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Villanelle Definition: How to Write a Villanelle

Sean Glatch  |  February 7, 2023  |  7 Comments

villanelle writer's digest

A villanelle poem is a 19-lined formal poem that, although developed in the 17th century, was particularly prominent in the 20th. In fact, you have probably read or studied some villanelle examples in high school or beyond, such as Elizabeth Bishop’s “One Art” or Dylan Thomas’ “Do not go gentle into that good night.”

The villanelle form often lets poets dwell on obsession, and you’ll find in some of the famous villanelle poems we share how the structure of a villanelle contributes to lyrical, obsessive writing. Poets tend to feel things deeply, and this form gives poets license to put those feelings on the page.

This article examines how to write a villanelle poem, with particular attention to both form and content. But first, we need to define this popular and intricate poetry form. What is a villanelle poem?

Villanelle Definition: What is a Villanelle Poem?

A villanelle poem is a 19-lined poem broken up into 5 tercets and 1 quatrain. The poem has two different end rhymes running through it, and two different “refrains”—lines that are repeated throughout the poem.

Villanelle Definition: A 19-lined poem composed of 5 tercets and 1 quatrain, with two repeating end rhymes and two refrains.

Villanelle poetry has historically focused on topics of obsession for the poet, though more contemporary examples use the form to put unalike ideas in conversation with one another.

The most evocative part of a villanelle poem is, typically, the repeating refrains. As each refrain is re-employed in the poem, the lines adjacent to each refrain give the words new meaning, making the poem multifaceted and gleaming—a gemstone in the light.

You can see this for yourself in “One Art” by Elizabeth Bishop, one of the more well known villanelle examples in 20th century literature. Lines 1 and 3 are the refrains; take note of how each line is repeated in the poem.

The art of losing isn’t hard to master; so many things seem filled with the intent to be lost that their loss is no disaster.

Lose something every day. Accept the fluster of lost door keys, the hour badly spent. The art of losing isn’t hard to master.

Then practice losing farther, losing faster: places, and names, and where it was you meant to travel. None of these will bring disaster.

I lost my mother’s watch. And look! my last, or next-to-last, of three loved houses went. The art of losing isn’t hard to master.

I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster, some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent. I miss them, but it wasn’t a disaster.

—Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture I love) I shan’t have lied. It’s evident the art of losing’s not too hard to master though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.

Retrieved from Poetry Foundation . 

Notice how each iteration of each refrain communicates something new to the poem, despite using the same or similar words. Notice, also, how you hardly notice the rhyme scheme while reading this poem. We’ll dissect how to do this in our section on how to write a villanelle poem!

The Structure of a Villanelle

Let’s dissect the structure of a villanelle. Once this structure is laid out visually, it isn’t too hard to understand it—though of course, writing it is still tricky.

If you aren’t familiar with rhyme schemes, meter, or the other elements of formal poetry, brush up on those topics in our article What is Form in Poetry?

villanelle rhyme scheme: what is rhyme in poetry?

The villanelle rhyme scheme is mapped out in the above image—a copy of the poem “ Do not go gentle into that good night ” by Dylan Thomas. There is an A rhyme and a B rhyme. The two refrains, A1 and A2, always rhyme with the A rhyme; never the B rhyme. The B rhyme is always the second line of each stanza.

To reiterate, the villanelle rhyme scheme is as follows:

Typically, the structure of a villanelle does not have a particular meter. That is, you do not need to write your poem specifically in iambic pentameter. But, you will notice that a villanelle often is metrically uniform. Dylan Thomas does employ iambic pentameter. Elizabeth Bishop’s “One Art” has tercets of 11, 10, and 11 syllables, respectively.

Contemporary poets have tended to modify or break this structure if it better suits the language of their poem. We’ll point this out in the villanelle examples shared in this article.

Let’s see the structure of a villanelle in action now through some examples of the form.

Villanelle Poem Examples

The following villanelle poem examples come from living, contemporary poets. Pay attention to the musicality of each piece, and how the meaning of each refrain evolves throughout the poem. Read these poems like a poet!

“Instructions for the Hostage” by Erin Belieu

Originally published in The Kenyon Review , retrieved from Project Muse.

You must accept the door is never shut. You’re always free to leave at any time, though the hostage will remain, no matter what.

The damage could be managed, so you thought, essential to the theory of your crime: you must accept the door is never shut.

Soon, you’ll need to choose which parts to cut for proof of life, then settle on your spine— though the hostage will remain, no matter what.

Buried with a straw, it’s the weak that start considering their price. You’re no great sum. You must accept the door is never shut,

and make a half-life there, aware, apart, afraid your captor has misplaced you, so far down, though the hostage you’ll remain, no matter what.

Blink once for yes, and twice for yes—the heart has a signal for the willing, its purity sublime. You must accept the door was never shut, though the hostage will remain, no matter what.

The language of this poem is simply haunting. Without any context for the hostage situation—is it real or a metaphor ? How does it apply to our own lives?—the poem unsettles the reader, with paradoxical refrains weaving throughout the piece. How can you be a hostage, yet the door is always open? The poem doesn’t try to answer its own questions, but those questions lodge in the reader’s mind long after the poem ends.

You might notice that this poem breaks from the prescribed villanelle rhyme scheme. Stanzas 4 and 5 don’t have a B rhyme. Perhaps this break from form adds to the sense of “misplacement” in stanza 5, or suggests that a hostage situation is never as clean and formulaic as the captor wants it to be. There are many ways to interpret this, so read the poem several times, and try to engage with the language, its twists and turns, its oddities.

“Personal History” by Adrienne Su

Originally published in Poets.org’s “Poem-a-Day”

The world’s largest Confederate monument was too big to perceive on my earliest trips to the park. Unlike my parents, I was not an immigrant

but learned, in speech and writing, to represent. Picnicking at the foot and sometimes peak of the world’s largest Confederate monument,

we raised our Cokes to the first Georgian president. His daughter was nine like me, but Jimmy Carter, unlike my father, was not an immigrant.

Teachers and tour guides stressed the achievement of turning three vertical granite acres into art. Since no one called it a Confederate monument,

it remained invisible, like outdated wallpaper meant long ago to be stripped. Nothing at Stone Mountain Park echoed my ancestry, but it’s normal for immigrants

not to see themselves in landmarks. On summer nights, fireworks and laser shows obscured, with sparks, the world’s largest Confederate monument. Our story began when my parents arrived as immigrants.

The two refrain lines cleverly juxtapose the speaker’s immigrant narrative against the dominating Confederate monument. More clever, still, is the fact that these two refrains don’t rhyme—it’s a slant rhyme, which conveys some level of discord between the two interweaving narratives.

Notice, also, how the poem elucidates on the immigrant narrative, but the wording of “the world’s largest Confederate monument” doesn’t vary much. This helps portray the monument as an immovable monolith, while the immigrant experience is varied, multifaceted, and often neglected. Such skillful employment of each refrain makes this a subtle and highly effective villanelle poem.

“Villanelle” by Campbell McGrath

Retrieved from Poetry Foundation’s July/August 2006 “Humor Issue.”

Bouncing along like a punch-drunk bell, its Provençal shoes too tight for English feet, the villanelle is a form from hell.

Balletic as a tapir, strong as a gazelle, strict rhyme and formal meter keep a beat as tiresome as a punch-drunk bell-

hop talking hip hop at the IHOP—no substitutions on menu items, no fries with the chimichanga, no extra syrup—what the hell

was that? Where did my rhyme go—uh, compel— almost missed it again, damn, can you feel the heat coming off this sucker? Red hot! Ding! (Sound of a bell.)

Hey, do I look like a bellhop to you, like an el- evator operator, like a trained monkey or a parakeet singing in my cage? Get the hell

out of the Poetry Hotel! defeat   mesquite   tis mete   repeat Bouncing along like a punch-drunk bell, the villanelle is a form from—Write it!—hell.

This ironic twist on an ars poetica might not be the best written. Arguably, some of the lines are lazy or sloppy (defeat mesquite tis mete repeat? Please!). But the poem is also trying to resist the strictness inherent to the structure of a villanelle, even as it acknowledges its own poetic history (such as the “ Write it!” from “One Art” by Elizabeth Bishop).

If anything, this is actually a really fun challenge to do with formal poetry. How do you use the form of a poem against itself? How do you write a poem that’s both formal and funny? Take note of how McGrath both uses and refuses convention, playing with words mischievously while still conveying a clear argument.

“Villanelle with a Refrain from the Wall Street Journal” by Andrew Hudgins

Retrieved from The Atlantic.

Your twenties, thirties, forties, you’re a bull— if you think of life as something like the Dow. Though death of course is unavoidable,

you’re rising so fast rising’s almost dull, your daily highs untested by a low. Your twenties, thirties, forties, you’re a bull,

and life, for now, is fast and overfull— for now, you might say, chuckling, for now— though death, of course, is unavoidable.

You’re savvy enough, I’m sure, and fully able to plan for when the market starts to slow. Your twenties, thirties, forties, you’re a bull,

and all your hours, all, are billable, as you tell others what, but mostly how, though death, of course, is unavoidable.

Like contracts, life is fully voidable, allow deferring soon to disallow. Your twenties, thirties, forties, you’re a bull, though death, of course, is unavoidable.

This villanelle poem doesn’t resist satire , or the urge to point out the folly of the rich. The refrain lines stand in stark contrast against each other, reminding the reader that money has no value after death, and also reminding the reader that the perils of the stock market, like death, prove unavoidable.

Hudgins’ poem was written and published shortly after the ‘08 market crash, and this poem captures the anger, resentment, and fear coursing through the zeitgeist of the aughts. Is life really worth living when it’s at the whims of money and the stock market? How can we live better lives outside of this financial paradigm?

More Villanelle Poem Examples

For more poems to inspire, provoke, and challenge your reading and writing, read the following villanelle examples.

  • “Mad Girl’s Love Song” by Sylvia Plath
  • “The Waking” by Theodore Roethke
  • “Missing Dates” by William Empson
  • “ I am Not a Myth” by Matthew Hittinger
  • “Miranda” by W. H. Auden
  • “The House on the Hill” by Edwin Arlington Robinson
  • “Improvisation on Lines by Isaac the Blind” by Peter Cole
  • “The World and the Child” by James Merrill
  • “Broad Arrow Cafe” by Joe Dolce
  • “My Darling Turns to Poetry at Night” by Anthony Lawrence
  • “Poem” by James Schuyler

Experimental Villanelle Poem Examples

Poets can’t leave form alone. While the classic structure of a villanelle continues to serve poets well, contemporary poets have also tinkered quite liberally with the length, form, and requirements of the poem. What happens when you add extra stanzas? A third refrain? Why not play around with every word in the second refrain, and see what happens?

Experimentations in form should be done with intent. They should draw your eye towards something unique in the language, or else work within the context of the poem as a whole to deepen the poem’s meaning. Read and enjoy the following villanelle poems closely, with attention to how the form has been broken or expanded.

  • “Are you not weary of ardent ways” by James Joyce
  • “Villainhelle” by David Mills (our talented instructor!)
  • “Twerk” by Porsha Olayiwola
  • “Testimony: 1968” by Rita Dove

See also the terzanelle , a form that combines the villanelle and the terza rima.

How to Write a Villanelle Poem

For poets seeking to conquer the form, here’s some advice on how to write a villanelle poem.

1. Sharpen Your Refrains

The refrains of a villanelle are usually the most memorable lines of the poem. They are also the lines that form the poem’s backbone. 8 of the poem’s 19 lines are refrain lines, so when you hone these, you’ve already written about 40% of the poem!

Here are some considerations for crafting strong villanelle refrains:

  • How do the two lines interact with each other? Do they complement each other, or do they clash? Side by side, each refrain should deepen and/or complicate the other one’s meaning.
  • Do the lines rhyme? Do they slant rhyme? Does one line remain stable, while the other one is modified throughout the poem? (Some modification is acceptable within the standard structure of a villanelle.)
  • Does each refrain have the same number of syllables? The same meter? If not, do they still have a certain rhythm with each other?

2. Be Intentional With Form

The villanelle is a highly formal poem. As such, the poet should be highly intentional with form.

Pay attention to how poets play with the form in any of the villanelle poem examples we’ve shared. Get granular: count the number of syllables in each line, pay attention to how refrains are preserved or modified in each stanza, listen to how the rhyme scheme adds to or inhibits this flow, etc.

Then, make decisions within the context of your own poem. Do you want your refrain lines to get along, or to clash with each other? Do you want the rhyme scheme to flow from one line to the next, or do you want to play with poetic devices like cacophony?

3. Write Patiently and Slowly

Reading some of the villanelles we’ve shared in this article, poets make the form look easy. In reality, the villanelle form requires slow, patient work.

Don’t expect the poem to be perfect in a first draft, and don’t expect the words to come quickly. When you’re working within the confines of rhyming words and syllable constraints, finding the right words requires a lot of close, careful attention to language.

Rather, let yourself be challenged by the form. Expect difficulty, rather than immediate reward. You will find that the villanelle produces some incredibly powerful lines, but only if you lean into the work. It may take weeks, even months of tinkering with words, but the poetic payout can prove immense.

4. Read Out Loud, and Count Your Syllables

When you have a first draft, read it out loud. How does each line sound? Does it flow the way you want it to? Does the rhythm help spotlight the language? Do you find each stanza complicating the meaning of the refrains?

Count your syllables, too. Even if you aren’t trying to be metrically uniform, you might notice that certain lines read awkwardly, and that they have one syllable too many or too few.

Lastly, take note of the villanelle rhyme scheme. Do you notice the rhymes as you read the poem? If they stand out or feel awkward in the poem, it’s probably because some of the rhyming words aren’t essential; rather, they were shoehorned in to meet the structural requirements. This is the most dangerous part of rhymes—that they can support form without supporting the poem as a whole. Take note when this happens, and plan to revise.

Read your poem out loud a couple of times, and perhaps circle the words that are doing the least work or are inhibiting the flow of the poem.

5. Revise Ruthlessly, Relentlessly

You might need to break down entire stanzas to get the language right. You might even realize your refrains aren’t working the way you want them too. Again, the villanelle is a challenging form. It demands a lot from the poet, it’s slippery as an eel, and there aren’t any cheap tricks or easy craft fixes to produce a powerful poem.

Be open to experimentation and change in the revision process. Save every draft you write, and be willing to tear everything apart, to move stanzas around, to spend hours tinkering on a single word.

You might also find opportunities to break with the standard villanelle form. If you do this, do it with intention. Breaks in form shouldn’t be incidental or convenient, but they should be put in conversation with the content of the poem itself.

Put Form to Poetry at Writers.com

Want to try your hand at formal poetry in a writing class? Take a look at the upcoming poetry courses at Writers.com, where you’ll receive expert feedback on every poem you write, whether it’s free verse, prosaic, or formal like a villanelle.

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Sean Glatch

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very helpful thanks

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Sean, this is the most informed, considered and creative article on writing the villanelle I’ve come across. I referred to it as I composed a villanelle for a submission call a few months ago, and it was accepted. I was patient, ruthless and It went through several iterations before I felt it had “arrived”, Thank you so much for all your process tips & the stunning array of example villanelles. It makes an indispensable resource.

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Hi Melissa,

Congratulations on your poetry acceptance! I would love to read your poem, if you’re comfortable sharing it with me? I’d even like to share it in our newsletter if you’re comfortable with that. I’m so glad this resource could help you write your villanelle. Happy writing!

I’m sorry about the delay in reply. This website doesn’t appear to notify one of new comments, so luckily I came back to peruse the list of villanelles and saw your reply today! Yes, I’m happy to share the link for you to read. It isn’t directly on Quill & Crow’s website, but the issue is available via a free downloadable PDF (also hard copy mag available to purchase) at the link below. Happy for you to also share the link in your newsletter, but just a note that my contract stipulates I can’t republish the poem in full anywhere for 5 more months. https://www.quillandcrowpublishinghouse.com/cqmagazine2023 I’d be comfortable with you sharing the first verse in the newsletter and then the link. I just used that approach myself in a how-to piece on writing the vilanelle that was published on Medium.com.

If you’d like a more direct way to contact me, my email address is: ask.the.seeds [at] gmail.com

Thanks again for your interest!

Thank you, Melissa! We will include a link to your poem in our newsletter on Tuesday. Congratulations again!

Wonderful, Sean. Thank you. I don’t think I’ve signed up to Writers.com newsletter. How do I get myself on the list? 🙂

I’ve just added you! You’ll receive our newsletter every Tuesday 🙂

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villanelle writer's digest

How to Write a Villanelle (with Examples)

by Dusty Grein

Hailing from 15th and 16th century French and Italian roots, the villanelle is arguably one of the strongest repeating refrain forms in classical poetry.

How to Write a Sonnet How to Write a Haiku How to Write a Limerick How to Write Rondeau

Its use of two alternating refrains creates an echo that reverberates throughout its mere nineteen lines. The result is an intensity that can be both haunting and powerful; it is this intensity that leads the villanelle to most often be used in the dramatic creation of strong emotions, or deeply emotional themes.

It is a very rigidly structured form, but due to its limited rhyming foot scheme—only two rhyme sounds are used—and its use of two refrain lines, it can be less difficult to compose than many other structured forms. The poem is comprised of six stanzas: five tercets followed by a single quatrain, each of which uses at least one of the refrain lines, in alternating sequence.

Here is the basic pattern, using A1 for the first refrain, A2 for the second, and (a) and (b) for the other lines. Each stanza is shown on a single line here, but is made of individual lines in the poem:

Stanza 1:    A1, b, A2 Stanza 2:    a, b, A1 Stanza 3:    a, b, A2 Stanza 4:    a, b, A1 Stanza 5:    a, b, A2 Stanza 6:    a, b, A1, A2.

Technically the villanelle doesn’t require a meter, but the majority of classic poets have used solid meters when crafting them; this helps to create the rhythmic cadence that is part of the form’s magic.

Perhaps the most famous villanelle ever written is Dylan Thomas’s “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night.” Written in iambic pentameter, it is a remarkable nineteen lines:

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Dylan Thomas, 1947

Creating One of Your Own

Crafting a villanelle presents us with a couple challenges.  The first, and most important, is to choose a meter and create your refrains. For this, you must use your own poetic judgment and creativity.

Keep in mind that these two lines will echo throughout the body of the poem. They must work together, in both your opening stanza as well as the final statement in the ending quatrain. These two lines must also stand alone, as the final line in each tercet stanza along the way.

I have found that choosing a theme makes it easier to build two rhyming metered lines. For this example I have chosen to use friendship as a theme, and I am going to use iambic pentameter… not because it’s required for the form, but because I like the cadence it produces.

With this in mind, after some deliberation, my two refrain lines will be:

(A1) Hold my hand in yours; we’ll make it through. (A2) For no one understands me like you do.

This meter decision and the creation of these two lines is the most difficult part of the villanelle crafting process. Once you have written these echoing lines that fit together, you can create the framework of poetic feet that will comprise the poem itself. Following the villanelle’s pattern, I get:

Note: in this pattern, (-) will represent a soft syllable, and (=) will represent a hard one with (|) as a separator between feet.

(A1) Hold my hand in yours; we’ll make it through. (b)  –  = | –  = | –  = | –  = | –  = (A2) For no one understands me like you do.

(a)  –  = | –  = | –  = | –  = | –  = (b)  –  = | –  = | –  = | –  = | –  = (A1) Hold my hand in yours; we’ll make it through.

(a)  –  = | –  = | –  = | –  = | –  = (b)  –  = | –  = | –  = | –  = | –  = (A2) For no one understands me like you do.

(a)  –  = | –  = | –  = | –  = | –  = (b)  –  = | –  = | –  = | –  = | –  = (A1) Hold my hand in yours; we’ll make it through. (A2) For no one understands me like you do.

As you can see, we need 5 (a) lines, and 6 (b) lines to complete the poem, and these must flow within the theme. Since I already know the rhyme sound for (a), I chose the following list:   y ou, too, blue, new, view

I then chose six keywords that rhymed with each other that felt like good accents to this list:   comprehend, friend, pretend, send, mend, end

By plugging these into the pattern, and then creating iambic feet that rounded out the meter, I was able to build a nice poem that fit the theme.

Hold My Hand In Yours

Hold my hand in yours; we’ll make it through. If life becomes too hard to comprehend, for no one understands me like you do.

Along life’s lonely road, I’ll walk with you. When times are hard, please know you have a friend. Hold my hand in yours; we’ll make it through.

I’m here for you. You give me your strength too; my courage is no longer just pretend, for no one understands me like you do.

My friend, I’ll cheer you up when you are blue, A smile, my heart to yours will always send. Hold my hand in yours; we’ll make it through.

If I am down, you make me feel brand new You know the way, my broken heart to mend, for no one understands me like you do.

Though oft times life presents a horrid view, Together we can face the bitter end. Hold my hand in yours; we’ll make it through, for no one understands me like you do.

© 2016, Dusty Grein

It may not be Dylan Thomas, but I kind of like the result. It could stand a bit of editing and some polishing, but it is a solid foundation.

As you can see, the crafting of a classic metered poem, even in a form as rigid as the villanelle, is something that can be challenging, yet fun. Writing metered rhymes in these types of forms will help you grow as a poet, and I encourage you to challenge yourself, and see what happens.

Other Villanelles published by the Society of Classical Poets

Apes or Angels Gospel According to Hoffman-Laroche Coming Out, a Holocaust Vilanelle Camino D’Oro

Dusty Grein is an author, poet and graphics designer from Federal Way, Washington. He currently lives in the Pacific Northwest, where his 15 year old daughter is hard at work securing her college degree while still in high school, and raising him right. When he is not busy writing, he donates a great deal of his time and graphics talent. In honor of his grandson Eddy, lost to SIDS at 13 weeks old, he creates free memorial images for bereaved families, with a special focus on infant and pregnancy loss. His blog, From Grandpa’s Heart… is followed by fans around the world.

NOTE TO READERS: If you enjoyed this poem or other content, please consider making a donation to the Society of Classical Poets.

The Society of Classical Poets does not endorse any views expressed in individual poems or commentary.

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10 Responses

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Thanks for such a thorough and clear explanation of the villanelle!

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You are very welcome. This is actually third in my series of “How To” essays on classic forms. Villanelles can be powerful if they are built with the right imagery 🙂

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Thank you very much, Dusty, on the information and also sharing your own villanelle. I’ll try using meter in my next one following your well presented instructions.

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Yes, this is a great villanelle.

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You did this beautifully. I wrote a villanelle recently on transgender teens of all things, and it is indeed challenging, but fun. Your poem is exquisite and demonstrates the ideas perfectly.

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Excellent analysis and explication. Thank you.

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Knowing that it’s a mind rattling form, I decided to give it a try. I wrote one a few days ago and I hadn’t read this post until today. After having read the above, I feel i have done a good job. Thank you.

I’m happy that this article gave you a sense of satisfaction with your crafting. I would love to read your poem – Dusty

Glad to share it here:

Here the crooked’s feared, the truthful censured; Times of neither autumn nor spring extend, But on life’s tree, deeds as fruits are assured.

True well wishers prefer to be obscured, Beyond death, fondness of kin doesn’t transcend; Here the crooked’s feared, the truthful censured.

With grey hair, wealth of justice is secured, Yet the blunders of youth cannot be mend; But on life’s tree, deeds as fruits are assured.

Curtains of fame are drawn on eyes allured; At transient bliss, rays of vision bend, Here the crooked’s feared, the truthful censured.

Like a sick rose, wrath of love is endured, All lovers are meant to lie and pretend; But on life’s tree, deeds as fruits are assured.

Shed a tear! Let forgiveness be procured, Since our numbered years steadily ascend; Here the crooked’s feared, the truthful censured, But on life’s tree, deeds as fruits are assured.

© 2016, Satyananda Sarangi. All rights reserved.

Nicely crafted piece! Thank you for sharing it here.

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villanelle writer's digest

Villanelle Definition

What is a villanelle? Here’s a quick and simple definition:

A villanelle is a poem of nineteen lines, and which follows a strict form that consists of five tercets (three-line stanzas) followed by one quatrain (four-line stanza). Villanelles use a specific rhyme scheme of ABA for their tercets, and ABAA for the quatrain. The first and third lines of the first tercet function as repeating refrains , which alternate as the final line of each subsequent tercet and appear again as the two final lines of the concluding quatrain. Although villanelles often do use meter , they don't have to use any one type of meter in particular.

More Details on Form:

  • The first villanelle in the form known today was written in 1606 by the French poet Jean Passerat.
  • Villanelles are notoriously tricky to write because of their strict form and double refrain.
  • Some poets who write villanelle's slightly modify the form. They might, for instance, modify the one or both of the refrains in the quatrain, or otherwise vary how they use the refrains.

