked, iron doors
Pulling, tugging, winding with their double-dealing claws
At your heartstrings that are yet so finely played
The harp-like tune has you swayed.

But the chorus impales you now and then
The beautiful sequence of screeches and squawks that only you hear
Wings beat and flap and sharp beaks peck
Against your ribs.

A loud face with embers of sage that scream boldly
In your direction. An expression that thaws
Then a loving, mocking guise
You could never tell
But the picture has you lose your legs
And like a plague it hurts as well.

25. 15 Aug 2023 00:14

chelydra

great to see these signs of life here! Many thanks to y'all who're making it happen. Strange twist: In 1962 I used to plant myself in a listening booth at a little record shop. I think the cover art was what attracted me to Dylan Thomas readings, but still. Do Not Go Gentle was the best thing I ever heard - and now 61 yrs later, it turns out to be a villanelle! 0f all things!