Villanelle Pronunciation

Here's how to pronounce villanelle: vil-uh- nell

Form of the Villanelle

The defining features of the villanelle are its stanzas , rhyme scheme and refrains, which follow these rules:

  • Stanzas: The villanelle has five tercets (three-line stanzas) followed by one quatrain (four-line stanza).
  • Rhyme scheme: The villanelle has only two rhymes that repeat throughout the poem. Each of the tercets follows the rhyme scheme ABA, while the quatrain follows the pattern ABAA.
  • Refrain: Villanelles have two refrains, or lines of verse that repeat throughout the poem. The first and third lines of the first tercet alternate as the last lines of the remaining tercets. In the last stanza, a quatrain, these two lines appear again as the final two lines of the poem.

It can be hard to grasp all of these rules without an example, so we've provided one: Jean Passerat's poem "Villanelle (I lost my turtledove)," the first fixed-form villanelle ever written. The formal aspects of the villanelle are highlighted: the first line of the poem is repeated as a refrain at the end of the second and fourth tercets; the third line is repeated at the end of the third and fifth tercets. The A B A rhyme scheme for the tercets, and A B AA rhyme scheme for the quatrain, are color-coded as well.

I have lost my turtledove : Isn't that her gentle coo ? I will go and find my love . Here you mourn your mated love ; Oh, God—I am mourning too : I have lost my turtledove . If you trust your faithful dove , Trust my faith is just as true ; I will go and find my love . Plaintively you speak your love ; All my speech is turned into "I have lost my turtledove ." Such a beauty was my dove , Other beauties will not do ; I will go and find my love . Death, again entreated of , Take one who is offered you : I have lost my turtledove ; I will go and find my love .

History of the Villanelle

Prior to the 17th century, the term "villanelle" was used to refer to a style of lyric verse that was similar to a ballad and did not have a fixed form. The term simply carried the connotation of "country song." In 1606, however, the French poet Jean Passerat published a poem entitled "Villanelle (J'ay perdu ma Tourterelle)," which translates to "Villanelle (I lost my turtledove)" and followed the form described above—five tercets and one quatrain following an ABA rhyme scheme with two repeating refrains.

In the mid-1800s, two-and-a-half centuries after the original publication of "Villanelle (J'ay perdu ma Tourterelle)," a handful of minor French Romantic poets rediscovered Passerat's poem and, mistaking its form for a traditional one, began to mimic it in their own writing. In the 1870s, the English poets Edmund Gosse and Austin Dobson adopted the form, and since that time most villanelles have been written in English.

Though most modernist poets in the 20th century had very little respect for the villanelle (regarding the strictness of its form as stifling to their creativity), many poets of the 20th century continued to write villanelles.

Villanelle Examples

Edmund gosse's "villanelle".

One of the first fixed-form villanelles to have been written in English, Gosse's 1877 poem was critical to both the standardization and popularization of the form. This villanelle is written in loose iambic tetrameter, and has a few irregularities worth pointing out. The first refrain (i.e., "Wouldst thou not be content to die?") is omitted from the final quatrain (though the same end-rhyme is used: "die"). The second refrain (i.e., "And golden Autumn passes by?") appears in a few slightly altered forms throughout the poem—sometimes phrased as a question, sometimes in the present tense, and sometimes in past tense—though in each variation it retains the same basic message (golden autumns pass by).

WOULDST thou not be content to die When low-hung fruit is hardly clinging , And golden Autumn passes by ? Beneath this delicate rose-gray sky , While sunset bells are faintly ringing , Wouldst thou not be content to die ? For wintry webs of mist on high Out of the muffled earth are springing , And golden Autumn passes by . O now when pleasures fade and fly , And Hope her southward flight is winging , Wouldst thou not be content to die ? Lest Winter come, with wailing cry His cruel icy bondage bringing , When golden Autumn hath passed by . And thou, with many a tear and sigh , While life her wasted hands is wringing , Shalt pray in vain for leave to die When golden Autumn hath passed by .

Wilde's "A Villanelle"

Oscar Wilde was another early adopter of the villanelle. Wilde was more widely read than Gosse, Dobson, and other English poets who employed the form in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Wilde was therefore an important contributor to the form's rise to prominence. This is a traditional villanelle, meeting all the criteria of the form with no variations or exceptions. It's written in iambic tetrameter.

O singer of Persephone ! In the dim meadows desolate Dost thou remember Sicily ? Still through the ivy flits the bee Where Amaryllis lies in state ; O Singer of Persephone ! Simaetha calls on Hecate And hears the wild dogs at the gate ; Dost thou remember Sicily ? Still by the light and laughing sea Poor Polypheme bemoans his fate ; O Singer of Persephone ! And still in boyish rivalry Young Daphnis challenges his mate ; Dost thou remember Sicily ? Slim Lacon keeps a goat for thee , For thee the jocund shepherds wait ; O Singer of Persephone ! Dost thou remember Sicily ?

W.H. Auden's "If I Could Tell You"

The English poet W.H. Auden wrote numerous villanelles and contributed to a revival of the form in the 1930s. Notice how Auden has slightly varied the second-to-last line of the poem, which in a typical villanelle would match the first line of the poem. .

Time will say nothing but I told you so , Time only knows the price we have to pay ; If I could tell you I would let you know . If we should weep when clowns put on their show , If we should stumble when musicians play , Time will say nothing but I told you so . There are no fortunes to be told, although , Because I love you more than I can say , If I could tell you I would let you know . ... Suppose the lions all get up and go , And all the brooks and soldiers run away ; Will Time say nothing but I told you so ? If I could tell you I would let you know .

This excerpt includes only the first three and the final stanzas of the poem If you want to read the full poem, you can find it here .

Elizabeth Bishop's "One Art"

Though it does not adhere strictly to the form of the villanelle, Elizabeth Bishop's "One Art" is nonetheless a noteworthy contribution to the list of poems that were influenced by villanelles. As in a traditional villanelle, Bishop uses the first line of the poem as the poem's first refrain, but instead of using the entire third line as the second refrain, she simply uses the last word of that line ("disaster") to also end the lines that would normally repeat the refrain. This excerpt includes only the first three and the final stanzas of the poem.

The art of losing isn’t hard to master ; so many things seem filled with the intent to be lost that their loss is no disaster . Lose something every day. Accept the fluster of lost door keys, the hour badly spent . The art of losing isn’t hard to master . Then practice losing farther, losing faster : places, and names, and where it was you meant to travel. None of these will bring disaster . ... —Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture I love) I shan’t have lied. It’s evident the art of losing’s not too hard to master though it may look like ( Write it!) like disaster .

Why Do Writers Choose to Write Villanelles?

There are a number of reasons why writers might choose to write a poem in the form of a villanelle:

  • To challenge themselves. The form of the villanelle is strict, and the double refrain, in particular, is difficult to use. Because the poem repeats itself so frequently and the refrains are shuffled in throughout the poem, the refrains (as well as the surrounding text) must be put together very artfully to create a poem whose pieces seem to work together.
  • To participate in a poetic tradition. The very first poets to begin writing in the fixed-form villanelle mistakenly believed they were reviving a traditional French form of poetry. Thereafter, many of the poets who adopted the form in their own writing did so, in part, out of a desire not only to experiment with new forms, but to participate in a growing tradition. Some poets thus choose to write villanelles in order to put their own work in direct dialogue with the work of both their predecessors and contemporaries.
  • To add dimension to the words. The double refrain of the villanelle has a re-ordering effect on the entire poem, as the same lines appear in different contexts throughout. The words of the refrains find new meaning in each context in which they reappear, giving the poem a greater sense of depth and dimension.

Other Helpful Villanelle Resources

  • The Wikipedia Page on Villanelle: A somewhat technical explanation, including various helpful examples.
  • The dictionary definition of Villanelle: A basic definition that includes a bit on the etymology of villanelle.
  • A quick explanation of the form of the villanelle in under two minutes
  • A recording of Leonard Cohen's song, "A Villanelle for Our Time"
  • A reading of the popular modern villanelle "Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night" by Dylan Thomas

The printed PDF version of the LitCharts literary term guide on Villanelle

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Ethical ELA

for teachers by teachers

Now, scroll to the comment section below to write your own poem. (This is a public space, so you may use only your first name or initials depending on your privacy preferences.) Not ready? That’s okay. Read the poems already posted for more inspiration. Ponder your own throughout the day. Return later. And, if the prompt does not work for you, that is fine. All writing is welcome. Just write something. Also, please be sure to respond to at least three writers. Oh, and a note about drafting: Since we are writing in short bursts, we all understand (and even welcome) the typos and partial poems that remind us we are human and that writing is always becoming. If you’d like to invite other teachers to write with us, tell them to subscribe.

villanelle writer's digest

Tracie McCormick holds master’s degrees in English and school leadership and teaches ELA and social studies in Oak Forest, IL. Her one word this year is ATTEMPT, so she is enjoying new methods of personal and professional growth, which is what led her to ethicalela.com. Follow her on Twitter at @TracieMcTeacher.

The Inspiration

Villanelle. This form stopped me in my tracks. Does it take its root from the word villain? I had to investigate. I was intrigued! Writer’s Digest told me, “The villanelle consists of five tercets and a quatrain with line lengths of 8-10 syllables. The first and third lines of the first stanza become refrains that repeat throughout the poem.” Eh…not too exciting. But then I fell into a rabbit hole investigating other uses of the word itself. Names of perfumes, assassins, obsessions… Which is when I determined that, of course, a villanelle would be our next poem form!

Dylan Thomas modeled this form in this well known poem .

The idea of writing about a topic over which we obsess grabbed me. I obsess over exactly how to reach middle schoolers, how to make them discover the love of reading. I mostly followed the traditional villanelle format, but I had too much to say. I could not be confined by repeating entire lines. Rather, just their last words. What began as expressing my ideas in a pattern of 9 or 10 syllables, turned into a pull-my-hair-out challenge., which I LOVED!!

What is your obsessive thought? You perseverate over it. You seek its solutions. It causes you unrest. Face it. Address it in the villanelle format. Tackle it in its traditional form or make it your own. Maybe you will, like me, find yourself obsessing over choosing just the right way to word your feelings about your obsession. How beautifully maddening!

If you are pressed for time and/or stamina, try a couple stanzas or just one if that is all that is in you today. Just write.

And here are a few more examples..

Tracie’s Poem

The CCSS experts agree (9) all the middle school students I call mine (10) read at or above grade level, see?(9)

Reading for information is key (9) in standard successful student design, (10) But how? We cannot seem to agree! (9)

Enticing teens to read ain’t easy (9) when their attention is stolen by thine (10) apps Among Us, Snap, and Insta, see? (9)

The author, genre, theme repartee…(9) debate rages over texts to assign.(10) Each has merits, on that we agree. (9)

Reading logs is not a guarantee. (9) Classic lit, summer reads…are they benign?(10) Wait for the test results then we’ll see.(9)

These days I’m on a read aloud spree. (9) For the old days of SSR, I pine.(10) But how? We cannot seem to agree! (9) Read at or above grade level, see? (9)

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steve z

Who am I to teach them how to compose?

To grow an idea and bring it to light;

lay their souls to bare and natures exposed,

assume the challenge of poem and prose,

to describe the stars revealed by the night.

To bade them from their creative repose,

to divulge their thoughts and pen black to white;

lay their souls to bare and natures exposed.

I’ll teach them language that portrays and shows,

absolutes, action verbs, adjectives bright.

A teacher, a writer, and one who knows

the satisfaction they’ll find when they write,

I will nurture them and dare to suppose

an inspiration eager to ignite.

I am who, to teach them how to compose,

Mo Daley

This is wonderful, Steve! And I’m pretty sure you’ve answered your question with this poem. Thank you so much for sharing it with us.

Katrina Morrison

Tracie, I love the villanelle. Thank you for this challenge!

Books are only human, you see. So, why don’t you give them a try? Books exist for you and for me.

Seems the best things in life are free, Flitting in like the butterfly. Books are only human, you see.

Their pages yield such mystery For the naked gaze of your eye. Books exist for you and for me.

Now you can always disagree And like day old bread set them by. Books are only human, you see.

When from their words you cannot flee, Tears blotting them out as you cry, Books exist for you and for me.

Their pull you might not long defy, So, why don’t you give them a try? Books are only human, you see. Books exist for you and for me.

Stacey Joy

Katrina, your poem would be perfect in a classroom library, school library, bookstore, anywhere that people get books! I love it.

Their pull you might not long defy, So, why don’t you give them a try?

This is perfect!

I can’t resist a poem about books! Well done. This would be a great way to start the school year.

Rachelle Lipp

I penned this poem yesterday while driving through a national forest, but I forgot to type it up and post it. Yesterday I celebrated a streak of 300 days of writing in a row, so that is what prompted this less-than-perfect villanelle 🙂

“Inspiration”

“Not a day without a line” Pliny the Elder once did write. Pen to paper–you’ll be just fine.

Even on days the sun doesn’t shine Or you’ve been up all through the night “Not a day without a line.”

Somedays time doesn’t align, but don’t go down without a fight! Pen to paper–you’ll be just fine.

You don’t have to pen Frankenstein (although, who knows, you just might!) “Not a day without a line.”

Imagine each word like a grape on a vine and you’re salivating for a bite.  Pen to paper–you’ll be just fine.

Now if you were looking for a sign, this is your chance; go on and write! “Not a day without a line”; Pen to paper–you’ll be just fine.

Allison Berryhill

Rachelle, I’m so glad I visited this page again and found your poem! I’m in awe of your 300-day writing streak, and this was a perfect way to celebrate. I loved the grape on a vine/ salivating for a bite!

Cara Fortey

Rachelle, This is such a wonderful ode to your writing dedication! I have tried, in vain, to start a journaling habit, but I type SO much faster than I handwrite, so it hasn’t “taken.” I love how writing this poem also fulfills your goal. Nicely done!

Emily D

This is great! I particularly like “each word like a grape on a vine,” and “some days the time doesn’t align/but don’t go down without a fight!” But really, 300 days in a row? Wow! That’s something I’m going to have to think about!

Glenda M. Funk

I love the villanelle form, especially Elizabeth Bishop’s “One Art,” but these closed forms are killing me this month as I travel. I am exhausted but want to write poetry almost as much as I want to travel.

Carpe Wanderlust

A world of wanderlust awaits  our arrival on distant shores beyond boundaries of man made states,

and a walk through rainforests abates  daily stresses, and the grind of chores where a world of wanderlust awaits. 

Eschew temporal material tastes: McMansions, fads, time-sensitive “moores,” those boundaries of man made states. 

Technologies’ latest updates  Tempt and entice with algorithmic scores  while a world of wanderlust awaits 

those destined to master their fates,  trekking outside the lines; they’re explorers  beyond boundaries of man made states.

A life in stasis creates dire straits,  so why hesitate? Earth opens her doors  on a world where wanderlust awaits beyond boundaries of man made states. 

Susie Morice

Glenda – This is such a fitting poem from your trekking! I’ve imagined you in that rainforest and felt your love of learning there. And the beauty of engaging in the vast world of nature butting up against the tech that can suck the life out of us… and yet we both love recording these wanderlust moments. I feel in your repeated lines that push against boundaries… so fitting. I love the title, as it sets me up for that familiar Glenda voice. Hugs to you on your trail! Susie

Maureen Young Ingram

Glenda, this is a marvelous testament to your travels! I love especially the invitation of “so why hesitate? Earth opens her doors”

Denise Hill

Interesting to see the use of “states” here – which has multiple meanings. That adds depth and complexity to this already complex subject. Ironic that all these “things” we have created [McMansions, fads, time-sensitive “moores,”] to make us feel better are exactly what are also causes us “daily stresses.” Why hesitate, indeed! (Irony that here we all are at our computers on beautiful summer days! But wait – this is GOOD state stuff!)

This is a fitting poem for your travels. The last stanza worked especially well for me. And sorry about all the crazy forms, but we knew you could do it!

Tracie, THANK you for this challenge! I love how you invited us to write about an obsession. That made me think about how so many (too many) times I’ve beleaguered anyone who’ll listen with my school’s tradition of charging teachers a fee to wear jeans on Fridays. I actually enjoyed how pushing against the villanelle pattern gave me time to resent this (ridiculous!) “policy” even more! 🙂

The teachers at our school are charged a fee to wear a pair of jeans one day each week. Two dollars pays for denim liberty.

I used to pay the charge and let it be but slowly ooze of my resentment leaked: The teachers at our school can pay a FEE?

Collected cash then goes to charity. And somehow this affronts me week by week. Two dollars pays for denim liberty?

So on I stew and grumble angrily beneath my breath; refuse to play. I seek out colleagues who resent the charge like me. 

Yet no one seems to hear my righteous plea! “It’s just two bucks,” they say, their glance oblique. Two dollars pays for denim liberty.

I struggle to find equanimity while fretting on an issue small and week. Yet teachers at our school are charged a fee: Two dollars is the price of liberty.

Oh, Allison, the union rep in me is shouting, “Put an end to this!” It sounds like extortion for charity. I’ll contribute to the charities I want when I want. I sure hope you don’t have a dress code in your contract. What would happen if you wore jeans on a Monday? I have so many questions!

Barb Edler

Allison, I can totally understand your frustration and resentment for being charged to wear jeans. It continually amazes me how teachers are treated. Ugh! Our state eliminated teachers right to bargain which Keokuk teachers fought for back in 1969. Feeling affronted is the perfect word to project this asinine fee. I feel a rant coming on! Your poem is a window into a culture that needs to be remedied.

Denise Krebs

Allison, I love that you chose this subject to write about. Those pet peeves are funny in our lives, and I think a poem about one is a fine diversion. I can see that you are thinking of something bigger in these lines:

Yet no one seems to hear my righteous plea! “It’s just two bucks,” they say, their glance oblique.

and your final refrain where “denim” is removed.

Allison, I share your righteous indignation. Coerced charity isn’t charity or charitable. I love your poem and the argument inherent in it. I tell you, that policy would cause mutiny in my school.

Oh my gosh, Allison! Your poem just sent me through the roof! A doggone FEE to wear a pair of $90 denims?!?!?!?! A fee to pull on comfortable, durable pants?!?!?! Charity, my foot! That’s a crock! Not to mention demeaning regard for teachers as hard working professional adults who are hired to open minds. And the lemmings who blindly say “It’s just two bucks” … a bloomin’ denim TAX! Smearing the line between charity and coercion is a sorry rub. In solidarity, my friend, I raise my fist and drop my denim drawers! I love that the villanelle reinforces so rousingly the plaint of your voice here. I LOVE this poem! Love your voice! Susie

Ohhhhhh helllllll no!!! I can’t even get through this without panting in frustration and anger. I don’t want to believe this is real. I just can’t.

Wear the damn jeans every damn day and write a check to the charity of your choice, photocopy it, and place it in the teachers’ boxes who don’t support you.

Furious! The things some people do in our schools baffle me. Our dress code is no code. This is both good and bad. Some wear basketball shorts while others where professional clothes. I have to say, I’m in the middle. I wear denim (all colors) 4 days a week. In my first 10 years of teaching I wore dresses more than pants. Honestly, it should be a choice. Everyone is not able to fit into these little boxes.

Well, thanks for this vent. LOL!

I struggle to find equanimity while fretting on an issue small and week.

They need to stop!

Emily Yamasaki

What You Don’t Know By: Emily Yamasaki

It’s true, you don’t know what you don’t know Muscles tensed, anticipate the impact A gradual squeeze, clean, hold. Release.

Each physiological fiber strung taut each hour, unbeknownst to you It’s true, you don’t know what you don’t know

The dull sensation barely whispers it takes a while to recognize Pain A gradual squeeze, clean, hold. Release.

The mind is diligent, life triage Prioritize – a worker bee – Doing It’s true, you don’t know what you don’t know

Despite the resilient mind’s eye The body will always overpower A gradual squeeze, clean, hold. Release.

So you must honor the body first Respecting its limits, noticing Pain It’s true, you don’t know what you don’t know A gradual squeeze, clean, hold. Release.

Emily, I’m totally enraptured by your poem. The action makes me think of pain, but a deeper emotional turmoil resonates throughout this. Very thought-provoking!

Honor the body first. Such simple advise, yet so many of us don’t do that. I wonder why.

Emily, wow. Pain would be an obsessive thought. Thank you for sharing your pain here. I like that final refrain, which gives hope and how to handle it.

There is something about the refrain “A gradual squeeze, clean, hold. Release.” which actually lends itself to respond in an almost negating way to the subject matter of pain. The word choices are not combative against the pain, but almost more like a kind of meditative mantra, with actions similar to how we focus on muscles in yogic practice (stretch, hold, release) as well as in muscle-building exercises (which is also a squeeze, hold, release). Amazing how centralized our whole existence can become – focusing on such a miniscule element in the scope of the external universe, but how it can truly overtake an entire internal universe. A topic I never would have imagined seeing, but works so well in this form.

Emily, I needed this poem even though I’m a little late reading. I’ve been dealing with pain that I attribute to 2020-2021 and not being up all day and on my feet. It’s a struggle. I love how you included the mind/body connection:

Despite the resilient mind’s eye The body will always overpower

As much as my mind says I can do something, my body revolts. I guess I need to see a chiropractor at some point and hopefully this school year will bring me back to my less pained self.

Happy belated birthday! I hope you did something special for yourself. ???

Donnetta D Norris

A Teacher-Writer Villanelle

Teachers who write tend to be best at teaching young writers to compose. It is never about a test.

From experience, she can attest to the struggles be it verse or prose. Authentically she can suggest.

On the page, her students express themselves according to words they chose. It is never about a test.

Teachers who write don’t have to guess how to help writers because she knows ways to extract ideas – repressed.

By her skill, students are impressed. When she shares the words she has composed, she’s able to relieve their stress.

Teachers who write may be obsessed with creating writers, I suppose. Her writing Scholars are most blessed. It is never about a test.

Heather Morris

Donnetta, FACTS! What a great poem about teacher writers. This has changed me and my teaching.

Donnetta, with your writing skills I am impressed! Your first line is perfect. I am always shocked at how many teachers don’t write with their students. Your refrain could be repeated at least a dozen more times, I think!

Tracie McCormick

I agree with your opening line. “Teachers who write tend to be best at teaching young writers to compose.” Being a part of Open Write has had that impact on my teaching. It feels so much better when “teachers who write don’t have to guess” the experience their students are having. You put it so perfectly in this poem!

Yes! I wish I could bottle up this poem and share it with my team. How creatively crafted!

Donnetta, You are singing my song! “It is never about the test.” I want to add that line to my email signature! So much truth and heart here. Thank you!

Donetta, your poem is spot on! Developing writers is a life long skill. A skill students treasure, and isn’t it wonderfully fun to be with them during the process! This poem needs to be shared with beginning educators.

Donnetta, This is a masterful villanelle and absolutely true. “It is never about the test.”

Donnetta – You nailed this mantra for sure… “it’s never about a test”… we writers know that. I want this as a classroom poster, a bumper stick, an NCTE motto… scream it from the rooftops. Thank you! Susie

MIC DROP kind of poem!!!! ? BOOM! ?

Tammi

The Villanelle was definitely a challenge! I didn’t pick an obsession but more a topic of concern.

A World That Burns

I see a world that burns and burns mired in toxic fumes and toxic words when stewardship and love of life are spurned

selfishness and waste we must unlearn the crying children must be heard I see a world that burns and burns

       smoldering ashes fill Earth’s urn         and leaves no generation deferred  when stewardship and love of life are spurned

 floods and hell fire will perpetually return      leaving a world broken, scarred, and blurred ` I see a world that burns and burns when stewardship and love of life are spurned

Tammi, I feel this one in my bones. My oldest, after 4 days R&R, is back off to fight fires. This time on the Idaho/Montana border. Lightning strikes from endless thunderstorms started four fires close together in remote mountains. I completely feel, “ I see a world that burns and burns / when stewardship and love of life are spurned” as I attempt to balance my anxiety for my son with pride for his commitment to his work.

Stewardship and love of life- those are so important! I’ve been reflecting on stewardship lately, so your poem really spoke to me. Really well done.

I love your word choice “blurred”. For me, it is everything.

I saw so many colors as I read your poem. Shades of red, black, and gray. Beautiful lines –

floods and hell fire will perpetually return 

leaving a world broken, scarred, and blurred

Tammi, I feel the fire in your poem. So well said! Powerful poem!

Villanelles are tough. However, your prompt to pursue an obsessive thought brought me to a comment my husband made on our walk right before I sat down to write. I am not sleeping well, and he says that my mind is preoccupied. I worked on the rhyme scheme but felt the syllables would have taken too long, so I may come back to that at a later date.

My husband says my mind is preoccupied, for she is leaving home in 37 days. But who’s counting? Not I.

In another time zone, she will decide the classes and activities – her pathways. My husband says my mind is preoccupied.

1,110 miles will be the divide between home and this new phase. But who’s counting? Not I.

There are many nights I’ve cried hoping this will not be where she stays. My husband says my mind is preoccupied.

6 states through which we will ride, and 85 days will be the soonest gaze. But who’s counting? Not I.

My youngest child is ready to fly leaving behind 2,040 hours of haze. My husband says my mind is preoccupied. But who’s counting? Not I.

Oh, Heather, this is precious. You have beautifully, poetically captured the parental sadness of the firstborn leaving home. I really like all the numbers you included. Yes, clearly, you aren’t counting at all!!

Heather — I feel this poem. You’ve have really captured the worry and sadness that comes with this milestone in life. As a mother of 2 recently out of the nest, I can totally relate and understand fully why your “mind is preoccupied.”

Heather my poem from yesterday was about my daughter moving out on her own and making decisions that she no longer need our permission to make. I totally understand how you feel. Sending (((HUGS)))

I am right there with you, Heather. My oldest moved out just a month ago to his college town only 45 minutes away, but has been off fighting wildfires ever since. I have to keep reminding myself that the goal of parenting is to raise capable, independent people, but dang, I miss him. I completely empathize with your preoccupation. Virtual hugs!

Heather…let’s talk! I am having this exact experience! It is so painful! Your husband is correct! “In another time zone, she will decide” really showcases your daughter’s new independence. SHE will decide. Sigh…

Susan Ahlbrand

Heather. This is beautiful. And it so perfectly captures how you feel and all the little details. What a perfect keepsake.

This is a beautiful poem. Thank you for sharing this with us and capturing your emotions through these heart-tugging lines. I love your repeating line “But who’s counting? Not I. Sending hugs!

SYMBOLS MATTER

Symbols matter; orchestrated words — poets  get symbols – they carry the weight of our thinking, our vision, our hope.  

More than a symbol, that icon veils the people behind it, branding  their attitude, thinking, promise, hope. 

Confederate Battle Flags fly up and down Hwy 63  mid-Missouri to Arkansas, 

planted in highway-facing front yards, like canines marking the landscape,  foul thinking, foul promise, foul hope —

blue X on red, crossed stars of secession, a symbol that matters —  in threat, in promise, in hope

of dragooning any black face driving the winding 63; symbols matter, stamp a license

to storm, defend white power, its deluded promise, its duped hope through the fog of imagined freedom.

The underbelly of this country — a mongrel rolled over in the dust, oozing fear, oozing threat, oozing promise

through bared teeth against those who know  threat in promise, terror in hope,  twisted camouflage, symbols mutated.

This land is not free, never was; it extracts responsibility to think, to promise, to hope,

from every single one of us, in shared community and promise that bounder us in guiding laws

that protect the common good of all, rights the equations of inequity when power, skin color, and symbols

shred the nation.

[The confederate flag, its dubious history, continues to stand as a symbol of hate and power in the devolution of those who wave it.  Susie Morice]

by Susie Morice, July 20, 2021©

Wow, Susie, this poem shows so well the rife hatred those who choose to fly a confederate flag represent. I am continually overwhelmed with emotions, feeling distraught by the hate so many people feel entitled to spread. I agree that we are not a land of free and that we do need to take responsibility. The loss of common good is terrifying to me. I also love how you opened this poem with how poets use symbols and carried that idea into the hatred shared by flying the confederate flag on Highway 63. I thought the following tercet was particularly keen: The underbelly of this country — a mongrel rolled over in the dust, oozing fear, oozing threat, oozing promise

Thank you, Susie, for sharing your powerful poem and highlighting this troubling and destructive behavior. Your closing note is the glaring truth. You rock!

This is beautiful:

Truth! Symbols really do matter. These lines were really powerful: “through bared teeth against those who know/ threat in promise, terror in hope,  twisted camouflage, symbols mutated.”

Your poem is chilling in its honesty and in the portrait of a symbol that truly does “shred the nation”.

Susie, Poets are empathy for sure. They see things. They feel things. Your poem explores a topic my family and social studies students discuss often. I will be sharing it during these talks. I appreciate how many words you chose to include that imply a collective responsibility. Quite an impact!

Scott M

Susie, this is so true! Symbols matter so much (and can be so destructive). I found your poem very powerful — especially after reading Clint Smith’s How the Word Is Passed this summer. Thank you for writing this!

Susie, I am so glad I found your poem tonight. This stanza grabbed me:

“planted in highway-facing front yards, like canines marking the landscape,  foul thinking, foul promise, foul hope”

You and I both live in sections of the country where our neighbors (!) feel compelled/privileged/free(??) to display racism openly.

Sending love and support, Allison

Oh, Susie, what power in your words. Thank God for people like you and Margaret living in the south, speaking truth through verse. Thank you for this. I got shivers reading your poem. That ending…wow. There is a bit of hope I feel in that word shred. That people, all of us, could instead shred our own symbols of power-hunger, white supremacy and hatred. May that be true before its too late.

Susie, This is so powerful, and dang it, it makes me angry to think of all those pissy racists flying that awful flag. They are ignorant. grrrrrr.

Right on time, Susie!! I’m late reading but doggone it, I’m clapping over here! You nailed it!

This land is not free, never was; it extracts responsibility to think, to promise, to hope, from every single one of us,

Hoping that in our lifetime, we will see “the common good of all” come to fruition.

Tracie, thanks for today’s challenge. My poem is an attempt to show my anxious, unsettled feelings. Too many wrongs; not enough rights.

Do not seek solace in a fiery reign where guns explode in a chaotic wind Communication failures, violence; pain

Injustice, bullies, hatred unrestrained Rape, molest, hoard ‘til resources are thinned Do not seek solace in a fiery reign

Hear the broken-hearted solemn refrain lost and shattered from unspeakable sin Communication failures, violence; pain

Feel the rife sting of lies spewed and retained; powerful privilege cast a bloody tinge  Do not seek solace in a fiery reign

Taste brutality, rank poisonous chains; savage addictions’ insidious grin Communication failures, violence; pain

Witness evil’s vice grip wreaking to gain the last hopeful dream—murderous schemes win Do not seek solace in a fiery reign Communication failures, violence; pain

Barb Edler 20 July 2021

Barb — I certainly felt the woe in these lines. So many parts of our lives are in disarray… “fiery reign” fits that so well. In some ways we were on the same page tonight. Some of the evil, that “vice grip” just gets a hold on us. Rat race. I admire that you were able to wordsmith a sense of rhythm and rhyme into your poem… I just did not have it this time and am wishing I’d taken time to do more wordsmithing. You’ve inspired me to make time for that. Not sure I’ll get to it tomorrow…so much going on. Favorite image: “rife sting of lies spewed and retained” (especially that “retained”… so wrong!) Maybe tomorrow we can write about daisies…LOL! Hugs, Susie

Susie, I just read your poem, and I saw we were on the same page today. Your poem definitely reflected the types of behavior I alluded to today. Thanks for being such an understanding soul! Daisies sound really nice! Sending hugs your way, too! Barb

I love being privy to this wordsmithing conversation. Love to you both.

Barb, there is so much weight and fear in the admonition,

“Do not seek solace in a fiery reign”

and the way that the villanelle structure echoes that one line really kept me anxious and unsettled! Fantastic rhyming. So many fearful thoughts.

The way you personified the struggles of today’s society really hit me hard! “Taste brutality”, “insidious grin”. Yes! Enough is enough!

Barb, what a heavy topic with so many powerful words and images of evil, each one brings up a picture or story of someone who has suffered first-hand.

Witness evil’s vice grip wreaking to gain the last hopeful dream—murderous schemes win

Praying for redemption.

Anna J. Small ROSEBORO

Tracie, you’ve captured the problem so well in these lines, The author, genre, theme repartee…(9) debate rages over texts to assign.(10) Each has merits, on that we agree. (9)

We often can agree on WHAT TO TEACH, but not why and how. One thing is for sure! Most of us will invite our students to use verse to explore their thinking about what they are writing. I may even recommend students write a group villanelle! As they discuss what to include, they’ll be reflecting deeply on the book because the members have to concede what lines the poems need.

Thanks for challenging us to give this format a try today!

Anna….I love this idea!

I used a poem generator online. The Villanelle, though, proved simply too tough. The output it gave was far from sublime.

I wasn’t hoping for perfect — just fine, but what it gave was simply just too rough. I used a poem generator online.

The words I entered hinted at lupine, a wolfish theme that was met with rebuff. The output it gave was far from sublime.

I was staring at a creature bovine and this cowlike nature it could not slough. I used a poem generator online.

A creature of marvel so Frankenstein, I stayed my thoughts, did not leave in a huff. The output it gave was far from sublime.

Unlike the doctor, I’ll use it some time in an ode which’ll need to be enough. I used a poem generator online. The output it gave was far too sublime.

Kevin Hodgson

Love that tension between generator and the poem format …

gayle sands

Wonderful! The output it gave was far from sublime… and what you produce is always sublime!!

LOLOLOL! Scott, what a dandy. I had never even thought to use a poem generator…didn’t even realize there was such a thing…. so, perhaps I’m due for “sublime” output from online assistance. LOL! I love the witty voice here that actually made those repeated lines work. While my head understood the power of villanelle repetitions, I could not get a handle on it today to save my soul. Here you are rhyming, repeating, and having an all out heyday with this. Well done! Susie

This is wonderful, Scott. Who knew there was a poem generator online?! I like these two lines especially:

I was staring at a creature bovine and this cowlike nature it could not slough.

“A creature of marvel so Frankenstein” had me laughing so hard. What a delightful way to word the insecurities poets can feel about their work.

Alright, another chance to practice rhyming! Mo, I did take your suggestion about generating a list of possibly rhyming words in the margin – it did help a bit, so thanks! The obsession this is poem refers to is researching genealogy. I feel a bit sheepish to admit that I sure can obsess over trying to uncover hidden details about the lives of those who came before me. This poem refers specifically to one specific ancestor 4 generations back who I’ve really had to work hard to fetter out details about his life.

John Simpson

A mystery man from out of the blue I dig and question and scrutinize For your name is my name too

These documents, letters, records I review In Indiana Territory a seeming orphan you arise Would I have found my likeness in you?

A life of woodcutting and farming was what you knew And your hand, perhaps your gun, against the Sauk I’ll not disguise Yes, I confess your name is my name too

Things I ponder: you wife left, land seized due to taxes over due The “many books” noted among your possessions I analyze Would I have found my likeness in you?

These questions and quandaries I delight to pursue The mysteries of your birth, your life, and demise Because your name is my name too Would I have found my own likeness in you?

I love this! The refrain what’s follows each bit of info becomes more and more poignant…

Sarah

So appreciate where you took today’s inspiration — inquiry!

Things I ponder: you wife left, land seized due to taxes over due The “many books” noted among your possessions I analyze Would I have found my likeness in you?

These wonderings make me wonder, too.

Emily, your poem sounds like the opening lines to a mystery novel! You make me want to keep reading to learn if, indeed, this person is related…and so what? It’s the “so what” that makes writing fun to read. Think you’ll write an I SEARCH book about your geneoglogy search?

Rachelle

What a neat idea! And all the lines and rhymes flow so well, Emily. I haven’t written mine yet, but it makes me want to research my ancestors more in depth! (One of which was killed for being a witch during the witch trials ?)

Emily, I love that you know so much about your ancestors. I haven’t tried to research mine and only know general stuff, but this makes me curious. I like the variations you did with the refrains, they really make it flow and enhance the message. Nice job!!

Genealogy is such a great obsession! Your poem is so clever, and you drew me in – now I want to know more about this mystery man, too. Such a cool puzzle to solve! The rhymes here are fabulous.

Now I am obsessing over this thought. Will future generations be able to know more or less about us? Technology. Will it leave a clearer trail to answers? But actual artifacts in hard copy form? Not many of those remain.

The more interesting question is what is the psychology behind why we care so much to know “would I have found my likeness in you”.

Fascinating!

Nancy White

Thanks for this prompt today, Tracie—a real challenge. I asked myself, “What do I think about every day?” Sadly, I realized I am an addict!

Confessions of Love to the Blessed Bean By Nancy White

What is this seductive burnt bean that I smell? O dark drug of dependence, I fear I am Pavlov’s dog hearing the bell

Without you my life would be living hell You’re more than a friend, you’re “my precious”, my dear What is this seductive burnt bean that I smell?

I feel that I’ve known you so long and so well You’re the spring in my step each day, each year I am Pavlov’s dog hearing the bell

The darker, the better—there’s no parallel to your goodness, I stop in my tracks and must veer— What is this seductive burnt bean that I smell?

I go up and down ‘round your carousel I think you’re much better than wine or beer I am Pavlov’s dog hearing the bell

You reel me in, I’m in your spell Green Goddess’s grinders, all I can hear What is this seductive burnt bean that I smell? I am Pavlov’s dog hearing the bell

I’m sitting here laughing so hard at myself because I’m thinking, “What burnt bean is she talking about?” It took me a minute to get it because I am a tea drinker! Nonetheless, it’s a living tribute to your addiction. I love “the dark drug of dependence.”

Mo—thank you!!!! I was so confused. Maybe because I’m simultaneously planning for a tutoring session and paging through poems…

Susan O

This is so funny! And so true to many. Thanks for this well crafted poem.

Love this, Nancy! The reference to Pavlov’s dog had me laughing. I’m a coffee addict, too! So I’m right there with you.

Once Mo explained that it was coffee, I burst out laughing.the darker the better. Love those burnt beans!

Love what enjambment does in these lines:

The darker the better…and then ” to your goodness” . That contrast is brilliant.

“You reel me in, I’m in your spell” I love the seduction of this poem! I am not a coffee drinker, but I do love the smell.

Nancy, I really enjoyed your praise of “this seductive burnt bean”! I’m with you on this (although I do prefer both cream and sugar in my morning cup of Joe). Thanks!

Thanks, Scott! I won’t say no to a little cream and sugar, but dark roast is a must.

Nancy, wow, I am so impressed with how well your poem flows. Love “seductive burnt bean” and “Pavlov’s dog hearing the bell”…both work so well to show your addiction. Wonderful!

Oh my gosh, Nancy, this is a riot. It has the lilt of darned good song. Love the coffee idea…mmmmm. And you and Pavlov’s doggy…ahaha!

This line just made me guffaw…I could see and hear you rubbing your hands together like a fiend poring over a wicked potion:

You’re more than a friend, you’re “my precious”, my dear

Fun poem! Susie

Nancy, I cannot copy and paste my favorite lines for this poem here in this response because the entire poem is my favorite. Coffee is my reason for getting up. I love the ritual which you captured so vividly!

I was reading this like Mo! I was so dense. I thought of French Burnt Peanuts, refried beans, yikes! I knew I wasn’t understanding it. I too am a tea drinker. So when I saw what it was I read the first stanza to my husband. He said, “That’s brilliant.” I asked if he knew what it was about. He had a duh look and said, “Coffee.’ Then I read the rest to him. He loved it, and it made total sense to me the second time! A great way to read a poem. A favorite line of both of us is:

What a villainous challenge, today, Tracie!

My obsession is hiding in plain sight My love for books I do concede Reading and recommending with delight

To some I may come off as erudite, Because I read books at light speed My obsession is hiding in plain sight

If you say you hate reading, that’s alright I don’t let a poor attitude impede Reading and recommending with delight

If apathy is your unlucky plight My titles entice until you are freed My obsession is hiding in plain sight

I’m praised for my knowledge and foresight And I am oh, so happy, to succeed Reading and recommending with delight

So please, if I approach with an invite Do me a favor, take the book and read! My obsession is hiding in plain sight Reading and recommending with delight

What a wonderful obsession. I envy the speed you have for reading at light speed.

An awesome, obsession to have! Love the image of you hiding in plain sight reading. Just perfect!

Such an anthem for readers!

If you say you hate reading, that’s alright I don’t let a poor attitude impede Reading and recommending with delight

Love your dedication!

Love this obsession! I’m amused by “My titles entice until you are freed” – I suspect your students become great readers.

I want to be this person! I love it, Mo! My obsession with books is all about possession then I have the delays to begin reading that kill the fun! LOL.

You rock, you reader! ?

Mo, Book worms unite! I relate to your reading books at “light speed” very much–it’s a valuable skill, especially for English teachers! I love this ode to bibliophiles!

Mo, your poem is perfect. I am such a book lover and I enjoyed how you dealt with those who seem not to feel the same about books. This poem is a perfect reflection of you! “Reading and recommending with delight”. FYI, on a side note, have you ever read Conviction by Joy Lee Gilbert. It’s a great young adult book with lots of issues and an excellent main male character.

Aah, Mo — the quintessential reader! The reading teacher! You rock! I will keep this in mind for sure the next time I’m looking for a recommendation! You could put this on a poster for the classroom or the library! Susie

I love your poem, and I share your obsession. I love your refrain.

“So please, if I approach with an invite Do me a favor, take the book and read!” is my favorite line because it reveals how much you truly value books. If your invitees accept, it is doing YOU a favor.

Those who know me know that I am very determined to be independent. This is hard won after some years of deferring too much, so I guess I’m obsessed with independence.

Villanelles are hard! But I tried to lean into the challenge.

Independence is a hard-earned skill, From the beginning we are in need Of assistance to overcome each hill.

Despite forays in search of a thrill We don’t always listen and take heed  Independence is a hard-earned skill.

Whatever we may hope to instill, With our own determination we speed Without assistance to overcome each hill.

Attempt and attain on a quest to fulfill What began as a small and hopeful seed. Independence is a hard-earned skill.

There will always be those with ill will Striving, scheming and spurring to impede Any assistance to overcome each hill.

Only when we find inner strength to fulfill Will we truly be able to get what we need.  Independence is a hard-earned skill. Accept the assistance to overcome each hill.

I agree, Cara. Independence is a hard-earned skill. Your poem makes me think about how I felt upon graduating from college. I remember not feeling like an adult even though I suddenly had all these responsibilities of adulthood. I don’t think I actually felt like an adult until I had children and then realized. Oh, crap. I have to get my s… together!

Cara, I really like the way you tweak your two repeating lines at times to give greater depth of meaning, especially the last line – accept the assistance to overcome each hill. Also, I just like the idea of thinking about independence as a SKILL – I think I tend to think of it as a default position, but considering it as something to be worked on, to be practiced and crafted – that gives me something to think about!

An excellent obsession! We want to be able, to do for ourselves. These lines captivated me:

What began as a small and hopeful seed. Independence is a hard-earned skill.

I am thinking of my young granddaughters, how each day they work at being more and more independent…and the role of adults in nurturing this.

Cara, I adore your poem and its message! I am all for INDEPENDENT WOMEN! ?? ????

Cara, I know you’re independent, you can’t say no to a challenge, and I know you like to bend rules here and there ? This poem is so YOU through and through. Thanks for writing this today and making me think differently about independence.

Cara, your poem flows effortlessly. I love the message here. I agree with your poem and especially enjoyed: “ Only when we find inner strength to fulfill Will we truly be able to get what we need.”

Your poem speaks to me as I send my youngest off to college. Between work and parenting, I feel that I have lost myself. Now, I feel your quatrain deeply.

The alliteration in “striving, scheming and spurring to impede” evokes a snake trying to steal your independence.

“Accept the assistance to overcome each hill” is such a relief to me! I wanted to shout throughout each line that you can’t do it alone. I have had to learn this the hard way. I was so glad to realize you have learned this as well,

Thank you for the challenge today. I tend to write in free verse most of the time. The villanelle really forces one to choose their lines and their rhymes wisely.

Your villanelle really gets at the essence of many teachers’ thoughts about reading.

Sending me on a mission about what I obsess over . . . that’s in my wheelhouse. My life tends to be one big rumination.

No Drugs on This Trip

A  Now that I have a phone in hand B  I tend to descend down the rabbit hole A  Like Alice, wondering when I will land

A  Digging for info, whether small or grand B  Has so often been my primary goal A  Now that I have a phone in hand

A Trying to figure out where I might stand B  Curiouser and curiouser my role A  Like Alice, wondering when I will land

A  Back in the day, we didn’t understand B  How to dig around in search like a mole A  But now I have a phone in hand

A  Minutes, hours, days . . . more time than I planned B  Out the window goes all self-control A  Like Alice, wondering when I will land

A  On a mission, my brain to expand B  And always trying to fill my tired soul A  Now that I have a phone in hand A  Like Alice, wondering when I will land

~Susan Ahlbrand 20 July 2021

Susan, I love how the repetition of “phone in hand” stresses our reliance on the phone. Somehow I survived more than half my life without instant knowledge at my fingertips, but I can hardly imagine those days anymore. There were endless trips to the library, encyclopedias, atlases, maps you had trouble folding, and always dimes in your wallet in case you needed to use the pay phone. I feel ancient.

Phone in hand…. Remember when we just…left the house? I feel like my left arm is left behind. Alice would agree!

Susan — I love your allusion to Alice falling into the rabbit hole. I often feel that way too with technology, wondering where has the time gone. It really is so easy to get lost with a phone in hand. You’ve captured that feeling of being out of control really well.

You have captured a classic obsession here, Susan. Where does the time go, with a phone in hand?

Susan, Oh the pit of technology! You beautifully capture the abyss (with literary allusion!) that so many of us fall into. The world just keeps making it easier and easier to lose time–smart phones, tablets, smart watches, etc., self-control has never been more necessary. Thank you for capturing this so well.

Susan, your poem is so relatable and I loved the connection with Alice going down the rabbit hole! “Out the window goes all self-contro l” LOL! Love it!

Susan– You sure as heck are not alone in this “trip.” I want to share this with several of my phone-obsessed friends…we’ll get a chuckle. Loved Alice’s “Curiouser and curiouser.” Susie

“No drugs on this trip” could not be a more perfect title!

Thank you, Tracie, for this challenge today. I started writing about my cat but then I decided to be honest and turned into my sad heart today. My cousin has just lost a daughter to COVID and I know of other writers in this group that have gone through such a terrible loss.

Loss of a Child

The truth is during last week or so I’ve been dwelling on the loss of a child. How can it be death won’t let one grow?

Hurt more painful than cuts from a knife. A wound that won’t heal, deep, seeping for years.  Dreams, joy, and laughter gone with this life.

I’ve never suffered in such a way but I watch friends, a cousin in torment. Anguish beyond what I feel with dismay.

A wound that won’t heal, time helps to cope but it never heals, that hole in the heart. Age makes one tougher. We learn how to hope.

Those that have lost one taken so young always something missing from deep inside. The seed that gave birth to another, unsung now gone, a being that blossomed and died.

Oof. I’ve been helping a friend through this. Not much help to give, really. These words… Hurt more painful than cuts from a knife. A wound that won’t heal, deep, seeping for years.  Dreams, joy, and laughter gone with this life.

this is it. The truth.

Susie, this makes my heart break to think of your dear cousin and what she’s going through right now. These lines are so true:

A wound that won’t heal, time helps to cope

but it never heals, that hole in the heart.

My prayers and condolences for you all, especially your cousin.

Now looking at others poems I realize that I didn’t’t quite get the form correct. I worked on it bit more. Here’s the latest version.

Loss of a Child (version 2)

Hurt more painful than cuts from a knife. Dreams, joy, and laughter gone with this life. How can it be death won’t let one grow?

A wound that won’t heal, time helps to cope Age makes one tougher. We learn how to hope. How can it be death won’t let one grow?

Those that have lost one taken so young The seed that gave birth to another, unsung How can it be death won’t let one grow?

Aways something missing from deep inside. Now gone, a being that blossomed and died. How can it be death won’t let one grow? Succumbed during the last week or so.

Susan, this poem is also awesome, but the first one is so powerful. I like the focus on death not letting one grow in this version.

Thank you, Barb, I am learning from all of you.

Susan — so sorry for your loss. These lines broke my heart:

“always something missing from deep inside. The seed that gave birth to another, unsung now gone, a being that blossomed and died.”

Sending prayers for you and your family.

There is no greater pain, is there? This is so sad; your poem so beautiful. How to go on, without a child? Your words convey the pain and complexity of such grief. This line resonates especially –

Susan, your poem shares such a beautiful image of a child lost and is incredibly poignant. I absolutely adore your final stanza and especially “ The seed that gave birth to another, unsung now gone, a being that blossomed and died.”

 Tears! My deepest sympathies for you and your family’s incredible loss.

I’m so sorry for your family, Susie.

I respect that you tried to steer away from your instinct to write about your cat to use this chance to work through your emotions.

”Always something missing from deep inside” is exactly right.

Tracie, thank you for teaching me to push through when writing is hard! I am so grateful for this challenge. Yesterday, I watched Dave Burgess talk about why we should reframe “assignments” as “challenges” because it changes our mindset about pushing through. Today’s prompt was a fantastic challenge! So glad I didn’t give up.

I used the Villanelle Village link that Denise shared because I needed that extra scaffolding. Your poem needs to be shared with the education community. I wish we could return to the days of enjoying reading for reading, not for CCSS or any other standardized assessments that marginalize so many of our scholars. Thank you!

My poem is about an obsession but it’s more like a pet peeve. People who talk to much seem to be obsessed with talking to ME!! My sister says I don’t know how to say okay great and walk away. She says I let them hold me hostage?. So this poem is for the people who have held me hostage! I wanted to title it with a curse word but my heart said, “Words have power.” LOL!

Do people realize when they talk too much? Yipping and yapping without taking a break Please, shut their mouths in a metal clutch!

Rambling on about blah blah and such My eyes glaze over and head begins to ache Do people realize when they talk too much?

How can they be so out of touch Make them stop for my sanity’s sake Please, shut their mouths in a metal clutch!

Maybe babbling nonsense is a crutch Words pouring out as soon as they’re awake Do people realize when they talk too much?

They may as well be speaking in Latin or Dutch I smile and nod but I won’t partake Please, shut their mouths in a metal clutch!

There is no meaning to such and such I vomit sighs from the pauses they won’t take Do people realize when they talk too much? Please, shut their mouths in a metal clutch!

©Stacey L. Joy, July 20, 2021

“I vomit sighs from the pauses they won’t take”. Have you been talking with my sister? You have brought my feelings down to the essential point! I will be reciting this during my next endless convo with her!

Funny!!! My sister is an introvert and when she decides to share something with me, it’s endless. Nothing is worse than when she wants to tell me about her dreams. She gives EVERY SINGLE DETAIL! I’m tuned out before she gets halfway through. LOL, but this poem is more for the others who hold me hostage. My sister doesn’t do it often enough to be included here. ?

Stacey, I love this! I’m chuckling to myself. I can relate to you so much in that I seem to be a magnet to people who just want to talk incessantly. I find myself interrupting them to say, “Ooops! Gotta go to the bathroom!” (Inside I’m thinking, “Shut the fuck up!” There are people who are oblivious to the fact that they can’t stand to NOT hear their own voice. I am a quiet type and I think they must sense that. Ugh!!

You made me laugh out loud on what you think but don’t say! Exactly!

Stacey, There is so much to love about this poem! You are too funny. Sometimes I find myself checked out like you, “I smile and nod but I won’t partake.” Inside I’m saying to myself while staring at the person’s mouth, “Isn’t that amazing? They can just take a breath and out of the blue come up with a totally different topic. Wow. That is extraordinary.” As an introvert, I can’t even fathom how they can keep doing it without getting responses and crosstalk.

As others have said, this line is golden: “I vomit sighs from the pauses they won’t take”

Oh, I have had this feeling lately. “Do people realize when they talk too much?” or talk too fast? Yes, my eyes start to glaze over and I don’t hear. Such a problem with communication. Glad to know others feel the same. Thanks.

Margaret Simon

I’m laughing out loud! I have a daughter who is more introverted than I am and she said the thing she hates most is people who talk too much. Your poem is perfect. I love “blah, blah, blah” and “such and such.” Rhyme and rhythm are spot on, too.

Stacey — thank you for your fun poem! I’ve known quiet a few of the people you describe. Laughed out loud to “I vomit sighs from the pauses they won’t take.” I always wonder how these fast and furious talkers who generally disclose TMI even have time to breathe.

I don’t think people do realize they talk so much – but, they most certainly should be interrupted and reminded to “pass the mic”!!! Loved this. Sorry for your pain! I, too, often find myself cornered…in this respect, COVID has been great for me, because there’s been far less opportunities to get stuck like this. (Isn’t the mute button on Zoom a wonderful feature? hahaha)

LOL my friends and I were just saying how will we manage the voices all at once in class? Terrifying. Maybe I will wear headphones and act like I can’t hear them. So funny. The pandemic definitely shielded me and that was a silver lining for sure!

Stacey, Ah, an ode that every introvert can relate to! As someone who really appreciates silence and yet seems to have a neon sign on my forehead declaring “talk to ME,” I so dearly relate. I love it!

Stacey, I love how you share this annoying behavior! So true, but funny, too! I appreciate your sister’s insight because I do think some people do take others as hostage, and why are they so oblivious…ugh! I absolutely loved “I vomit sighs from the pauses they won’t take”. Great poem 🙂

Oh man, Stacey, this is hilarious! I mean REALLY hilarious…because it rings so true. I’m a culprit myself way too often (good lesson for me) and I also have a friend who literally does not take a breath and we have to say, “Hey! Hey! Take a breath!” To which this friend smiles and winds right up again jabbering 1000 mpg. LOL! I love the image of the “metal clutch” latching on the lips…HAHAHA! Your rhyming and general rhythm makes this totally fun to real out loud. Well done! Susie

This poem is awesome. This is my sister-in-law. I do think she realizes she talks too much, for she is told over and over again. She just can’t help it. She needs that metal clutch.

Kim Johnson

Stacey, oh my gosh, I’m rolling! This is so on point! We all have those hostage takers who need the metal clutches. “I vomit sighs from the pauses they won’t take” reminds me of how I feel about my number one incessant talker! Hilarious! Thanks for the laugh!

You. Are So. Funny.

I am amazed when people cannot read social cues and wrap it up already! “Yipping and yapping without taking a break” spoke to me. I have been in situations with people where I have NEVER even gotten in a single word.

Regarding the state of reading and its place in education…will reading ever make its way back into the lives of our students as a fun activity?

Love Dave Burgess! Great way to approach assignments…challenges! Good tip! Thank you!

Tracie, this was something else indeed – a real challenge! Wow. Thank you. Love the idea of thinking about our obsessions, what are we always thinking about. I loved your focus on middle school reading, and your advocacy for your students comes through so clearly.

I noticed that Dylan Thomas begins with two rhymes that are opposites: night and day. I ended up going down a rabbit hole … which two antonyms could guide my writing? what am I obsessed with? I ended up with fear and hope.

Beware the Subtle Art of Fear

beware the subtle art of fear revelation suffocating hope eliminating all that is dear

worry twisted into sneer counter arguments as dope beware the subtle art of fear

wisdom and love hard to hear angst broadens its corrosive scope eliminating all that is dear

the boogeyman is always near the path forward a tightrope beware the subtle art of fear

so quickly, trust will disappear freedom lost on slippery slope eliminating all that is dear

shared values now unclear each of us unable to cope beware the subtle art of fear eliminating all that is dear

Maureen, your poem is POWERFUL! You chose the right words (hope and fear) and the poem flows beautifully. I wasn’t able to get the rhythm and flow. How did you do that? I’m in awe!

This really hits me and makes me think about why my son has a hard time when he’s facing his fears:

Thank you, I needed this!

Maureen, you nailed the villanelle, it seems to me. I really came to appreciate the rhyme pattern of the villanelle with the words you chose. Li ke fear and hope opposites in meaning, so too it seems the rhymes in alternating lines are opposite-like–such different sounds /eer/ and /ope/.

So many powerful thoughts like:

angst broadens its corrosive scope eliminating all that is dear

Maureen, I feel this poem through and through. The fear that ends our best intentions is something that I truly struggle with. Your final stanza speaks such a solid truth….”eliminating all that is dear”. Amazing poem! Thank you!

Maureen — This examination of “the subtle art of fear” is really provocative for me. I am rereading this, mining it for insights…I too often let fear get hold of me (fear of heights/drop-offs; fear of my dog (who’s gone now) getting hit by a car–a recurring nightmare…geez; and other little fears that don’t seem like much…but it is the subtlety of it…it does, in fact, sneak up on you..”slippery slope.” Well done poem! Thank you. Susie

Maureeeeeeen! Since January, I have worked with a group on concept based inquiry and one of the questions that we have repeatedly discussed – (we keep revisiting it) is whether hope can exist in the absence of fear – and how fear changes in the absence of hope. We’ve also discussed how they are opposites and the perceptions of others who don’t see them as such. Oh, how I love your first three lines and can’t wait to share with my team! Yes – I love the deep thinking and ways of thinking of the attributes of hope and fear!

“Beware the subtle art of fear eliminating all that is dear” speaks volumes!

I fear sooooo much, but letting it rule my life comes at such a cost!

My 7th grade students and I examine social issues in a unit featuring dystopian text. We learn that ignorance begets fear, fear begets hate, hate begets violence, and violence is “eliminating all that is dear”. I would like to add your poem to my text list, if I may.

Wow, Tracie. Thanks for helping us grow this week as poets. I have a really busy week helping to lead a storytelling workshop, but I can’t be absent! I always want to come and play and read everyone’s poems. Your poem about middle school literacy is great. I think the questions see? and agree? lines at the end of each stanza reinforce that it is a topic to discuss and work to find all the best practices. I agree about SSR being an important missing piece!

I read an opinion piece by Kate Cohen today: “The two numbers that could get people to take the vaccine” at The Washington Post. My villanelle is mostly a found poem from her words.

I wrote my villanelle draft using this handy-dandy Villanelle Village. It gives all the lines in the right places and helps with the pattern of rhymes. Even a list of rhymes to consult right there. I’d recommend it: http://henrycrawfordpoetry.com/Tools/Villanelle I created a new form, though, with crazy syllable totals in each line.

Numbers Tell the Truth: Deaths of Vaxxed vs. Unvaxxed

Life-saving vaccine effective and free Urging us to avoid it is a powerful campaign Opposing it against all reason and morality

“Politicizing [this] is an act of outrage and frankly Moronic,” said Mitt Romney, his repute retained Life-saving vaccine, effective and free

A running tally of who is dying would decree the truth of the disinformation as inhumane, Opposing it against all reason and morality

Right wing politicians and T.V. hosts on a spree to lie about microchips that will put us in chains Life-saving vaccine effective and free.

Succeeding to a spectacular degree is the lethal propaganda created to entertain  Opposing it against all reason and morality

History-making, world-saving efficacy  Look at the facts; truth will remain Life-saving vaccine effective and free Opposing it against all reason and morality

Denise, I admire how you wove in so many words from your reading, and found great rhymes within! Love this:

History-making, world-saving efficacy  Look at the facts; truth will remain

You and I are both obsessing on the same damn thing that will not go away. Your repeated lines, “ Life-saving vaccine effective and free Opposing it against all reason and morality” say it all. The vaccine is free, people, and it saves lives. My mother-in-law, who just turned 90, is alive today because of the vaccine. I feel that gratitude more than ever now that she has Covid and only has a mere annoying cough. Last summer she would have died. If poetry could save the world, you and I are fighting the good fight.

Amen, Margaret! Susie

Denise, thank you for sharing the link to the villanelle tool. Ohhhh, how I needed it! Your poem is right on time. I was just shaking my head at the numbers of hospitalizations and cases rising in the unvaxxed group. My heart breaks because I worry that many of my elementary-aged children coming in August may be coming from unvaxxed families. Frightening. Your refrains, yes!!!!!

Thanks, friend!! ?

Huzzah! Look t the fact a—the truth will remain. I love found poetry, and you have mastered the art here!

This is heavy on my mind, too, Denise. Thanks for this poem and for the link.

I love your repetition of these lines:

Life-saving vaccine effective and free

Opposing it against all reason and morality

Denise, wow, you speak such an important truth! I absolutely loved: “ Succeeding to a spectacular degree is the lethal propaganda created to entertain  Opposing it against all reason and morality”

It continually blows my mind how people want to make the vaccine a political ploy to control people…..ugghhhhhghhghg! Incredible poem! Thank you!

Oh wow, Denise — You hit on a topic that really resonates with me. I am bonkers about the vax deniers. Total insanity. Each stanza had me fist pumping! And the doggone politicians who just make it all worse. Great poem! Amen for VAX! I vex for my community. I vex for you. You van for me. And we’ll dance in the streets of a better tomorrow! Susie

Denise, you could launch an entire vaccine reconsideration movement with this poem – it’s so true and could save lives, yet people are so skeptical about what’s in the syringe. For that matter, what’s in the milk we drink? What’s in the chicken we eat? The logic of fearing a vaccine over all the other things that could go sideways is just not solid. I love your refrains!

Respect for making your own poetry form!

With the school year drawing near, I too am feeling a bit obsessive about this topic.

What more is there really to say than, “life-saving vaccine effective and free”?

Choose or Lose

Talking about what matters the most How do we help folks understand? It’s important to vote from coast to coast!

Voting is a right, one for which we fought No taxation without representation Freedom to vote was costly but bought With lives before we were a nation. Talking about what matters the most How do we help folks understand? It’s important to vote from coast to coast!

He who pays taxes never relaxes Because he wants to bang for the buck. Revolution arose over taxes. Let’s not relegate voting luck.

Let’s not lose. We must choose. To do what is right. Show your might. Write a poem while sipping your booze. Send a letter and help spread the light.

Anna

Written in honor of Crispus Attucks, who in 1770 is said to be the first casualty of the American Revolution. He was a man of African descent, one of many races, all color faces who fought for the right to vote and more! https://www.google.com/search?q=first+black+man+killed+in+revolutionary+war&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari

Anna, thank you so much for this link and historical insight. I’d love to use your poem to share as a discussion tool about voting. Seriously, I cannot understand people who will say out loud that they chose not to vote. Loved your line “ To do what is right. Show your might.” Thank you!

Jennifer A Jowett

Anna, the repetition of lines here mimics the urgency in getting people to vote. It feels as if we are on play, repeat, play, repeat. This important message (right) cannot be lost. These lines resonate: “Freedom to vote was costly but bought with lives before we were a nation.” Truth.

Anna, you have cleverly captured the urgency of voting; the repetition of these three lines:

really underscores the importance of voting.

Anna — I’m with you 100%! Thanks. Susie

Cheers for the right to vote – and keeping that right! I love “write a poem while sipping your booze…send a letter and help spread the light!” Two perfect ways to show our might.

The villanelle has been on my try-this plate because it’s the Poetry Sisters challenge for this month. I wrote one, but since I had the time to dig in this morning, I wrote another. These are such good puzzles to solve. Our family has been invaded by Covid. No one is terribly sick because we’ve all been vaccinated, but I am struggling with anger. I used Rita Dove’s Testimony , 1968 as a jumping off place.

Who comforts me now that the virus has broken? Numbers mean nothing now that you’re ill. Anger is constant now, hope lost or stolen.

We thought our lives safe to reopen, but Delta arrived with its own stubborn will. Who comforts me now? The virus has broken

through the vaccine’s promised protection. Trust has been shattered on CDC’s sill. Anger is constant now, hope lost or stolen.

Safe, unsafe rules are misspoken as droplets of viral air aim to kill. Who comforts me now that the virus has broken?

Our lines of defense should be woken to what we now know is out there still. Who comforts me now that the virus has broken? Anger is constant; hope lost or stolen.

(Stay safe! Stay masked!)

Wow The Villanelle form is powerful companion here to the message, Margaret, as the repeating phrasing and rhythm give increasing power to the poem. Kevin

Margaret, your frustration, anger, hopelessness, all come through in your words. These feelings build throughout. I’m sorry you are fighting Covid now, especially after vaccination. Thankfully, you have been vaccinated and can survive the “droplets of viral air.”

Margaret, I am so sorry to hear that COVID has invaded your family – what a powerful word, invaded. There is such heartbreak throughout, and especially in these lines:

There is much comfort – I hope – that no one is terribly sick, because you are vaccinated. Your poem offers insight to those who have not dared get the vaccine – spread the word!

Linda Mitchell

What emotion in this. I’m so glad this is the topic of your villanelle this morning. Of course you’re angry…I’m angry too. I appreciate that we won’t get severely ill or die or take up a hospital bed. But, we don’t even know if/what the long term impact of having had covid/delta variant is yet. Good poem.

Margaret, I’m sad, angry, and frustrated! I am happy you aren’t very ill but that’s not okay either way. Praying you and your family recover soon. Your poem is another one that needs to be shared widely. When I’m out and see all these people unmasked, sitting around close together in restaurants, at parties, it’s maddening. I have a wedding reception to attend at the end of the month and I will probably be the only one wearing a mask. OH WELL, TOO DAMN BAD!

Get rest and stay hydrated. ??

Stacy, Thanks for your empathy. I’m not sick but my 90 year old mother-in-law is. She’s tough and doing better every day. The vaccine saved her life!

Who comforts me now that the virus has broken? That refrain is heartbreaking and angering and I understand why your hope is stolen. I am angry for you! Hope the recovery is swift…

Kimberly Haynes Johnson

Margaret, we were just talking about the Delta variant at lunch today. Your lines:

The virus has broken through the vaccine’s promised protection. Trust has been shattered on CDC’s sill

are heartfelt and scary. That trust that has been shattered – – makes it hard to know what is safe anymore. I’m so sorry that your family is going through this. Your repeating lines are both haunting and kinship-connecting for all of us.

Stay safe, and feel better, my friend.

We thought our lives safe to reopen, but Delta arrived with its own stubborn will.

Yes, fight on, Margaret! I’m so glad that your family’s cases are mild. Especially your mother-in-law. Do take care!

Thanks for writing this.

Our lines of defense should be woken to what we now know is out there still.

Oh boy, I feel your anger and worry. This must be especially hard now that school will soon start. No one really knows how safe we are. I am angry and saddened over those that refuse to vaccinate. We have been effected in our family. Has the virus really been broken? Yes, who comforts me now?

Margaret, incredibly powerful poem, and such an amazing reminder that the virus is not diminished. I’m sorry if you have a loved one afflicted now. I can feel your anger throughout this poem. Hugs!

Tracie, my obsession today became writing this villanelle! Thank you for hinting at its roots, which allowed me to dig in – a hole I love to fall into. So I had fun, learned some things, and feel accomplished for completing the challenge.

Poetry Dwelling

Lyrical, pastoral, the villanelle Calls to mind days fallen by, long gone Within its past, I felt the need to dwell

Form and rhyme contained in poetry’s shell Like house, farm, village, which all share its root Lyrical, pastoral, the villanelle

From its start (low born), a need to retell And raise up villain , which expressed contempt Within its past, I felt the need to dwell

Elevating the word – the French tell Its beauty in ballad, a rural song Lyrical, pastoral, the villanelle

Yet shrouded, hidden – a poetry kell A torturous form, a true villain Within its past, I felt the need to dwell

Wading fodder etymological Both fascinated and pushed me through   Lyrical, pastoral, the villanelle Within its past, I would rather dwell

Form and rhyme contained in poetry’s shell

I love that you dove deep into what is a villanelle! And shared this knowledge with us all, here. It made for lovely rhymes throughout.

And I am today years old with all the newfound information! You gave a lesson and a perfectly crafted example all in one!

A torturous form, a true villain…within its past, I felt the need to dwell

Oh, that description of the soul abiding in the ruins of that hole you love to fall into! Your rhyme and rhythm are felt pulsing with passionate heartbeat, and I love that you used etymological in the poem! That’s high-brow writing right there – and so on point!

Wow, Jennifer. What a beautiful poem.I love that it is a villanelle about villanelles. It is making me think of a series of Poetry Dwelling collection. Sonnet, decima, golden shovel, etc. A history of the form in the form. You have done so here with such grace and beauty…

Elevating the word – the French tell Its beauty in ballad, a rural song

Gosh, this is incredible! I love the choices you made with your refrains and rhymes.Your poem is a lesson on the villanelle and also flows like a song! Wow.

Lyrical, pastoral, the villanelle Within its past, I would rather dwell

Jennifer — This would be a dandy classroom exam… to explain the form via the form. Love this. You get an A+. Susie

Tracie—I feel your pain! Your obsession was mine, and your angst is real. That darned grade level. What happened to pleasure. Anyway, I had to choose an obsession, so here you go. (I am not usually a rhyming poet—tend to love free verse—you are exercising my brain!)

Confess, she said— about what you obsess. The fairy looked at me sternly, “Truth Is best. I’m here to help.” I blurted, “The mess”

“Damn,” she said. She shook her lovely head. So mundane. A waste of a wish. Not youth? I have a GREAT deal on youth this week, she pled.

But I stuck by my guns (or they stuck to me)— I don’t recall specifically—youth Is wasted on those challenged domestically.

(We would just make younger messes…)

So, to continue this tawdry tale, I begged the slagging fairy, Forsooth— Just help me, here. Look around, a trail.

(Who names their fairy child Forsooth, anyway?)

All the things I’ve taken out remain,  evidence of bad character, no sleuth  required, Miss Fairy. But I WILL explain…

She looked around, the dust-motes swizzled. Her curls uncurled, her high hopes fizzled. My hapless fairy shook her head,  her magnum opus was, sadly, dead. 

My mess was its own sad success.  Even the good-wish fairy has her limits.

Gayle, I’m amazed at you – concocting this delightful piece so early in the morning and with what appears to be such ease. I love how you took a potentially forced rhyme (forsooth) and made it a part of this narrative so naturally (who names their fairy child, Forsooth, anyway?). And the attitude of the swearing fairy (damn!). My favorite lines: “She looked around, the dust-motes swizzled. Her curls uncurled, her high hopes fizzled.” Love, love, love!

Oh, I love this! Whimsical and honest. Clutter makes me nuts!! This had me chuckling so,

So, to continue this tawdry tale, I begged the slagging fairy, Forsooth— Just help me, here. Look around, a trail. (Who names their fairy child Forsooth, anyway?)

Gayle, this is genius! It could be a picture book – – I can see it, and the lilting rhythm and rhyme in this whimsical imaginary fairy land is magical and humorous with the Forsooth name! This is my favorite line

“Damn,” she said. She shook her lovely head.

The sweetness of the lovely head saying that word is just simply so adult! It made me chuckle as I saw my own version of the Good Witch of the East sweetly cursing. 🙂 Rock on!

Love this! Ha, ha!

I can so relate to this:

All the things I’ve taken out remain, 

That is a perfect line to describe my house and desk and workspaces. Bad character? No, a creative full mind!

So fun! I love this good-wish fairy but sorry that she is overwhelmed by this mess. If she saw my studio, her curls would become uncurled again.

Tracie, thank you for investing in us as writers! You’ve given us a tough challenge today – and we love those! I like your selection of a villanelle today – yours is fun ans I think my favorite lines are “classic lit, summer reads- are they benign? wait fir the test results then we’ll see” yes, that payoff is the answer! No learning is lost. Thank you for inspiring us!

The Freeloading Leech 

hypothyroidism thinks she’s my boss she’s parked all crooked in a long black hearse  but she ain’t nothin’ but an albatross 

if I could evict her, I’d see weight loss she’s living rent-free while I’m unreimbursed  hypothyroidism thinks she’s my boss 

if she’d signed a lease, her ass OUT I’d toss she’s a freeloading leech: a needy curse  yeah, she ain’t nothin’ but an albatross 

she struts around me like she’s awesome sauce she thinks that I think things couldn’t be worse hypothyroidism thinks she’s my boss

like toxic beggar lice, she comes across she sticks far too close, her attitude terse but she ain’t nothin’ but an albatross

unlike her, I feel joyful – seldom cross – ‘cause I’ve got friends who’ll gang up in verse hypothyroidism thinks she’s my boss but she ain’t nothin’ but an albatross 

Kim, way to take on that albatross! This approach reminds me of another writer who’s battling cancer right now – she’s made it a true battle, something to be defeated. Your repetition of “hypothyroidism thinks she’s my boss” tells us you’ve got this – my bet’s on you!

This line beckons to be spoken out loud:

but she ain’t nothin’ but an albatross

I love your language here, even if it written out of frustration

I hear a poet’s twist on Elvis Presley, “she ain’t nothin’ but an albatross!” Your rhymes throughout are fantastic – the very choice of two such similar sounds (boss and hearse) makes this a very lyrical, musical piece to my ear. I had to read it aloud – really great. So sorry about your hypothyroidism, but, wow, I think you’ve got her beat!!

Take that! Stupid old dumb hypothyroidism. Wonderful subject for a villanelle.

Kim, I love this! I’ve got hypothyroidism and fibromyalgia and I’m kicking their butts by doing karate! This poem made me feel the power of overcoming, of perseverance in the face of obstacles. I love the rhyme of boss and albatross…just perfect.

Kim—this is great. Love the way you personify this slug of a syndrome…. Kick her ass out! (My angry fairy will help)

Kim, your voice is so powerful here! I love your honest and direct voice, and how your attitude and tone here reflects your inner strength and fortitude. Loved the phrase “ like toxic beggar lice”. Obviously, you are your own boss! Bravo!

Kim! 🙁 Wow! You gave that albatross a 1-2 punch today in verse. Thank you for trusting us with your frustration about this “free-loading leech.”

So glad you are able to rise above what this seeming-boss tries to tell you to be. Love this line:

‘cause I’ve got friends who’ll gang up in verse

 Amen, sister!

Hoo boy….this one’s a toughie. I’m going to stick with two stanzas. Similar to Kevin, I think my obsession is poetry. At least that’s one I’m willing to share.

I’m always chasin’ — time’s a wastin’ Counting syllables, clapping out the beats Writing poetry can be frustrating.

At dark o’clock,  sunrise key tapping at the kitchen table in my seat I’m always chasin’ — time’s a wastin’

I know “dark o’clock” quite well … 🙂

Linda, I embrace that always chasin’ and time’s a wastin’ feeling today. And dark o’clock captures that frustration until we complete the piece (and sunrise appears with angelic song celebrating the relief).

“I’m always chasin’ – time’s a wastin'” I love this!

Linda, I can hear the key tapping in the dark of the early morning before the sun rises, when the house is quiet…..the tap, tap, tap in the backdrop of the count, count, count of the beats/syllables gives me the feeling of such productivity and thought while the rest of the world is just awakening! The dedication and commitment to your writing is strong here, and the chasin….time’s a wastin’ on the last line gives the feeling that the day is off to a caffeinated start!

Gaw — I am so much more comfortable with free-stylin’ it 🙂 Thanks for the challenge. Kevin

Yes, I’m obsessed with morning poems with cracking words like combination lock before the day’s ideas scatter, blown

by odd winds of origins, unknown, as detectives, writers scour the block – Yes, I’m obsessed with morning poems

Not all rhymes we find ring out like phones some sing false, and others, falter like stock before the day’s ideas scatter, blown

through corners where wonder’s what we own and our quiet voices, just talk – talk – talk Yes, I’m obsessed with morning poems

perched with pen in quiet morning home I scribble, erase, often have to walk before the day’s ideas scatter, blown

Each verse, a kite, high in sky, alone not able to remain stable, aloft, for I’m obsessed with morning poems before these ideas get scattered and blown

Wonderful! I chose the same topic…I couldn’t think of anything else I’m obsessed with that I’d be willing to share. Ha! I do love this stanza… “ perched with pen in quiet morning home I scribble, erase, often have to walk before the day’s ideas scatter, blown”

I can relate!

“Cracking words like combination lock” was the theme of the villanelle – love the phrasing here, and also “before the day’s ideas scatter, blown.” Once my day fully begins, my brain moves on to other things.

What a beautiful ode to morning writing, the gift of the dawn –

through corners where wonder’s what we own and our quiet voices, just talk – talk – talk Yes, I’m obsessed with morning poems

It’s so important to grab this time and write, ( before these ideas get scattered and blown ) because, truly, those ideas and insights leave us all too quickly. This is lovely.

Kevin, you and I have this in common:

Yes, I’m obsessed with morning poems …… before the day’s ideas scatter, blown

I am right there with you, in the quiet early morning of the house – – before I get on the carousel of the day.

Wow, what a great image of capturing the day’s ideas, before they are scattered and blown. I like the idea of getting them scribbled down because they won’t be able to stay aloft with the day’s busyness. I’m really enjoying this image today.

This— with cracking words like combination lock before the day’s ideas scatter, blown by odd winds of origins, unknown,—is poetry!

Kevin – Yes, I’m surprised to find you here tonight! And you remain every bit as sharp a wordsmith as you are at 5 am. The metrics of this poem are beautiful, rhyming in just the right spots. Musical. It feels a bit like peeking into your windows to see you writing and ruminating. These lines are faves:

before the day’s ideas scatter, blown through corners where wonder’s what we own and our quiet voices, just talk – talk – talk Yes, I’m obsessed with morning poems

Keep scattering those ideas! Susie

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How to Create Your Own Villanelle Poem

Last Updated: January 26, 2024 Fact Checked

Sample Villanelles

  • Villanelle Form
  • Brainstorming Ideas

This article was co-authored by Megan Morgan, PhD . Megan Morgan is a Graduate Program Academic Advisor in the School of Public & International Affairs at the University of Georgia. She earned her PhD in English from the University of Georgia in 2015. There are 9 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 412,513 times.

The word “villanelle” or “villainesque” was used toward the end of the 16th century to describe literary imitations of rustic songs. The villanelle originated as a dance song with a loose structure in Italy and Spain. [1] X Research source The villanelle developed into a highly structured poem with a rigid rhyme scheme. The form was popular with English and French poets, and many contemporary poets have loosened up the structure of the villanelle to allow for variations and shifts in the form.

Things You Should Know

  • Create an association diagram for your main topic, writing down words and phrases related to it. Then free write for 10 minutes to get your creativity flowing.
  • Identify the who, what, when, where, how, and why of your topic. Then, make a list of rhyming words using your association diagram.
  • Create your first and second refrains and insert them into the structure of the villanelle. Use them to fill in the introduction, middle, and conclusion of the poem.

villanelle writer's digest

Understanding the Form

Step 1 Learn the rules of a villanelle.

  • The 1st and 3rd lines alternate as the last lines of stanzas 2, 3, and 4. The last stanza uses the 1st and 3rd lines as a rhymed couplet. If we use capitals for the refrains and lowercase letters for the rhymes, the form could be expressed as: A1 b A2 / a b A1 / a b A2 / a b A1 / a b A2 / a b A1 A2. [3] X Research source
  • There is no set meter in a villanelle but there is a set rhyme scheme. There is no fixed number of syllables for each line in a villanelle. [4] X Research source
  • The villanelle is broken into three parts: the introduction, the development, and the conclusion. Most villanelles build up intensity and tone until they reach the conclusion. [5] X Research source

Step 2 Look at the structure.

  • line A1- first refrain - Since Persia fell at Marathon
  • line b - The yellow years have gathered fast
  • line A2 - second refrain - Long centuries have come and gone.

Step 3 Note the second stanza of the poem.

  • line a - And yet (they say) the place will don
  • line b - A phantom fury of the past,
  • line A1 - Since Persia fell at Marathon;

Step 4 Look at the third stanza of the poem.

  • line a - And as of old when Helicon
  • line b - Trembled and swayed with rapture vast
  • line A2 - (Long centuries have come and gone),

Step 5 Note the fourth stanza of the poem.

  • line 10 - a - The ancient plain, when night comes on,
  • line 11 - b - Shakes to a ghostly battle-blast,
  • line 12 - A1 - Since Persia fell at Marathon.

Step 6 Look at the fifth stanza of the poem.

  • line 13 - a - But into soundless Acheron
  • line 14 - b - The glory of Greek shame was cast:
  • line 15 - A2 - Long centuries have come and gone,

Step 7 Note the sixth and final stanza of the poem.

  • line 16 - a - The suns of Hellas have all shone,
  • line 17 - b - The first has fallen to the last;--
  • line 18 - A1 - Since Persia fell at Marathon,
  • line 19 - A2 - Long centuries have come and gone.

Step 8 Read examples of the villanelle.

  • Dylan Thomas' "Do Not Go Gentle Into that Good Night" [13] X Research source is one of the most famous examples of the villanelle form. Thomas’ poem uses the villanelle structure to deepen the meaning of each stanza.
  • Elizabeth Bishop's "One Art" includes text in parenthesis and dashes. Bishop also does a variation on the refrain lines that deviates from the form and from the traditional rhyme scheme of the villanelle.
  • Sylvia Plath’s "Mad Girl’s Love Song" puts a more contemporary spin on the form.

Step 9 Analyze the examples.

  • What will the tone of your villanelle be? More song-like and lyrical? Or more casual and direct? For example, Thomas’ "Do Not Go Gentle Into that Good Night" uses verbs like “burn,” “rave,” and “rage” and has a rhyming quality that flows when read out loud. In contrast, Plath’s "Mad Girl’s Love Song" uses plainer language like “shut,” “lift,” “and “made up”.
  • Will your villanelle use a direct address? Plath’s poem has an “I” speaker throughout the poem that addresses the reader. Thomas’ poem does not have an “I” speaker. Instead, the poem uses a “you” to suggest the poem is being told to another person, such as the speaker’s father.
  • How will you use the refrain in each stanza of your villanelle? Will the refrains deepen the meaning of the previous lines? Contradict the meaning? In Thomas’ poem, the refrains reinforce the overall theme of the villanelle, urging the speaker’s father to “rage, rage against the dying of the light.” In Bishop’s "One Art," Bishop rephrases the refrain lines. Rather than have freestanding phrases as refrain lines, Bishop uses line breaks to create refrains. “...to be lost that their loss is no disaster” in the first stanza is then rephrased as “None of these will bring disaster” in the third stanza, and then is rephrased again in the fifth stanza as: “I miss them but it wasn’t a disaster.”

Step 10 Think about how to create an introduction, a section of development, and a conclusion in your villanelle.

  • The poem then develops this claim or idea in the middle section, “Lose something every day,” “I lost my mother’s watch.” The poem builds up to a conclusion by discussing bigger and bigger things the speaker loses, from her mother’s watch to “three loved houses” to “two cities” to “a continent.”
  • The conclusion in the last stanza then reveals the speaker also lost a “you,” a lover perhaps or a friend, and the speaker has to admit (“Write it!") that it is a disaster.

Brainstorming Your Villanelle

Step 1 Create an association diagram.

  • Take out a sheet of paper. Write your main topic or subject in the middle of the paper. For example, “a leopard.”
  • Moving out from the center, write down other words that pop into your mind that relate back to “a leopard.” You can also draw a circle or box around the main topic and use little lines to connect the other words to the main topic.
  • For example, for “a leopard,” you might write “predator,” “wild,” “jaws,” “spotted”. Don’t worry about organizing the words as you write. Simply let the words flow around the main topic.
  • Once you feel you have written enough words around the main topic, start to cluster the words. Draw a circle around words that relate to each other and draw a line between the circled words to connect them. Continue doing this with the other words. Some of the terms may end up uncircled, but these lone words can still be useful.
  • Focus on how the words relate back to the main topic. If you have clustered together several words that relate to “predator,” for example, maybe this may be a good approach for the poem. Or if there are a lot of clustered words that focus on “teeth”, this may be another way to approach “a leopard.”
  • Answer questions like: “I was surprised by…” or “I discovered…” For example, you may look over the clustered words and note “I was surprised by how often I mention my brother in relation to a leopard.” Or, “I discovered I may want to write about how a leopard means a wild or strong personality or character, like my brother.”

Step 2 Do a freewrite.

  • Take out a piece of paper, or open a new document on your computer. Write the main topic at the top of the paper. Then, set a time limit of 10 minutes and start the freewrite. [16] X Trustworthy Source University of North Carolina Writing Center UNC's on-campus and online instructional service that provides assistance to students, faculty, and others during the writing process Go to source
  • A good rule of thumb for the freewrite is to not lift your pen from the paper, or your fingers from the keyboard. This means not re-reading the sentences you just wrote or going back over a line for spelling, grammar, or punctuation. If you feel you have run out of things to write down, write about your frustrations about not having anything else to say about the main topic.
  • Stop writing once the timer is up. Read over the text. Though there may be some confusing or convoluted thoughts, there will also be sentences you may like or an insight that may be useful.
  • Highlight or underline sentences or phrases you think may work in the villanelle.

Step 3 Ask the six big questions.

  • Respond to each question with a phrase or sentence. For example, if your topic is “a leopard,” you may answer Who? with “my brother and I.” You may answer When? with “A hot summer day in July when I was six years old.” You may answer Where? with “the San Diego Zoo.” You may answer Why? with “Because my brother loved watching the leopard at the zoo and later became a strong personality as an adult.” And you may answer How? with “He grew up to be an angry man who is misunderstood by many people, including me.”
  • Look over your responses. Do you have more than one or two phrases for a certain question? Is there one question you had no answer for? If your answers reveal you know more about “where” and “why,” maybe this is where the strongest ideas for the villanelle are.

Step 4 Make two lists of words that rhyme.

  • Think about creating refrains that will help you build intensity in the poem. Avoid closed sentences that simply state the obvious, like “We were at the zoo” or “I was six.”
  • For example, you may write down “leopard” and “shepherd,” or “cage” and “age” and “rage.”
  • Or you may write down phrases like: “the leopard paced around the cage” and “my brother and I didn’t understand at that age.”
  • Think about creating detailed descriptions and detailed internal reflections or thoughts with the rhyming words in your list. Go for words that are easy to rhyme with, such as “son,” “zoo,” or “age,” rather than words that are very difficult to use in a rhyme, like “orange.”
  • You can use a thesaurus to help you. You can purchase them from bookstores or find free ones online.

Writing the Villanelle

Step 1 Compose the first and second refrains.

  • To do this, you could place several rhyming words you like on two different lines and try to write sentences that work around these words. Remember that the refrains need to end with the rhyming words.
  • You could also rearrange phrases you have written down to incorporate rhyming words at the end of the phrases. For example: “In the cage, the leopard paced” could be rephrased as: “The leopard paced around the metal cage” to then rhyme with “My brother and I didn’t understand at that age.”

Step 2 Place the refrains in the structure of the villanelle.

  • They should appear as A1 and A2 in the order: A1 b A2 / a b A1 / a b A2 / a b A1 / a b A2 / a b A1 A2.
  • So, if your first refrain is “The leopard paced around the metal cage,” and your second refrain is “My brother and I didn’t understand at that age,” place them in the A1 and A2 lines of your villanelle.

Step 3 Create an introduction.

  • If you are describing a certain memory or moment, start by setting the scene. Such as: “I was six when my brother and I saw a leopard at the San Diego Zoo.”
  • If you are writing the poem as a direct address to someone else, such as your brother, you could begin by discussing the last time you saw or spoke to this person. For example: “You were dressed in black at the funeral.” Or, you can use a line that doesn’t use a “you,” similar to Dylan Thomas’ poem, such as: “Don’t become like the leopard, don’t end up in a cage.”

Step 4 Develop the middle section of the poem.

  • One way of building intensity is to have each stanza contain larger and larger moments. For example, in Bishop’s "One Art," she goes from seemingly minor losses, like her mother’s glasses, to the loss of houses, cities, and a continent. Think about the bigger or more absurd versions of your subject or theme. For a poem about a trip to the zoo, you could describe the other animals you saw at the zoo and then build intensity by describing the leopard in the fourth stanza. Or you could describe memories of your brother, moving from smaller moments of anger to larger moments of anger.
  • Another way of building intensity is to have each stanza contain different descriptions of the subject or theme. In Thomas’ poem, the speaker discusses different descriptions of “men” in the middle stanzas, the “Good men”, the “Wild men”, and the “Grave men”. In each stanza, Thomas describes each type of man’s approach to death or the “dying of the light”. [19] X Research source

Step 5 Write a conclusion section.

  • Is there a way you can complicate the beginning and middle section of the poem in the ending stanza? In Thomas’ villanelle, for example, the last stanza introduces the father character, as the speaker addresses a “you”. “And you, my father, there on the sad height, / Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.”
  • The poem gives the reader different images of “men” in the middle section and the speaker is now considering what type of man his father is in the last stanza. By bringing in the “you” in the last stanza, Thomas makes the poem very personal and specific. It also makes the last stanza very powerful.
  • The best last stanzas in a poem will leave the reader with more questions than answers. In Thomas’ poem, it is not clear if his father is a man who will “go gentle into that good night.” But the speaker in the poem asks the question and argues against his father succumbing to death. In a larger sense, the last stanza could also be seen as a plea to all fathers or “men” in the world to “rage, rage against the dying of the light.”
  • The last stanza in Plath’s villanelle takes a different approach than Thomas’ poem or Bishop’s poem. Rather than introduce a “you”, the speaker notes how the “I” was abandoned by a lover who did not return.
  • But the refrain has a double meaning at the end of the poem, as the reader is not sure if in fact the speaker did make up the lover in her head or if the speaker just thinks she made up the lover in her head. The question of how mad the “mad girl” of the speaker is in the poem is left for the reader to decide. [20] X Research source

Step 6 Read the villanelle out loud.

  • This will help you note if your rhyme scheme is off or if the rhythm of the lines of the poem flow well together.
  • Revise and edit the villanelle as necessary until it almost has a song-like quality.

Expert Q&A

Video . by using this service, some information may be shared with youtube..

  • Embrace imperfection! The villanelle is a demanding literary form, but when you're drafting a poem, you need to embrace the imperfection of the creative process. Don't expect yourself to have all the words just as you want them on your first or even second or third drafts. Remember that professional poets go through many drafts, and so will you. Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 0

villanelle writer's digest

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Write a Poem

  • ↑ https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/text/poetic-form-villanelle
  • ↑ https://poetry.arizona.edu/education/curriculum/villanelle-writing-prompt
  • ↑ https://literarydevices.net/villanelle/
  • ↑ https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/174251
  • ↑ https://classicalpoets.org/2016/10/19/how-to-write-a-villanelle-with-examples/
  • ↑ https://examples.yourdictionary.com/villanelle-examples.html
  • ↑ https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/do-not-go-gentle-good-night
  • ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/brainstorming/
  • ↑ https://literarydevices.com/villanelle/

About This Article

Megan Morgan, PhD

To write a villanelle, start by writing two refrains that will be repeated throughout the poem, which capture the meaning and tone of the poem. Next, place the refraining lines in the structure of the villanelle first, then add additional lines around them. In the first stanza, use the line between the first and second refrain to introduce the subject to the reader. In the middle stanzas, develop the theme or story further to build intensity. Finally, conclude the poem in the last stanza by honing in on a particularly meaningful symbol. For advice from our English reviewer on how to brainstorm topics for your villanelle, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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Refrain, Again: The Return of the Villanelle

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Table of Contents

  • About this site
  • Acknowledgements
  • Permissions
  • The Effect of New Formalism
  • Villanelle Scholarship
  • Form and Tradition
  • Background of "J’ay perdu ma tourterelle"
  • Textual Analysis of "J’ay perdu ma tourterelle"
  • Translations of "J’ay perdu ma tourterelle"
  • Conclusion to Chapter One
  • Wilhelm Ténint
  • Théodore de Banville
  • Edmund Gosse and Austin Dobson
  • Joseph Boulmier
  • Conclusion to Chapter Two
  • James Joyce (and Stephen Dedalus)
  • John McCrae
  • Sir Charles G. D. Roberts
  • Conclusion to Chapter Three
  • William Empson
  • W. H. Auden
  • Dylan Thomas: The Death of the King’s Canary
  • Dylan Thomas: "Do not go gentle into that good night"
  • Conclusion to Chapter Four
  • Appendix I: Anthologies Examined

Appendix II: List of Villanelles

  • Appendix III: Historical Collation of Passerat's "J'ay perdu ma Tourterelle"
  • Appendix IV: Comparisons
  • Bibliography
  • Previous page

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February 28, 2010

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¶ 22 Leave a comment on paragraph 22 0 —. “Villanelle of the Melancholy Minstrels.” Southerly 5.4 (1944): 20.

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¶ 83 Leave a comment on paragraph 83 0 Davidson, John. “Battle.” The Last Ballad, and Other Poems . New York: Lane, 1899.

¶ 84 Leave a comment on paragraph 84 0 —. “On Her Hand She Leans Her Head.” In a Music-Hall and Other Poems . London: Ward and Downey, 1891.

¶ 85 Leave a comment on paragraph 85 0 DeFrees, Madeline. “Keeping Up with the Signs.” Rpt. The Villanelle: The Evolution of a Poetic Form . Ronald McFarland. Moscow, ID: University of Idaho Press, 1987.

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¶ 87 Leave a comment on paragraph 87 0 Disch, T. “Villanelle for Charles Olson.” Poetry 159.4 (1992): 199.

¶ 88 Leave a comment on paragraph 88 0 Disch, Thomas M. “The Rapist’s Villanelle.” ABCDEFG HIJKLM NPOQRST UVWXYZ . London: Anvil Press Poetry, 1981.

¶ 89 Leave a comment on paragraph 89 0 Disch, Tom. “Entropic Villanelle.” Poetry 144.4 (1984): 205.

¶ 90 Leave a comment on paragraph 90 0 Dobson, Austin. “For a Copy of Theocritus.” Rpt. Lyric Forms from France: Their History and Their Use . Ed. Helen Cohen. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1922.

¶ 91 Leave a comment on paragraph 91 0 —. “On a Nankin Plate.” Rpt. Lyric Forms from France: Their History and Their Use . Ed. Helen Cohen. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1922.

¶ 92 Leave a comment on paragraph 92 0 —. “Tu Ne Quaesieris.” Proverbs in Porcelain . 2nd edn. London: C. Kegan Paul, 1878.

¶ 93 Leave a comment on paragraph 93 0 —. “Villanelle [When I first saw your eyes].” The Examiner (1874 Oct 24): 1157.

¶ 94 Leave a comment on paragraph 94 0 —. “Villanelle at Verona.” Rpt. Lyric Forms from France: Their History and Their Use . Ed. Helen Cohen. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1922.

¶ 95 Leave a comment on paragraph 95 0 —. “A Voice In the Scented Night (Villanelle at Verona).” Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine 64 (1902): 853.

¶ 96 Leave a comment on paragraph 96 0 —. “When I Saw You Last, Rose.” Rpt. Lyric Forms from France: Their History and Their Use . Ed. Helen Cohen. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1922.

¶ 97 Leave a comment on paragraph 97 0 Dove, Rita. “Parsley.” Museum . Pittsburgh, PA: Carnegi-Mellon University Press, 1983.

¶ 98 Leave a comment on paragraph 98 0 Dowson, Ernest. “Villanelle of Acheron.” Decorations . London: L. Smithers, 1899.

¶ 99 Leave a comment on paragraph 99 0 —. “Villanelle of His Lady’s Treasures.” Temple Bar (1893 Aug): 156.

¶ 100 Leave a comment on paragraph 100 0 —. “Villanelle of Marguerites.” Temple Bar 102 (1894 May): 144.

¶ 101 Leave a comment on paragraph 101 0 —. “Villanelle of Sunset.” The Book of the Rhymers’ Club . London: Elkin Mathews, 1892.

¶ 102 Leave a comment on paragraph 102 0 —. “Villanelle of the Poet’s Road.” Decorations . London: L. Smithers, 1899.

¶ 103 Leave a comment on paragraph 103 0 Dunetz, Lora. “On the Night Express to Madrid.” Rpt. Anthology of Magazine Verse and Yearbook of American Poetry; 1981 Edition . Ed. Alan F. Pater. Palm Springs: Monitor Book Company, 1981.

¶ 104 Leave a comment on paragraph 104 0 Dunn, Stephen. “Tangier.” Not Dancing . Pittsburgh, PA: Carnegie-Mellon University Press, 1984.

¶ 105 Leave a comment on paragraph 105 0 Eastman, Harold. “At New Year’s, The Still Lives of the Late Burgomeister and His Late Wife, Anna, Sing, Sing, Sing, Villanelle (poems).” Epoch 9 (1958): 13.

¶ 106 Leave a comment on paragraph 106 0 Eberhart, Richard. “Villanelle [Christ is walking in your blood today].” Collected Poems 1930-1986 . New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988.

¶ 107 Leave a comment on paragraph 107 0 Edwards, Eileen. “Villanelle of Old Age.” Outposts 78 (1968): 13.

¶ 108 Leave a comment on paragraph 108 0 Elder, Anne. “Villanelle for April.” Quadrant 20.4 (1976): 68.

¶ 109 Leave a comment on paragraph 109 0 Empson, William. “Reflection from Anita Loos.” The Gathering Storm . London: Faber and Faber Ltd., 1940.

¶ 110 Leave a comment on paragraph 110 0 —. “Villanelle [It is the pain, it is the pain endures].” Cambridge Review 50 (1928 Oct 26): 52.

¶ 111 Leave a comment on paragraph 111 0 —. “Villanelle [Missing Dates].” Criterion 16.65 (1937): 618.

¶ 112 Leave a comment on paragraph 112 0 Espy, Willard R. “Graveyard Square.” Words to Rhyme With: For Poets and Song Writers . New York: Facts on File Publications, 1986.

¶ 113 Leave a comment on paragraph 113 0 —. “Was Bacchus a Boil Vexing Jupiter’s Thigh?” Words to Rhyme With: For Poets and Song Writers . New York: Facts on File Publications, 1986.

¶ 114 Leave a comment on paragraph 114 0 Farber, Norma. “Nothing Gold Can Stay.” Rpt. Anthology of Magazine Verse and Yearbook of American Poetry; 1981 Edition . Ed. Alan F. Pater. Palm Springs: Monitor Book Company, 1981.

¶ 115 Leave a comment on paragraph 115 0 Field, Edward. “Unwanted: A Villanelle.” Harper’s Magazine 232.1388 (1966): 28.

¶ 116 Leave a comment on paragraph 116 0 Field, Matt. “Farm Wife.” Rpt. Anthology of Magazine Verse and Yearbook of American Poetry; 1981 Edition . Ed. Alan F. Pater. Palm Springs: Monitor Book Company, 1981.

¶ 117 Leave a comment on paragraph 117 0 Fletcher, Iain. “Villanelle.” Listener 50.1275 (1953): 216.

¶ 118 Leave a comment on paragraph 118 0 Folkestad, Marilyn. “Maggie.” Rpt. The Villanelle: The Evolution of a Poetic Form . Ronald McFarland. Moscow, ID: University of Idaho Press, 1987.

¶ 119 Leave a comment on paragraph 119 0 Forbes, Peter. “Villanelle.” Outposts 129 (1981): 10.

¶ 120 Leave a comment on paragraph 120 0 Frechette, J. M. “Villanelle.” Liberté 38.2 (1996): 33.

¶ 121 Leave a comment on paragraph 121 0 Frost, Richard. “Villanelle of the Circus Villains.” Poetry 98.4 (1961): 216.

¶ 122 Leave a comment on paragraph 122 0 Gallienne, Hesper Le. “A Villanelle of Life and Death.” Harper’s Monthly Magazine 140 (1919): 67.

¶ 123 Leave a comment on paragraph 123 0 Gerteiny, Elizabeth. “Villanelle (Jean Passerat: 1534-1602).” Poet Lore 68.1 (1973): 70.

¶ 124 Leave a comment on paragraph 124 0 Giese, William Frederic. “Villanelle [Translation of ‘Villanelle’ by Jean Passerat].” French Lyrics, in English Verse . Madison, WI: The University Press, 1946.

¶ 125 Leave a comment on paragraph 125 0 Glanz-Leyeles, Aaron. “Villanelle of the Mystical Cycle.” Rpt. American Yiddish Poetry. Eds. Bejamin Harshaw and Barbara Harshaw. Berkeley, University of California Press, 1986.

¶ 126 Leave a comment on paragraph 126 0 Gosse, Edmund. “Villanelle [Little mistress mine, good-bye!].” Rpt. Lyric Forms from France: Their History and Their Use . Ed. Helen Cohen. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1922.

¶ 127 Leave a comment on paragraph 127 0 —. “Villanelle [Wouldst thou not be content to die].” Cornhill Magazine 36 (1877): 65.

¶ 128 Leave a comment on paragraph 128 0 Grosholz, Emily. “The Last of the Courtyard.” The River Painter . Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1984.

¶ 129 Leave a comment on paragraph 129 0 —. “Villanelle.” Poet Lore 63.2 (1968): 147.

¶ 130 Leave a comment on paragraph 130 0 Grotz, Jennifer. “Try.” Cusp . New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2003.

¶ 131 Leave a comment on paragraph 131 0 Grutzmacher, Harold M., Jr. “Villanelle: Memoriam.” Arizona Quarterly 17.1 (1961): 16.

¶ 132 Leave a comment on paragraph 132 0 Guenther, Charles. “Missouri Woods.” Rpt. The Villanelle: The Evolution of a Poetic Form . Ronald McFarland. Moscow, ID: University of Idaho Press, 1987.

¶ 133 Leave a comment on paragraph 133 0 Guess, J. “Villanelle.” Poetry Australia 109 (1986): 18-19.

¶ 134 Leave a comment on paragraph 134 0 —. “Villanelle.” Poetry Australia 115 (1988): 43.

¶ 135 Leave a comment on paragraph 135 0 —. “Villanelle.” Westerly 42.4 (1997): 15.

¶ 136 Leave a comment on paragraph 136 0 Gylys, Beth Ann. “Hand on a Streetcar Rail.” Diss. University of Cincinnati, 1997.

¶ 137 Leave a comment on paragraph 137 0 Hacker, Marilyn. “Ruptured Friendships, or The High Cost of Keys.” Presentation Piece . New York: Viking, 1974.

¶ 138 Leave a comment on paragraph 138 0 —. “Villanelle [Every day our bodies separate].” Presentation Piece . New York: Viking, 1974.

¶ 139 Leave a comment on paragraph 139 0 —. “Villanelle: Late Summer.” Separations . New York: Knopf, 1976.

¶ 140 Leave a comment on paragraph 140 0 Hadas, Rachel. “Pale Cast.” Rpt. The Villanelle: The Evolution of a Poetic Form . Ronald McFarland. Moscow, ID: University of Idaho Press, 1987.

¶ 141 Leave a comment on paragraph 141 0 —. “Villanelle in March.” Atlantic Monthly 241.3 (1978): 116.

¶ 142 Leave a comment on paragraph 142 0 Haggerty, Michael James. “Ocean City and Other Journeys.” M.F.A. thesis. The American University, 1989.

¶ 143 Leave a comment on paragraph 143 0 Hannah, S. “Metaphysical Villanelle.” Critical Quarterly 41.4 (1999): 38.

¶ 144 Leave a comment on paragraph 144 0 Harington, Donald. “The Villanelle.” New Letters 49.3/4 (1983): 194.

¶ 145 Leave a comment on paragraph 145 0 —. “The Villanelle.” New Letters 46.3 (1980): 84.

¶ 146 Leave a comment on paragraph 146 0 Harkness, Edward. “The Man in the Recreation Room.” Rpt. Strong Measures: Contemporary American Poetry in Traditional Forms . Eds. Philip Dacey and David Jauss. New York: Harper & Row, 1986.

¶ 147 Leave a comment on paragraph 147 0 Harrison, Susan Frances. “Chateau Papineau.” Rpt. Canadian Poetry in English . Eds. Bliss Carman, Lorne Pierce, and V. B. Rhodenizer. Rev. and enl. edn. Toronto and New York: Ryerson Press, 1954.

¶ 148 Leave a comment on paragraph 148 0 Hawley, Joseph. “The Cuckoo’s Call (a Villanelle).” Papers of the Manchester Literary Club 48.1 (1922): 298.

¶ 149 Leave a comment on paragraph 149 0 Hayes, A. “Villanelle for Some Baseball Cards.” Confrontation . Vol. 54-55, 1995.

¶ 150 Leave a comment on paragraph 150 0 Hayn, Annette. “The Way You Are.” Rpt. The Villanelle: The Evolution of a Poetic Form . Ronald McFarland. Moscow, ID: University of Idaho Press, 1987.

¶ 151 Leave a comment on paragraph 151 0 Heaney, Seamus. “Villanelle for an Anniversary.” Harvard Review 10 (1996): 73-4.

¶ 152 Leave a comment on paragraph 152 0 —. The Villanelle of Northwest Orient Flight 4 . 1993. Self-published limited edition, 1993.

¶ 153 Leave a comment on paragraph 153 0 Hellyer, Jill. “Winter Villanelle.” Quadrant 25.12 (1981): 67.

¶ 154 Leave a comment on paragraph 154 0 Henley, W. E. “A Dainty Thing’s the Villanelle.” The Works of W. E. Henley . Vol. 2. London: D. Nutt, 1908.

¶ 155 Leave a comment on paragraph 155 0 —. “In the Clatter of the Train.” The Works of W. E. Henley . Vol. 2. London: D. Nutt, 1908.

¶ 156 Leave a comment on paragraph 156 0 —. “Now Ain’t They Utterly Too-Too.” Rpt. A Whimsey Anthology . Ed. Carolyn Wells. New York: Scribner’s, 1906.

¶ 157 Leave a comment on paragraph 157 0 —. “Where’s the Use of Sighing.” The Works of W. E. Henley . Vol. 2. London: D. Nutt, 1908.

¶ 158 Leave a comment on paragraph 158 0 Higginbotham, Elsie. “In Winter: Villanelle.” Pall Mall Magazine 39 (1907): 207.

¶ 159 Leave a comment on paragraph 159 0 —. “Verse: Villanelle of Autumn Twilight.” Outlook 18.461 (1906): 701.

¶ 160 Leave a comment on paragraph 160 0 Hilliard, John Northern. “Villanelle.” Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine 90 (1912): 92.

¶ 161 Leave a comment on paragraph 161 0 Hirsch, Bonnie. “Planting Cacti in Jars Saved from the Farm Dump.” Rpt. The Villanelle: The Evolution of a Poetic Form . Ronald McFarland. Moscow, ID: University of Idaho Press, 1987.

¶ 162 Leave a comment on paragraph 162 0 Hirsch, Edward. “Ocean of Grass.” On Love . New York: Knopf, 1998.

¶ 163 Leave a comment on paragraph 163 0 Hix, H. L. “Villanelle after Wittgenstein.” Poetry 158.6 (1991): 314.

¶ 164 Leave a comment on paragraph 164 0 Hollander, John. “This form with two refrains in parallel?” Rhyme’s Reason: A Guide to English Verse . New Haven: Yale UP, 1981.

¶ 165 Leave a comment on paragraph 165 0 Holloway, J. “Villanelle, Success Story at Sea.” Kenyon Review 10.1 (1988): 99-100.

¶ 166 Leave a comment on paragraph 166 0 Howes, Barbara. “The Triumph of Death.” Light and Dark . Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 1959.

¶ 167 Leave a comment on paragraph 167 0 Hudgins, A. “Gospel Villanelle.” Shenandoah 42.3 (1992): 40.

¶ 168 Leave a comment on paragraph 168 0 Hugo, Richard. “The Freaks at Spurgin Road Field.” Selected Poems . New York: W. W. Norton, 1973.

¶ 169 Leave a comment on paragraph 169 0 —. “What Thou Lovest Well, Remains.” Rpt. The Villanelle: The Evolution of a Poetic Form . Ronald McFarland. Moscow, ID: University of Idaho Press, 1987.

¶ 170 Leave a comment on paragraph 170 0 Humphries, Rolfe. “Runes for an Old Believer.” Rpt. The New Yorker Book of Poems . NY: Viking Press, 1969.

¶ 171 Leave a comment on paragraph 171 0 Hungerford, Mary C. “A Valentine Villanelle to Kate.” Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine 43 (1891): 639.

¶ 172 Leave a comment on paragraph 172 0 Janowitz, Phyllis. “Wilbur.” Rpt. The Villanelle: The Evolution of a Poetic Form . Ronald McFarland. Moscow, ID: University of Idaho Press, 1987.

¶ 173 Leave a comment on paragraph 173 0 Jason, Philip K. “Villanelle [Translation of ‘Villanelle’ by Jean Passerat].” College English 7 (1980): 145.

¶ 174 Leave a comment on paragraph 174 0 Jastermsky, Karen Mary. “Michael Jastrzembski, Where Are You?” M.A. thesis. Southern Connecticut State University, 1991.

¶ 175 Leave a comment on paragraph 175 0 Johnson, Charles W. “A Summer’s Villanelle in Short-Quarter Time.” College Composition and Communication 26.3 (1975): 309.

¶ 176 Leave a comment on paragraph 176 0 Jones, Thomas S., Jr. “In Arcady. A Villanelle: Decoration by Franklin Booth.” Appleton’s Magazine 8.3 (1906): 341.

¶ 177 Leave a comment on paragraph 177 0 Joyce, James. “Villanelle of the Temptress.” The Egoist: An Individualist Review 2.7 (1915 July 1): 107-9.

¶ 178 Leave a comment on paragraph 178 0 Justice, Donald. “In Memory of the Unknown Poet Robert Boardman Vaughn.” The Sunset Maker . New York: Atheneum, 1987.

¶ 179 Leave a comment on paragraph 179 0 —. “Villanelle at Sundown.” The Sunset Maker . New York: Atheneum, 1987.

¶ 180 Leave a comment on paragraph 180 0 —. “Women in Love.” The Summer Anniversaries . Middletown, CT: Wesleyan UP, 1960.

¶ 181 Leave a comment on paragraph 181 0 Kees, Weldon. “The Crack is Moving Down the Wall.” The Fall of the Magicians . New York: Reynal & Hitchcock, 1947.

¶ 182 Leave a comment on paragraph 182 0 —. “Men We Once Honored Share a Crooked Eye.” The Fall of the Magicians . New York: Reynal & Hitchcock, 1947.

¶ 183 Leave a comment on paragraph 183 0 —. “No Sound Except the Beating of a Drum.” The Fall of the Magicians . New York: Reynal & Hitchcock, 1947.

¶ 184 Leave a comment on paragraph 184 0 —. “A Villanelle for the Publisher Who Rejected –‘s Book.” The Fall of the Magicians . New York: Reynal & Hitchcock, 1947.

¶ 185 Leave a comment on paragraph 185 0 —. “We Had the Notion It Was Dawn.” The Fall of the Magicians . New York: Reynal & Hitchcock, 1947.

¶ 186 Leave a comment on paragraph 186 0 Keithley, George. “If April.” Rpt. The Villanelle: The Evolution of a Poetic Form . Ronald McFarland. Moscow, ID: University of Idaho Press, 1987.

¶ 187 Leave a comment on paragraph 187 0 Kell, Richard. “Empsonium.” London Magazine 6 (1959 Oct): 55-6.

¶ 188 Leave a comment on paragraph 188 0 Khalvati, M. “Villanelle.” Agenda 36.1 (1998): 94.

¶ 189 Leave a comment on paragraph 189 0 Kinsella, John. “Goading Storms Out of a Darkening Field.” Peripheral Light: Selected and New Poems . New York: Norton, 2004.

¶ 190 Leave a comment on paragraph 190 0 Kirby, Martin Rucks. “The Male Line and Other Poems.” Diss. University of South Carolina, 1987.

¶ 191 Leave a comment on paragraph 191 0 Kitagawa, K. “Villanelle.” Journal of Pre-Raphaelite Studies n.s. 6-7 (1998): 65.

¶ 192 Leave a comment on paragraph 192 0 Kizer, Carolyn. “On a Line from Sophocles.” Rpt. The Villanelle: The Evolution of a Poetic Form . Ronald McFarland. Moscow, ID: University of Idaho Press, 1987.

¶ 193 Leave a comment on paragraph 193 0 —. “On a Line from Valéry.” Rpt. A Formal Feeling Comes: Poems in Form by Contemporary Women . Ed. Annie Finch. Brownsville, OR: Story Line Press, 1994.

¶ 194 Leave a comment on paragraph 194 0 Klappert, Peter. “Ellie May Leaves in a Hurry.” Lugging Vegetables to Nantucket . New Haven: Yale University Press, 1971.

¶ 195 Leave a comment on paragraph 195 0 Kowit, Steve. “The Grammar Lesson.” In the Palm of Your Hand . Gardiner, ME: Tilbury House, 1995.

¶ 196 Leave a comment on paragraph 196 0 Kumin, Maxine. “The Nuns of Childhood: Two Views.” Rpt. A Formal Feeling Comes: Poems in Form by Contemporary Women . Ed. Annie Finch. Brownsville, OR: Story Line Press, 1994.

¶ 197 Leave a comment on paragraph 197 0 Laing, Dilys Bennett. “Proud Inclination of the Flesh.” Rpt. Erotic Poetry: The Lyrics, Ballads, Idylls, and Epics of Love–Classical to Contemporary . Ed. William Cole. New York: Random House, 1963.

¶ 198 Leave a comment on paragraph 198 0 Lang, Andrew. “Villanelle (To Lucia).” Academy 16 (1879): 354.

¶ 199 Leave a comment on paragraph 199 0 —. “Villanelle–(To M. Joseph Boulmier, author of ‘Les Villanelles’).” Rhymes à la Mode . London: C. Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner, 1885.

¶ 200 Leave a comment on paragraph 200 0 Langston, Daniel J. “Villanelle.” Cimarron Review 19 (1972): 61.

¶ 201 Leave a comment on paragraph 201 0 Larned, W. T. “The Villanelle.” Harper’s Monthly Magazine 128.763 (1913): 155.

¶ 202 Leave a comment on paragraph 202 0 Lawson Marsh, Elizabeth. “Villanelle.” Quadrant 24.9 (1980): 45.

¶ 203 Leave a comment on paragraph 203 0 Leconte de Lisle, Charles. “Dans l’air léger.” Derniers poèmes . Paris: Alphonse Lemerre, 1895.

¶ 204 Leave a comment on paragraph 204 0 —. “Le temps, l’étendue et le nombre.” Poèmes Tragiques . Paris: Alphonse Lemerre, 1884.

¶ 205 Leave a comment on paragraph 205 0 Lefcowitz, Barbara. “Home Movies.” A Risk of Green . Bethesda, MD: Gallimaufry Press, 1978.

¶ 206 Leave a comment on paragraph 206 0 —. “Rerun Berries: A Prose Villanelle.” Rpt. The Villanelle: The Evolution of a Poetic Form . Ronald McFarland. Moscow, ID: University of Idaho Press, 1987.

¶ 207 Leave a comment on paragraph 207 0 Lehman, David. “Amnesia.” An Alternative to Speech . Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1986.

¶ 208 Leave a comment on paragraph 208 0 —. “First Offense.” An Alternative to Speech . Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1986.

¶ 209 Leave a comment on paragraph 209 0 —. “Wedding Song.” Valentine Place . New York: Scribner Paperback Poetry, 1996.

¶ 210 Leave a comment on paragraph 210 0 —. “Wystan Hugh Auden: A Villanelle.” Shenandoah 34.1 (1983): 59.

¶ 211 Leave a comment on paragraph 211 0 Levertov, Denise. “Obsessions.” With Eyes at the Back of Our Heads . New York: New Directions, 1959.

¶ 212 Leave a comment on paragraph 212 0 Logan, W. “Dream Villanelle.” New England Review–Middlebury Series 22.4 (2001): 129.

¶ 213 Leave a comment on paragraph 213 0 Longson, M. “Villanelle of Some Pique.” Punch 211 (1946): 396.

¶ 214 Leave a comment on paragraph 214 0 Lorr, Katharine Auchincloss. “The Beekeeper’s Dream.” Rpt. Songs from Unsung Worlds: Science in Poetry . Ed. Bonnie Bilyeu Gordon. Boston: Birkhäuser, 1985.

¶ 215 Leave a comment on paragraph 215 0 MacFlecknoe. “Villanelle of the Unwanted.” Nation and Athenaeum 45.3 (1929): 71.

¶ 216 Leave a comment on paragraph 216 0 Mackintosh, H. S. “Villanelle double de la mise en bouteille.” New Statesman and Nation n.s.52.1339 (1956): 594.

¶ 217 Leave a comment on paragraph 217 0 Mahon, Derek. “Antarctica.” Rpt. The New Penguin Book of English Verse . Ed. Paul Keegan. London: Allen Lane, 2000.

¶ 218 Leave a comment on paragraph 218 0 Marcello, Leo Luke. “Villanelle on the Suicide of a Young Belgian Teacher Soon To Be Naturalized.” Southern Review n.s. 22.4 (1986): 786.

¶ 219 Leave a comment on paragraph 219 0 Maria Cordis, Sister, RSM. “Villanelle of the Foolish Virgin.” Catholic World 202.1212 (1966): 368.

¶ 220 Leave a comment on paragraph 220 0 Marsh, Elizabeth Lawson. “Villanelle.” Southerly 40.3 (1980): 344.

¶ 221 Leave a comment on paragraph 221 0 Matthews, William. “Practice, Practice, Practice.” Rpt. Contemporary American Poetry . Ed. A. Poulin, Jr. Boston and Toronto: Houghton Mifflin, 1996.

¶ 222 Leave a comment on paragraph 222 0 McConnel, F. R. “Villanelle.” Massachusetts Review 35.1 (1994): 131-4.

¶ 223 Leave a comment on paragraph 223 0 McKinley, P. “Villanelle, Hindsight.” Antigonish Review 116 (1999): 51.

¶ 224 Leave a comment on paragraph 224 0 McWhinney, Norman N. “Truth Lies in Paradox.” Rpt. The Villanelle: The Evolution of a Poetic Form . Ronald McFarland. Moscow, ID: University of Idaho Press, 1987.

¶ 225 Leave a comment on paragraph 225 0 Megroz, R. L. “A Villanelle of Love.” Rpt. Lyric Forms from France: Their History and Their Use . Ed. Helen Cohen. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1922.

¶ 226 Leave a comment on paragraph 226 0 Menghini, M. “Villanelle alla napolitana.” Zeitschrift für romanische Philologie 17 (1893): 441.

¶ 227 Leave a comment on paragraph 227 0 —. “Villanelle alla napolitana.” Zeitschrift für romanische Philologie 16 (1892): 476.

¶ 228 Leave a comment on paragraph 228 0 Merrill, James. “The World and the Child.” Rpt. The Villanelle: The Evolution of a Poetic Form . Ronald McFarland. Moscow, ID: University of Idaho Press, 1987.

¶ 229 Leave a comment on paragraph 229 0 Miller, J. “Magritte’s Red Curtain — a Villanelle on Decalcomania.” Shenandoah 37.3 (1987): 64.

¶ 230 Leave a comment on paragraph 230 0 Millis, Christopher. “Ceremony.” Rpt. The Villanelle: The Evolution of a Poetic Form . Ronald McFarland. Moscow, ID: University of Idaho Press, 1987.

¶ 231 Leave a comment on paragraph 231 0 Morgan, Frederick. “The Christmas Tree.” Rpt. The Bread Loaf Anthology of Contemporary American Poetry . Eds. Robert Pack, et al. Hanover: University Press of New England, 1985.

¶ 232 Leave a comment on paragraph 232 0 Morton, Grace. “Leopards and the Artist.” Rpt. The Villanelle: The Evolution of a Poetic Form . Ronald McFarland. Moscow, ID: University of Idaho Press, 1987.

¶ 233 Leave a comment on paragraph 233 0 Muske, C. “Little Villanelle, L.A.” Poetry 161.3 (1992): 133.

¶ 234 Leave a comment on paragraph 234 0 Myers, E. L. “Villanelle of the City and the Snow.” Delta 5 (1955): 21.

¶ 235 Leave a comment on paragraph 235 0 Nardi, Marcia. “Villanelle.” Modern Quarterly 1.4 (1923): 43.

¶ 236 Leave a comment on paragraph 236 0 Nelson, Sandra Sylvia. “Things Near Seeming Far.” Diss. University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, 1992.

¶ 237 Leave a comment on paragraph 237 0 Nemerov, Howard. “Equations of a Villanelle.” Poetry 126.5 (1975): 249.

¶ 238 Leave a comment on paragraph 238 0 —. “The Three Towns.” Rpt. Anthology of Magazine Verse and Yearbook of American Poetry; 1981 Edition . Ed. Alan F. Pater. Palm Springs: Monitor Book Company, 1981.

¶ 239 Leave a comment on paragraph 239 0 Nist, John. “Villanelle.” New Letters 49.3/4 (1983): 227.

¶ 240 Leave a comment on paragraph 240 0 —. “Villanelle.” New Letters 47.1 (1980): 52.

¶ 241 Leave a comment on paragraph 241 0 O’Connor, Armel. “Pan’s Villanelle.” Studies 8 (1919): 435.

¶ 242 Leave a comment on paragraph 242 0 Ogilvie, Will H. “Villanelle [Last night in Memory’s boughs aswing].” Rpt. Lyric Forms from France: Their History and Their Use . Ed. Helen Cohen. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1922.

¶ 243 Leave a comment on paragraph 243 0 Orr, Gregory. “Best.” The Caged Owl: New and Selected Poems . Port Townsend, WA: Copper Canyon Press, 2002.

¶ 244 Leave a comment on paragraph 244 0 —. “A Dream of Fifty.” The Caged Owl: New and Selected Poems . Port Townsend, WA: Copper Canyon Press, 2002.

¶ 245 Leave a comment on paragraph 245 0 —. “Fall.” The Caged Owl: New and Selected Poems . Port Townsend, WA: Copper Canyon Press, 2002.

¶ 246 Leave a comment on paragraph 246 0 —. “Paradise.” The Caged Owl: New and Selected Poems . Port Townsend, WA: Copper Canyon Press, 2002.

¶ 247 Leave a comment on paragraph 247 0 —. “The River.” The Caged Owl: New and Selected Poems . Port Townsend, WA: Copper Canyon Press, 2002.

¶ 248 Leave a comment on paragraph 248 0 —. “Some Part of the Lyric.” The Caged Owl: New and Selected Poems . Port Townsend, WA: Copper Canyon Press, 2002.

¶ 249 Leave a comment on paragraph 249 0 —. “The Talk.” Rpt. The New Bread Loaf Anthology of Contemporary American Poetry . Ed. Michael Collier and Stanley Plumly. Hanover and London: Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, Middlebury College Press, and University Press of New England, 1999.

¶ 250 Leave a comment on paragraph 250 0 —. “What I’m Saying.” The Caged Owl: New and Selected Poems . Port Townsend, WA: Copper Canyon Press, 2002.

¶ 251 Leave a comment on paragraph 251 0 —. “Wild Heart.” The Caged Owl: New and Selected Poems . Port Townsend, WA: Copper Canyon Press, 2002.

¶ 252 Leave a comment on paragraph 252 0 Oyler, L. M. “Summer Villanelle.” Punch 173 (1927): 285.

¶ 253 Leave a comment on paragraph 253 0 Packard, William. “The Teacher of Poetry.” Rpt. The Villanelle: The Evolution of a Poetic Form . Ronald McFarland. Moscow, ID: University of Idaho Press, 1987.

¶ 254 Leave a comment on paragraph 254 0 Parker, A. M. “Blackbird Villanelle.” Paris Review 121 (1991): 192.

¶ 255 Leave a comment on paragraph 255 0 Passerat, Jean. “Villanelle [J’ay perdu ma tourterelle].” Recueil des oeuvres poétiques de Ian Passerat augmenté de plus de la moitié, outre les précédentes impressions . Paris: Morel, 1606.

¶ 256 Leave a comment on paragraph 256 0 Payne, John. “Villanelle [The air is white with snowflakes clinging].” Rpt. Lyric Forms from France: Their History and Their Use . Ed. Helen Cohen. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1922.

¶ 257 Leave a comment on paragraph 257 0 —. “Villanelle [The thrush’s singing days are fled].” Rpt. Lyric Forms from France: Their History and Their Use . Ed. Helen Cohen. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1922.

¶ 258 Leave a comment on paragraph 258 0 —. “Villanelle [Translation of ‘Villanelle’ by Jean Passerat].” Flowers from France: The Renaissance Period, from Ronsard to Saint-Amant . London: Villon Society, 1907.

¶ 259 Leave a comment on paragraph 259 0 Peace, B. C. “Gargoyle Villanelle.” Fiddlehead 198 (1998): 98.

¶ 260 Leave a comment on paragraph 260 0 Peacock, Molly. “Little Miracle.” Original Love: Poems . New York: W. W. Norton, 1995.

¶ 261 Leave a comment on paragraph 261 0 —. “Walking is Almost Falling.” And Live Apart . Columbia, MS: University of Missouri Press, 1980.

¶ 262 Leave a comment on paragraph 262 0 Peschel, Enid Rhodes. “Villanelle: Chanson Rustique Moderne.” Southern Humanities Review 11.4 (1977): 346.

¶ 263 Leave a comment on paragraph 263 0 Petroski, Henry. “Self-Portrait.” Rpt. The Villanelle: The Evolution of a Poetic Form . Ronald McFarland. Moscow, ID: University of Idaho Press, 1987.

¶ 264 Leave a comment on paragraph 264 0 Pfeiffer, Emily. “When the Brow of June.” Rpt. Lyric Forms from France: Their History and Their Use . Ed. Helen Cohen. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1922.

¶ 265 Leave a comment on paragraph 265 0 Plath, Sylvia. “Lament: a villanelle.” New Orleans Poetry Journal 1.4 (1955).

¶ 266 Leave a comment on paragraph 266 0 —. “Mad Girl’s Love Song.” Mademoiselle 37 (1953 Aug): 358.

¶ 267 Leave a comment on paragraph 267 0 Pound, Ezra. “Villanelle: The Psychological Hour, I-III.” Poetry 7 (1915 Dec): 120.

¶ 268 Leave a comment on paragraph 268 0 Rickel, Boyer. “Imperfect Villanelle.” Rhetoric Review 10.2 (1992): 368-9.

¶ 269 Leave a comment on paragraph 269 0 Riley, James Whitcomb. “The Best is Good Enough.” Complete Poetical Works . New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1937.

¶ 270 Leave a comment on paragraph 270 0 Ríos, Alberto. “La sequía/The Drought.” Rpt. The Villanelle: The Evolution of a Poetic Form . Ronald McFarland. Moscow, ID: University of Idaho Press, 1987.

¶ 271 Leave a comment on paragraph 271 0 Ritchie, E. “How to Write a Villanelle.” Poetry 179.5 (2002): 270.

¶ 272 Leave a comment on paragraph 272 0 Roberts, Charles. “Going Over.” New Poems . London: Constable, 1919.

¶ 273 Leave a comment on paragraph 273 0 Roberts, Walter Adolphe. “Villanelle of Washington Square.” Rpt. The Poetry of the Negro, 1746-1970 . Eds. Langston Hughes and Arna Bontemps. Rev. edn. New York: Doubleday, 1970.

¶ 274 Leave a comment on paragraph 274 0 Robinson, E. A. “The House on the Hill.” Children of the Night . New York: Scribner’s, 1896.

¶ 275 Leave a comment on paragraph 275 0 —. “Villanelle of Change.” The Children of the Night . New York: Scribner’s, 1897.

¶ 276 Leave a comment on paragraph 276 0 Roche, Paul. “Villanelle for a Modern Warrior.” Modern Age 1.2 (1957): 183.

¶ 277 Leave a comment on paragraph 277 0 Roethke, Theodore. “The Right Thing.” The Far Field . Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1964.

¶ 278 Leave a comment on paragraph 278 0 —. “The Waking.” New World Writing: Fourth Mentor Selection . New York: New American Library, 1953.

¶ 279 Leave a comment on paragraph 279 0 Rollinat, Maurice. “La bonne rivière.” La nature; poésies . Paris: Bibliothèque-Charpentier, 1892.

¶ 280 Leave a comment on paragraph 280 0 —. “La buveuse d’absinthe.” Les névroses . Paris: Charpentier, 1883.

¶ 281 Leave a comment on paragraph 281 0 —. “Le baby.” Les névroses . Paris: Charpentier, 1883.

¶ 282 Leave a comment on paragraph 282 0 —. “L’ornière.” La nature; poésies . Paris: Bibliothèque-Charpentier, 1892.

¶ 283 Leave a comment on paragraph 283 0 —. “Mademoiselle Squelette.” Les névroses . Paris: Charpentier, 1883.

¶ 284 Leave a comment on paragraph 284 0 —. “Mon épinette.” Dans les brandes: poëmes et rondels . Paris: Sandoz et Fischbacher, 1877.

¶ 285 Leave a comment on paragraph 285 0 —. “Pluie dans un ravin.” La nature; poésies . Paris: Bibliothèque-Charpentier, 1892.

¶ 286 Leave a comment on paragraph 286 0 —. “Villanelle du Diable.” Les névroses . Paris: Charpentier, 1883.

¶ 287 Leave a comment on paragraph 287 0 —. “Villanelle du soir.” Les névroses . Paris: Charpentier, 1883.

¶ 288 Leave a comment on paragraph 288 0 —. “Villanelle du ver de terre.” Les névroses . Paris: Charpentier, 1883.

¶ 289 Leave a comment on paragraph 289 0 Root, William Pitt. “Terrorist from the Heartland.” Rpt. The Villanelle: The Evolution of a Poetic Form . Ronald McFarland. Moscow, ID: University of Idaho Press, 1987.

¶ 290 Leave a comment on paragraph 290 0 Ruark, Gibbons. “Robert Frost to Ezra Pound’s Daughter From His Deathbed.” Rpt. The Hampden-Sydney Poetry Review Anthology 1975-1990 . Ed. Tom O’Grady. Hampden-Sydney, VA: Hampden-Sydney Poetry Review, 1990.

¶ 291 Leave a comment on paragraph 291 0 Ryan, Michael. “Milk the Mouse.” God Hunger: Poems by Michael Ryan . New York: Viking, 1989.

¶ 292 Leave a comment on paragraph 292 0 S. M. P. “The Two Paths. A Villanelle.” Irish Monthly 19 (1891): 373.

¶ 293 Leave a comment on paragraph 293 0 Salter, Mary Jo. “Refrain.” Henry Purcell in Japan . New York: Knopf, 1985.

¶ 294 Leave a comment on paragraph 294 0 —. “Video Blues.” A Kiss in Space: Poems . New York: Knopf, 1999.

¶ 295 Leave a comment on paragraph 295 0 Sanders, M. “Villanelle for Nathan.” Fiddlehead 181 (1994): 101.

¶ 296 Leave a comment on paragraph 296 0 Sarah, R. “Villanelle For A Cool April.” Shenandoah 48.3 (1998): 31.

¶ 297 Leave a comment on paragraph 297 0 Saslow, Helen. “Villanelle: Night Watch.” Rpt. The Villanelle: The Evolution of a Poetic Form . Ronald McFarland. Moscow, ID: University of Idaho Press, 1987.

¶ 298 Leave a comment on paragraph 298 0 Schwartz, Lloyd. “Villanelle.” Ploughshares 7.2 (1981): 138.

¶ 299 Leave a comment on paragraph 299 0 Scollard, Clinton. “Love, Why So Long Away.” Rpt. Lyric Forms from France: Their History and Their Use . Ed. Helen Cohen. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1922.

¶ 300 Leave a comment on paragraph 300 0 —. “Villanelle to Helen.” Rpt. Lyric Forms from France: Their History and Their Use . Ed. Helen Cohen. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1922.

¶ 301 Leave a comment on paragraph 301 0 —. “Villanelle to the Daffodil.” Rpt. Lyric Forms from France: Their History and Their Use . Ed. Helen Cohen. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1922.

¶ 302 Leave a comment on paragraph 302 0 Scott, F. R. “Five Poems: Villanelle for Our Time.” Poetry 63 (1943): 317.

¶ 303 Leave a comment on paragraph 303 0 Sherman, Bobbi. “Villanelle.” Poet Lore 62.1 (1967): 4.

¶ 304 Leave a comment on paragraph 304 0 Sherwin, Judith Johnson. “Another Story.” How the Dead Count . New York: Norton, 1978.

¶ 305 Leave a comment on paragraph 305 0 Shu-Ning Liu, Stephen. “A Villanelle.” North Dakota Quarterly 48.4 (1980): 33.

¶ 306 Leave a comment on paragraph 306 0 Simmerman, Jim. “Hide-and-Go-Seek.” Rpt. The Bread Loaf Anthology of Contemporary American Poetry . Eds. Robert Pack, et al. Hanover: University Press of New England, 1985.

¶ 307 Leave a comment on paragraph 307 0 Simpson, Margaret Winfride. “O Winter Wind, Lat Grievin Be.” Rpt. The Villanelle: The Evolution of a Poetic Form . Ronald McFarland. Moscow, ID: University of Idaho Press, 1987.

¶ 308 Leave a comment on paragraph 308 0 Singleton, Esther. “Villanelle.” Bookman 1 (1895): 156.

¶ 309 Leave a comment on paragraph 309 0 Sissman, L. E. “Just a Whack at Empson.” The Review June (1963): 75.

¶ 310 Leave a comment on paragraph 310 0 Skeat, W. W. “A Villanelle (May 19, 1888).” Academy 82 (1912): 5.

¶ 311 Leave a comment on paragraph 311 0 Snyder, Gary. “Villanelle of the Wandering Lapps.” Left out in the Rain: New Poems 1947-1984 . San Francisco: North Point Press, 1986.

¶ 312 Leave a comment on paragraph 312 0 Solway, D. “Villanelle.” Fiddlehead 198 (1998): 45.

¶ 313 Leave a comment on paragraph 313 0 Sorrentino, Gilbert. “There Is No Instance That Was Not Love.” The Perfect Fiction . New York: Norton, 1968.

¶ 314 Leave a comment on paragraph 314 0 Stafford, Kim. “Villanelle for the Spiders.” Rpt. The Villanelle: The Evolution of a Poetic Form . Ronald McFarland. Moscow, ID: University of Idaho Press, 1987.

¶ 315 Leave a comment on paragraph 315 0 Stainer, P. “Villanelle from the Classical Battlefield.” Anglo-Welsh Review 87 (1987): 24.

¶ 316 Leave a comment on paragraph 316 0 Stanley, Marion Cummings. “Villanelle.” Bookman 31.2 (1910): 137.

¶ 317 Leave a comment on paragraph 317 0 Stanton, Gareth Marsh. “Villanelle [O fleet of foot as Artemis].” Rpt. Lyric Forms from France: Their History and Their Use . Ed. Helen Cohen. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1922.

¶ 318 Leave a comment on paragraph 318 0 Starr, Sydney. “A Villanelle [In the autumn dank, in the autumn gray].” Irish Monthly 7 (1879): 650.

¶ 319 Leave a comment on paragraph 319 0 Steele, Peter. “An Australian Villanelle.” New Orleans Review 6.1 (1978): 66.

¶ 320 Leave a comment on paragraph 320 0 Stefano, Frances, SC. “Villanelle.” Theology Today 44.2 (1987): 250.

¶ 321 Leave a comment on paragraph 321 0 Storace, P. “Casablanca Villanelle.” New York Review of Books 42.14 (1995): 12.

¶ 322 Leave a comment on paragraph 322 0 Strand, Mark. “Two De Chiricos for Harry Ford.” Rpt. Ecstatic Occasions, Expedient Forms: 85 Leading Contemporary Poets Select and Comment on Their Poems . Ed. David Lehman. 2nd edn. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 1996.

¶ 323 Leave a comment on paragraph 323 0 Sullivan, A. M. “Villanelle Against Malice.” Catholic World 207.1237 (1968): 21.

¶ 324 Leave a comment on paragraph 324 0 —. “Villanelle of the Summer Showers.” Catholic World 185.1105/1110 (1957): 306.

¶ 325 Leave a comment on paragraph 325 0 —. “Villanelle of the Vintner.” Catholic World 177.1058 (1953): 106.

¶ 326 Leave a comment on paragraph 326 0 Summers, Hal. “Villanelle.” Listener 44.1139 (1950): 837.

¶ 327 Leave a comment on paragraph 327 0 Swenson, Karen. “I Have Lost the Address of my Country.” Prairie Schooner 51 (1983): 69.

¶ 328 Leave a comment on paragraph 328 0 Thirlmere, Rowland. “My Dead Dogs.” Rpt. Lyric Forms from France: Their History and Their Use . Ed. Helen Cohen. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1922.

¶ 329 Leave a comment on paragraph 329 0 Thomas, Dylan. “Do not go gentle into that good night.” Botteghe Oscure 8 (1951 Nov): 208.

¶ 330 Leave a comment on paragraph 330 0 —. “Request to Leda [Homage to William Empson].” Horizon 5.30 (1942 July): 6.

¶ 331 Leave a comment on paragraph 331 0 Thomas, Edith M. “Across the World I Speak to Thee.” Rpt. Lyric Forms from France: Their History and Their Use . Ed. Helen Cohen. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1922.

¶ 332 Leave a comment on paragraph 332 0 Thomson, Graham R. “Jean-François Millet.” Rpt. Lyric Forms from France: Their History and Their Use . Ed. Helen Cohen. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1922.

¶ 333 Leave a comment on paragraph 333 0 —. “To Hesperus (After Bion).” Rpt. Lyric Forms from France: Their History and Their Use . Ed. Helen Cohen. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1922.

¶ 334 Leave a comment on paragraph 334 0 Thorley, Wilfrid Charles. “Villanelle [Translation of ‘Villanelle’ by Jean Passerat].” Fleurs-de-lys, a Book of French Poetry Freely Translated into English Verse . Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1920.

¶ 335 Leave a comment on paragraph 335 0 Tiller, Terence. “A Villanelle in May.” Listener 73.1886 (1965): 745.

¶ 336 Leave a comment on paragraph 336 0 Torgersen, Eric. “Her Villanelle.” Perspective 15.2 (1967): 84.

¶ 337 Leave a comment on paragraph 337 0 Turco, Lewis. “Thunderweather.” Patterns of Poetry: An Encyclopedia of Forms . Ed. Miller Williams. Baton Rouge and London: Louisiana State University Press, 1986.

¶ 338 Leave a comment on paragraph 338 0 Turner, Anne. “Villanelle for a Sculptor.” Outposts 17 (1950): 9.

¶ 339 Leave a comment on paragraph 339 0 Turner, Carolyn A. “Burial Light.” Diss. University of Missouri Columbia, 1996.

¶ 340 Leave a comment on paragraph 340 0 Turner, Denis. “Load Shedding–A Villanelle.” Punch 220 (1951): 224.

¶ 341 Leave a comment on paragraph 341 0 Untermeyer, Louis. “Lugubrious Villanelle of Platitudes.” Rpt. Lyric Forms from France: Their History and Their Use . Ed. Helen Cohen. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1922.

¶ 342 Leave a comment on paragraph 342 0 Varady, S. “Villanelle.” Hungarian Quarterly 34.132 (1993): 74.

¶ 343 Leave a comment on paragraph 343 0 Vazirani, Reetika. “It’s Me, I’m Not Here.” World Hotel . Port Townsend, WA: Copper Canyon Press, 2002.

¶ 344 Leave a comment on paragraph 344 0 Vestdijk, Simon. “Villanelle.” France-Asie 1.5 (1946): 220.

¶ 345 Leave a comment on paragraph 345 0 Virtue, Vivian. “Two Sonnets and a Villanelle.” Jamaica Journal 6.4 (1972): 31.

¶ 346 Leave a comment on paragraph 346 0 Wagoner, David. “Canticle for Xmas Eve.” First Light . New York: Little, Brown and Company, 1983.

¶ 347 Leave a comment on paragraph 347 0 Wain, John. “Villanelle: For Harpo Marx.” Rpt. The Villanelle: The Evolution of a Poetic Form . Ronald McFarland. Moscow, ID: University of Idaho Press, 1987.

¶ 348 Leave a comment on paragraph 348 0 Waldman, Anne. “Villanelle [Translation of ‘Villanelle’ by Jean Passerat].” Rpt. The Teachers & Writers Handbook of Poetic Forms . Ed. Ron Padgett and Teachers & Writers Collaborative. New York: Teachers & Writers Collaborative, 1987.

¶ 349 Leave a comment on paragraph 349 0 Walker, Jeanne Murray. “Tracking the Sled, Christmas 1951.” Rpt. Anthology of Magazine Verse and Yearbook of American Poetry; 1981 Edition . Ed. Alan F. Pater. Palm Springs: Monitor Book Company, 1981.

¶ 350 Leave a comment on paragraph 350 0 —. “Villanelle to Wake My Love.” Arizona Quarterly 33.1 (1977): 86.

¶ 351 Leave a comment on paragraph 351 0 Walker, Ronald. “A Villanelle of the Harvest.” Sewanee Review 76.4 (1968): 570.

¶ 352 Leave a comment on paragraph 352 0 Wallace, Ronald. “Nightline: An Interview with the General.” People and Dog in the Sun . Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1987.

¶ 353 Leave a comment on paragraph 353 0 —. “State Poetry Day.” The Makings of Happiness . Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1991.

¶ 354 Leave a comment on paragraph 354 0 Walmsley, Eric. “Villanelle of Deep Subtlety.” Punch 218 (1950): 458.

¶ 355 Leave a comment on paragraph 355 0 Waniek, Marilyn N. “Daughters, 1900.” Rpt. A Formal Feeling Comes: Poems in Form by Contemporary Women . Ed. Annie Finch. Brownsville, OR: Story Line Press, 1994. 243.

¶ 356 Leave a comment on paragraph 356 0 Webb, Charles Henry. “A Villanelle.” Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine 38 (1889): 319.

¶ 357 Leave a comment on paragraph 357 0 Welch, Lew. “For All the Wet Green Girls.” Rpt. The Villanelle: The Evolution of a Poetic Form . Ronald McFarland. Moscow, ID: University of Idaho Press, 1987.

¶ 358 Leave a comment on paragraph 358 0 West, Kathleene Kay. “Plainswoman.” Diss. University of Nebraska Lincoln, 1986.

¶ 359 Leave a comment on paragraph 359 0 Whitlow, Carolyn B. “Rockin’ a Man, Stone Blind.” Wild Meat . Barrington, RI: Lost Roads Press, 1986.

¶ 360 Leave a comment on paragraph 360 0 Wilde, Oscar. “Pan–A Villanelle.” Rpt. Lyric Forms from France: Their History and Their Use . Ed. Helen Cohen. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1922.

¶ 361 Leave a comment on paragraph 361 0 —. “Theocritus.” Poems . London: David Bogue, 1881.

¶ 362 Leave a comment on paragraph 362 0 Williams, C. K. “Villanelle of the Suicide’s Mother.” Rpt. Contemporary American Poetry . Ed. A. Poulin, Jr. Boston and Toronto: Houghton Mifflin, 1996.

¶ 363 Leave a comment on paragraph 363 0 Williams, Miller. “Minuet for Army Boots and Orchestra.” Patterns of Poetry: An Encyclopedia of Forms . Baton Rouge and London: Louisiana State University Press, 1986.

¶ 364 Leave a comment on paragraph 364 0 Wright, Celeste Turner. “Reprieve.” Rpt. The Villanelle: The Evolution of a Poetic Form . Ronald McFarland. Moscow, ID: University of Idaho Press, 1987.

¶ 365 Leave a comment on paragraph 365 0 Wright, Charles David. “Wearing Well.” Rpt. The Villanelle: The Evolution of a Poetic Form . Ronald McFarland. Moscow, ID: University of Idaho Press, 1987.

¶ 366 Leave a comment on paragraph 366 0 Wright, Tom. “Villanelle.” Outposts 48 (1961): 11.

¶ 367 Leave a comment on paragraph 367 0 Wyndham, George. “Villanelle  [Translation of ‘Villanelle’ by Jean Passerat].” Ronsard and La Pléiade, with Selections from their Poetry and Some Translations in the Original Metres . London and New York: Macmillan, 1906.

¶ 368 Leave a comment on paragraph 368 0 Wyndham, Harald. “Villanelle: The Dying Man.” Rpt. The Villanelle: The Evolution of a Poetic Form . Ronald McFarland. Moscow, ID: University of Idaho Press, 1987.

¶ 369 Leave a comment on paragraph 369 0 Yau, John. “Chinese Villanelle.” Radiant Silhouette: New and Selected Work 1974-1988 . Santa Rosa, CA: Black Sparrow Press, 1989

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April 25, 2015 at 4:36 pm

Michael was responding not to LHJ editorial material, but to a patriotic marketing full page full colour ad placed by Bauer & Black surgical supplies with several errors place in the US Thanksgiving issue.[ SEE your image of page]. She saw it the day after the False Armistice was announced in New York, and was taken by the American painting by Philip Lyford, doughboys rising to heaven, appropriately bandaged, interpreted as calling out to her personally to remember when lesser mortals – like their families – would forget.  Compare to R W Liliard’s early 1918 much- republished ‘America’s Reply’. He speaks of fighting on, she of herself and openly repeats his final verse.One can wonder how Canadian subscribers to the LHJ reacted to the ad, this butchery of the ‘In Flanders Fields’ story from a country that had so recently abandoned neutrality to take  up arms on our side…     

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One Utah paper is making money with a novel idea: print

The deseret news launched a free monthly compendium of its best journalism in september. it’s been profitable since october..

villanelle writer's digest

At a time when many publishers are cutting print days, the Deseret News in Utah is finding success with a new print product.

Dubbed “The Digest,” the free publication amasses the Deseret News’s best journalism from its various platforms and is delivered to 120,000 homes around Salt Lake City once a month. The Digest launched in September and has been profitable since October, publisher Burke Olsen said.

“The result has been great enthusiasm from advertisers because this is now, I think, the largest newspaper product (in Utah). It has the largest distribution of any print product in the state that I’m aware of,” Olsen said. “It reinvigorated our advertising base.”

Executives at the Deseret News took inspiration from the company’s direct-mail advertising publication, Hometown Values, which is distributed for free to half a million Utah homes. They adopted a similar approach to create The Digest, which they insert into select copies of Hometown Values. Every month, they target certain ZIP codes in counties around Salt Lake City based on the audiences their advertisers are trying to reach.

The Digest has become a “marketing product that pays for itself,” Olsen said. It helps acquaint Utah residents with the Deseret News brand by republishing stories from the company’s website, newspaper, magazine and religion-focused publication. (Deseret News is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.)

Olsen estimated that a person who lives in one of the counties the Deseret News is targeting will receive The Digest about three times a year. The company wants The Digest to feel different from its other products, and it wants to make sure people do not receive it so often that they decide to abandon the Deseret News’ paid products.

“We tend to target established ZIP codes, more residential homes than rental areas, people who tend to have higher incomes — more disposable income — and that’s because that’s attractive to our advertising base,” Olsen said. “Over time, as we figure out on behalf of our advertisers what works and based on what kind of subscription uptick we get, we might focus on some ZIP codes more often than others.”

The Digest has nearly twice the audience as the Deseret News’ other print products — a selling point to advertisers — and the company expects to make $250,000 in profit off The Digest alone by the end of the year.

The Deseret News has already gotten phone calls from people who received The Digest and decided to subscribe to the biweekly paper, Olsen said. He speculated that a print paper taps into a certain nostalgia and its physicality lends readers a sense of accomplishment when they finish an issue.

Fifteen-year-old Adam Kunz said he discovered the benefits of physical papers when he came across a free sample from the Deseret News in the mail in November. Until then, he got most of his news through online aggregators like Google News. Newspapers were associated with “boring, old people stuff,” and Kunz hadn’t realized that the Deseret News was still printing physical copies of its paper.

He was surprised by how much he liked having a tangible paper in which stories were neatly packed. Kunz told his mother he wanted a Deseret News subscription for Christmas and that if she wouldn’t pay for it, he would buy it himself. Now, he starts and ends his days with the paper, reading a few stories at a time so that he can make the papers — which come twice a week — last.

Kunz said he especially likes following national news and political coverage, including stories about the election and bills passing through the legislature. He’s amassed a huge stack of papers in his bedroom. Though his friends and family sometimes tease him for paying for a newspaper subscription, Kunz insists they don’t understand “the experience of actually sitting down and flipping through the pages,” something he says is “awesome.”

“I think everyone has a responsibility to know what’s going on in the world.”

Before becoming publisher, Olsen worked as Deseret News’ head digital officer. “I didn’t care about our print products for a long time,” he admitted. But The Digest has made him wonder if there’s a product or marketing campaign that could slow or even reverse declines in print readership.

Though The Digest is still very new, Olsen has started to wonder if it might eventually outlive the Deseret News’ print paper. That is one of the things the company will be evaluating as The Digest moves forward.

“There may come a point at which this is no longer feasible and profitable because the cost of paper and postage continues to go up,” Olsen said. “But until it does, we ought to use as publishers, as news media, every avenue in creative ways of reaching audiences with journalism that will help them make better decisions … because they’re better informed about the world.”

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Leader Mark Thompson’s possible strategy to reform the network is cutting star anchor salaries.

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What is fair reporting? You be the judge

Newsweek launched a Fairness Meter for its stories in 2023 in an effort to restore trust in the relationship between the public and the news media.

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Their job is to share thoughts about football, but they spoke softheartedly and eloquently about Wednesday’s horrific events.

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What are the villanelle writing rules? (10 Important Questions Answered)

  • by Team Experts
  • July 2, 2023 July 3, 2023

Discover the Surprising Villanelle Writing Rules You Need to Know – 10 Important Questions Answered!

The villanelle is a 19 line poem composed of five tercets and two quatrains , with an ABAB rhyme scheme and alternating lines. The poem has two refrain lines that repeat throughout the poem, with the first and third lines of the first tercet repeating as the last lines of the second and fourth tercets, and the second and fourth lines of the first tercet repeating as the last lines of the third and fifth tercets. The poem ends with a refrain couplet , where the two end words of the poem repeat. This structured form creates a unique and memorable poem.

What is a Villanelle Poem?

What are the refrain lines in a villanelle, how does the abab rhyme scheme work in a villanelle, what are the five tercets of a villanelle, how many quatrains are there in a villanelle, what is the refrain couplet of a villanelle, why do alternating lines occur in a villanelle, when do end words repeat in a villanelle poem, what is the structured form of writing for a villanelle poem, common mistakes and misconceptions.

A Villanelle Poem is a traditional French form of poetry that uses a specific poetic structure to explore two related ideas through repetition . It consists of five tercets and one quatrain , with two refrains repeated throughout the poem in an alternating pattern. The rhyme scheme is AABBA, with rhyming couplets at the end of each stanza . The order of the refrains remains unchanged throughout the poem, creating a complex interweaving of words and images. Villanelle poems can be written on any subject matter, but often explore dark or melancholic themes . They also use enjambment to create suspense and explore difficult emotions .

Refrain lines in a villanelle are lines that appear at the end of each stanza and are identical in wording and meter . The first and third line of the first stanza become the refrain lines , which are repeated throughout the poem. These lines create a sense of unity within the poem and provide structure to the villanelle ‘s form . The last line is a combination of both refrain lines. Refrain lines can be used to emphasize key ideas or themes , and the repetition creates a musical quality that adds depth to the poem. They also help build tension by creating anticipation for their return and often serve as transitions between different sections. Villanelles typically contain 19 total lines, including 6 refrains , and the final couplet combines both refrain phrases into one sentence. The rhyme scheme follows an aba pattern for each stanza.

The ABAB rhyme scheme in a villanelle is achieved by repeating two refrains throughout the poem. Each stanza consists of five tercets and one quatrain , with rhyming couplets in each stanza and alternating end rhymes . The same two end rhymes are used throughout the poem, with the first and third line repeated as the last two lines of the poem. The AABAA rhyme pattern is used for each stanza, and a consistent meter is used throughout the villanelle . The poem also has two distinct voices , with rhymed words used consistently and a consistent theme or idea expressed through repetition . The same refrain appears six times, with the first and third lines repeated as the last two lines of the poem.

The five tercets of a villanelle are composed of three lines each, with the first and third lines of the first tercet repeated alternately at the end of the succeeding tercets. The two refrains form the basis for the entire poem, and alliteration is often used to emphasize key words or phrases . Each tercet has its own unique content while still being connected to the overall theme , and the last line of each stanza is always one of the two refrains . The villanelle structure creates an intense, focused atmosphere , and the combination of repetition and variation makes villanelles powerful poetic devices. The final couplet ties together both refrains from earlier in the poem, providing an opportunity for creative expression within a strict form .

There is one quatrain in a villanelle . The traditional villanelle consists of five tercets and a concluding quatrain , with each stanza having three lines with an identical rhyme pattern. The first and third lines repeat alternately at the end of each successive stanza , and the poem is composed of two rhymes used throughout the entire poem, with two refrains repeated in every other line. The poem is composed of 19 lines in total, with five tercets followed by a final quatrain to conclude the poem, and two repeating refrains that appear at least twice in each verse .

The Refrain Couplet of a Villanelle is a two-line refrain that appears at the end of each stanza and is repeated six times in total. It consists of the first and third lines of the first stanza , which must be identical for each repetition . The Refrain Couplet serves as a chorus or hook to draw the reader in and emphasizes the theme or idea within the villanelle . The two-line refrain provides continuity between stanzas and the final refrain ties together the entire poem.

Alternating lines occur in a villanelle to create a unique poetic form with a strict structure . This structure includes two repeating lines throughout the poem, a AABAA rhyme scheme in each stanza , and a repetitive pattern of words and phrases . The alternating lines create a complex interweaving of ideas and images, as well as a unifying element that ties the poem together. The refrains create an emotional resonance and a sense of anticipation for readers, while also providing a symmetrical, balanced composition with aesthetic appeal . This structure helps to create an unforgettable impact on readers, and provides closure at the end.

In a villanelle poem, the end words of the two repeating refrains must be the same. The two refrains are composed of the first and third lines of the first stanza , which are then repeated alternately at the end of each subsequent stanza . The last two lines of the poem are also identical refrains. This repetition creates an intense effect on readers and emphasizes the ideas of the poem. The villanelle is a 19-line fixed form poetry with a traditional French verse form and an AABBA rhyme scheme .

The structured form of writing for a villanelle poem consists of two repeating refrains that alternate as the last line of each stanza , with an AABAA rhyme scheme . The first and third lines of the first stanza are repeated alternately at the end of subsequent stanzas, and the refrain is used twice in the final couplet . There is no set meter or length for individual lines, but repetition creates a sense of inevitability throughout the poem. Traditional villanelles have an iambic pentameter rhythm , and the subject matter can be serious, humorous, or lighthearted. A traditional villanelle follows an ABaAabAB pattern, with the two refrains linked by a single idea or theme . Each refrain should have its own unique twist to keep readers engaged, and the structure allows for creative expression within a strict form . Villanelles often explore themes such as love, death, nature , etc.

  • Misconception: A villanelle must have a specific rhyme scheme . Correct Viewpoint: While some villanelles do follow a specific rhyme scheme , there is no requirement for this in the form .
  • Misconception: The lines of a villanelle must be of equal length. Correct Viewpoint: There is no requirement that the lines of a villanelle be of equal length; however, they should generally maintain an iambic pentameter rhythm and meter throughout the poem.
  • Mistake: Not repeating two refrains at least twice each in the poem’s six stanzas . Correct Viewpoint: A key feature of the villanelle form is repetition ; two refrains are repeated at least twice each in the poem’s six stanzas , with one refrain appearing as both the first and third line of its final tercet (stanza).

Tweetspeak Poetry

I See You in There: the Villanelle

By David K Wheeler 19 Comments

Red Feathers How to Write a Villanelle

There’s a reason only a handful of villanelles are actually famous, and even so, few of those keep to the strict form like Dylan Thomas’s “Do not go gentle into that good night”: The villanelle is, perhaps universally, the most difficult form of poetry.

You write the first line, and you’re stuck with it until the end. You pick up momentum, but then that third line keeps popping up, too, like Presidential debates.

By the time you reach the second stanza, you might be wondering if the endeavor is worth continuing.

Something you’ll notice about Elizabeth Bishop, in “One Art, ” and Dylan Thomas, in “Do not go gentle…, ” is the imperative. Each poem reads as instructions, commands, with an understood you. When a line omits its subject, it becomes versatile, mutable, easier for the poet to work with.

Notice it most as Thomas develops a litany of wise men, good men, wild men, et al. who “rage against the dying of the light, ” who “do not go gentle into that good night.” While the poem is presumably a plea to his father in the face of death—the understood you of the first stanza—the refrain lines act as predicates to simple, declarative sentences in subsequent stanzas, elaborating on the hall of fame with whom Thomas, the elder, might soon enter cahoots.

While Thomas and Bishop, along with Auden, Roethke, and others, take more somber tones to their villanelles (as have I in the past, with “Sunday Morning Bread” and “Prayers for Friends”) I’ve always thought the strict repetition of lines created something of a Gong Show within the poem. An idea is begun, only to have another supersede it. Just when we gain a new rhythm, the first returns to center-stage with the self-importance of a five-year-old. The second returns soon enough, like the first, and when there is an understood you, you cannot help but play along.

The two lines come and go, chasing one another (and you) through the poem until they’ve twined themselves into a couplet at the end. Given that premise, my recent viewings of Cabaret and The Muppets, and the irresistible fusion of the words in question, inspiration has driven composition of this—my VaudeVillanelle:

Kick and dance onto the stage— as the piano man bangs a ditty— rush behind the theater drapes

Do you enjoy the wild old cabaret? Do you like how the young ladies kick and dance onto the stage?

But don’t blush or try saving face while you watch our brand of comedy rush behind the theater drapes

because champing right at its tail a new bit or gag, and something witty kick and dance onto the stage.

Lacing dialog in the one-act play the satire will get a mite snippy, rush behind the theater drapes,

and tweak it up with shadow shapes. Then comes the closing routine: kick and dance onto the stage, rush behind the theater drapes.

Post by David K. Wheeler, author of Contingency Plans: Poems. ___________

How to Write a Villanelle

modified reprint, from Inspired: 8 Ways to Write Poems You Can Love

The villanelle began as a song and dance form, sung by shepherds and farmers in the Italian countryside. Perhaps it is no surprise that the villanelle resists narrative development and relies on repetition. It may have been the perfect accompaniment to a day of harvest or planting, a night of keeping sheep under the stars.

Try it? Consider an area of your life that feels repetitive and resistant to answers. An argument, a relationship, a job, an emotion or memory that won’t leave you be. What is the central piece that feels repetitive? Put it in the repeating lines. (Lines one and three repeat in a shifting fashion.)

The poem should contain 19 lines altogether, made up of stanzas of three lines until the final stanza of four. The rhyme scheme is simple aba, aba , and so on until the last stanza… abaa. Where to put Line 1, besides the initial Line 1 : 2nd stanza, third line; 4th stanza, third line; 6th stanza, third line. Where to put Line 3, besides the initial Line 3 : 3rd stanza, third line; 5th stanza, third line; 6th stanza, fourth line. (See sample poem, which marks the position of the lines for you.)

Notice, also, that you can introduce minor changes to the repeated lines, for interest, as the poet did in the following poem:

Few Precious Words

I have few precious words to grind, [LINE 1] to work through meaning cold lips deny. It’s time, you said; you changed your mind. [LINE 3]

I urge you stay. You rush to go, to put behind my mourning long from quick goodbyes that leave no precious words to grind, [LINE 1]

to parse how love could track so blind and barbed to make me red- and redder eyed. It’s time, you said; you’d changed your mind, [LINE 3]

found others do where no oaths bind. To me your promise once gave lie, such precious word I grieve to grind. [LINE 1]

No riddle solved, no reason find. This heart you took and broke; but why? It’s time, you said; I’ve changed my mind. [LINE 3]

From you I turn; I speak, unkind. This bitterest root I plant yet cry, Leave me some precious words to grind. [LINE 1] No time, you said; I’ve changed my mind. [LINE 3]

—Maureen Doallas, author of Neruda’s Memoirs

Photo by Sonia Joie . Used with permission.

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About david k wheeler.

Dave Wheeler is a writer and book critic living in Seattle. He is the author of Contingency Plans: Poems published by T.S. Poetry Press, and he has contributed essays to the Seattle Times, Catapult, The Stranger, The Morning News, and VAN Magazine.

Maureen Doallas says

December 2, 2011 at 11:43 am

Good post! And a fun approach, using that subject matter.

The traditional villanelle also observes a rhyme scheme, which adds to the difficulty of writing in the form.

Julie Kane, Louisiana’s Poet Laureate, has written some great villanelles; I included one in my Monday Muse column about her.

There are some good examples at Tilt-a-Whirl, too.

I’m working on a couple now.

Megan Willome says

December 2, 2011 at 2:51 pm

That is good. I tried a villanelle recently and it was so over-the-top it was embarrassing. Maybe light-hearted is the way to go. (P.S. I teared up at the new Muppet movie.)

[…] at five” rule and worked until ten last night, pushing to finish an article, write a villanelle, and finish a design project so I didn’t have to wake up to them this morning. I was hoping […]

[…] Poetry’s December challenge is the Villanelle, a poetic form that employs repeated phrases throughout to create a sing-song rhythm. This form, […]

[…] month, Tweetspeak Poetry’s challenge is the Villanelle, a poetic form that employs repeated phrases throughout the poem to create a sing-song rhythm. This […]

[…] Unlike the villanelle, which can be fairly comic if one wishes, the pantoum tends to ruminate. Great for when you are feeling out-of-sorts. (Actually, we dare you […]

[…] birds coming in to nest (herons, pelicans, roseate spoonbills, wood storks, and geese). I will read Dylan Thomas’ “A Child’s Christmas in Wales” with a cup of tea and a chocolate truffle on a china dish, […]

[…] Try your hand at a night poem that easily captures the ambiguity of darkness, simply by virtue of its form. Click here if you need help on how to write villanelle poems. […]

[…] nourishing structure. Consider using the lines, or an alternate version of them, in a sonnet, a villanelle or a sestina. Share your poems with us in the comment box. Maybe you’ll even find a groundhog […]

[…] huddled in our respective nests, April is finally here and it’s time to hatch our best haiku, villanelles, sonnets, sestinas, pantoums, ghazals, ballads, odes, and catalog poems for National Poultry […]

helpful resources

How to Write a Villanelle – Instruction from Tweetspeak, New York, USA

[…] had read that “the villanelle circles, like carrion fowl,” and I thought it was an apt description, the circling round and round with two lines.  The […]

[…] Villanelle (useful for themes that feel resistant to answers; also can be used to “work against” a topic, using mocking humor) […]

[…] unfamiliar with the process, check out this post by David Wheeler which shows you step by step how to write a villanelle at the end. Show us yours in the […]

[…] a poem might be the perfect candidate for the villanelle form, with its built-in repetition mechanisms that can help you travel between two realities such […]

[…] your “eat the whole” practice (or your wish to practice) in a poem. Maybe try a villanelle, which somehow just feels like an “eat the whole” kind of […]

[…] of boxes with words, and the generator will do the rest. (The same site can also generate haiku, villanelles, didactic cinquains, rhyming couplets, limericks, acrostics, tanka, narrative poems, and concrete […]

[…] Doyle. Or write a poem about solving a mystery. It needn’t be elementary, dear Poet. Try a villanelle if you want to add a little magic to your mystery! Or try a pantoum, if you want to haunt your […]

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Poetry Center

villanelle writer's digest

Villanelle Writing Prompt

A classic form of poetry, the villanelle has a strict form of 19 lines within five triplets and a repeating refrain. These poems are very song-like and are fun to both read and write once you know the rules behind them.

Villanelle Characteristics and Rules

  • 5 stanzas of 3 lines each
  • 1 closing stanza of 4 lines
  • Rhyme scheme: ABA, ABA, ABA, ABA, ABA, ABAA
  • Line 1 repeats in lines 6, 12, and 18
  • Line 3 repeats in lines 9, 15, and 19

See the attached .pdf for examples and a villanelle worksheet!

Contributor: 

Education level: , genre: , format: , time frame: , prior knowledge/skills: , required materials: , literary model: , lesson plan: .

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IMAGES

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  3. How to write a villanelle

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COMMENTS

  1. Poetic Forms: Villanelle

    Apr 20, 2009 The villanelle, like the other French forms, does have many of the same properties as the rondeau: plenty of rhyme and repetition. This French form was actually adapted from Italian folk songs (villanella) about rural life. One of the more famous contemporary villanelles is " Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night ," by Dylan Thomas.

  2. List of 168 Poetic Forms for Poets

    Mar 12, 2021 Original: Aug 4, 2014 Over the years, this list of poetic forms for poets has grown from 50 to 86 to 100 and now 168. And I doubt we're anywhere near adding to the list (still have plenty of forms to discuss for future Poetic Form Fridays).

  3. Finding Truth in Black Historical Fiction: A ...

    Since her stunning debut, Wild Women and the Blues (Kensington, 2021), novelist Denny S. Bryce elevates the role of Black women in historical fiction. With her latest work, The Other Princess (Harper Collins, 2023), Bryce continues to write about Black history using exhaustive research and immersive storytelling. In a down-to-earth conversation, we discuss the challenges of researching the ...

  4. Villanelle Definition: How to Write a Villanelle

    Villanelle Definition: A 19-lined poem composed of 5 tercets and 1 quatrain, with two repeating end rhymes and two refrains. Villanelle poetry has historically focused on topics of obsession for the poet, though more contemporary examples use the form to put unalike ideas in conversation with one another.

  5. How to Write a Villanelle (with Examples)

    Perhaps the most famous villanelle ever written is Dylan Thomas's "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night." Written in iambic pentameter, it is a remarkable nineteen lines: Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

  6. Villanelle

    A villanelle is a poem of nineteen lines, and which follows a strict form that consists of five tercets (three-line stanzas) followed by one quatrain (four-line stanza). Villanelles use a specific rhyme scheme of ABA for their tercets, and ABAA for the quatrain.

  7. How to Write a Villanelle: 7 Examples of Villanelles

    There are many famous examples of villanelle poems penned by notable authors: 1. "Do not go gentle into that good night" by Dylan Thomas emphasizes the need to experience a full life before its end. 2. "The Waking" by Theodore Roethke delves into the feeling of waking from sleep, with the narrator declaring. 3.

  8. Poetry Awards

    2022-08-01- Discover the full prize list and entry details at WRITERSDIG­EST.COM/WRITERS-DIGEST-COMPETITIO­NS/POETRY-AWARDS We're looking for your best poems of 32 lines or fewer— free verse, odes, pantoums, sonnets, villanelle­s, and even haiku—for the 17th Annual Writer's Digest Poetry Awards!

  9. Villanelle

    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. 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. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

  10. A Silent Veil. A Villanelle poem to express the…

    I discovered the Villanelle format on the Writer Digest website under the heading "List Of 168 Poetic Forms for Poets." I chose the Villanelle poem form for the theme of this poem due to the ...

  11. How To Write A Villanelle? (7 Core Questions Answered)

    Discover the Surprising Secrets to Crafting a Perfect Villanelle in 7 Simple Steps! Writing a villanelle is a creative challenge that requires a unique verse layout and a traditional poetry type. This poetic form structure consists of five tercets written in an AABAA rhyme scheme, followed by two quatrains composed in an abaab rhyming pattern. Repetition of words is essential to the villanelle ...

  12. on villanelles, or, many happy returns

    on villanelles, or, many happy returns. By Stephanie Burt. More than ten years ago the poet and scholar Julie Kane made a discovery. The villanelle, that creative-writing-class staple, usually introduced as a traditional form like the sonnet or sestina, an exercise or tour de force for poets stretching to late medieval times, did not exist, or ...

  13. Villanelle

    Writer's Digest told me, "The villanelle consists of five tercets and a quatrain with line lengths of 8-10 syllables. The first and third lines of the first stanza become refrains that repeat throughout the poem." Eh…not too exciting. But then I fell into a rabbit hole investigating other uses of the word itself.

  14. Terzanelle: Poetic Forms

    A1 F A2 ***** Play with poetic forms! Poetic forms are fun poetic games, and this digital guide collects more than 100 poetic forms, including more established poetic forms (like sestinas and sonnets) and newer invented forms (like golden shovels and fibs). Click to continue. ***** Here's my attempt at a Terzanelle: "Big A"

  15. Villanelle

    Villanelle. A French verse form consisting of five three-line stanzas and a final quatrain, with the first and third lines of the first stanza repeating alternately in the following stanzas. These two refrain lines form the final couplet in the quatrain. See "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night" by Dylan Thomas, Elizabeth Bishop's ...

  16. How to Write a Villanelle: Structure & Examples

    Write your main topic or subject in the middle of the paper. For example, "a leopard.". Moving out from the center, write down other words that pop into your mind that relate back to "a leopard.". You can also draw a circle or box around the main topic and use little lines to connect the other words to the main topic.

  17. Appendix II: List of Villanelles

    "The Villanelle (a Poem)." Writer's Digest 8.10 (1928): 32. ¶ 49 Leave a comment on paragraph 49 0 Cabaniss, Alice. "The Pandora Pursuit." Diss. University of South Carolina, 1987. ¶ 50 Leave a comment on paragraph 50 0 Campbell, A. J. "Villanelle of Broken Vows." Punch 124 (1903): 288. ¶ 51 Leave a comment on paragraph 51 0 ...

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    Dubbed "The Digest," the free publication amasses the Deseret News's best journalism from its various platforms and is delivered to 120,000 homes around Salt Lake City once a month.

  19. Villanelle

    A villanelle, also known as villanesque, [1] is a nineteen-line poetic form consisting of five tercets followed by a quatrain. There are two refrains and two repeating rhymes, with the first and third lines of the first tercet repeated alternately at the end of each subsequent stanza until the last stanza, which includes both repeated lines.

  20. Italian Poetic Forms

    By Robert Lee Brewer Sep 25, 2020 Italian Poetic Forms Barzeletta (or Frottola-barzelletta): Poetic Forms Poetic Form Fridays are made to share various poetic forms. This week, we look at the barzeletta (also known as the barzelletta or frottola-barzelletta), an Italian form with a few interpretations. By Robert Lee Brewer Sep 4, 2020

  21. What are the villanelle writing rules? (10 Important Questions Answered)

    Discover the Surprising Villanelle Writing Rules You Need to Know - 10 Important Questions Answered! The villanelle is a 19 line poem composed of five tercets and two quatrains, with an ABAB rhyme scheme and alternating lines. The poem has two refrain lines that repeat throughout the poem, with the first and third lines of the first tercet repeating as the last lines of the second and fourth ...

  22. How to Write a Villanelle

    The traditional villanelle also observes a rhyme scheme, which adds to the difficulty of writing in the form. Julie Kane, Louisiana's Poet Laureate, has written some great villanelles; I included one in my Monday Muse column about her. There are some good examples at Tilt-a-Whirl, too. I'm working on a couple now.

  23. Villanelle Writing Prompt

    A classic form of poetry, the villanelle has a strict form of 19 lines within five triplets and a repeating refrain. These poems are very song-like and are fun to both read and write once you know the rules behind them. Villanelle Characteristics and Rules 19 lines 5 stanzas of 3 lines each 1 closing stanza of 4 lines Rhyme scheme: ABA, ABA, ABA, ABA, ABA, ABAA Line 1 repeats in lines 6, 12 ...

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    As the managing editor of Writer's Digest magazine, she spearheads the world-building column Building Better Worlds, a 2023 Eddie & Ozzie Award winner. She also runs the Flash Fiction February Challenge on the WD blog, encouraging writers to pen one microstory a day over the course of the month and share their work with other participants.

  25. Building the Essential Linkages

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    Writers have only one tool—description—to invoke sights, sounds, atmosphere, mood, and so much more. Learning to effectively wield that tool makes the difference between writing that delivers information and writing that sings the story to life on the page.

  27. 2023 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 27

    Or turn a sonnet into free verse, or free verse into a villanelle. Have fun with it. Remember: These prompts are springboards to creativity. Use them to expand your possibilities, not limit them.

  28. How (and Why) to Write Poetry for Children

    Jan 29, 2024 My mother loved poetry. In her youth she memorized poets of all genres, from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow to Edgar Allen Poe to Ogden Nash, her favorite. It didn't seem strange to hear her suddenly break out in a morsel of verse from her repertoire. She was a genius at being able to summon a poem to meet an everyday situation.