The_Fool
smiling for the camera
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2003
- Posts
- 17,755
I have absolutely no business doing this thread, but screw it. I am going to do it anyway.
So you want to write a Villanelle.
Okay maybe not. Stop now while you still have some sanity left. I’ll warn you. The Villanelle has rhymes. OH SHIT. I just lost a bunch of poets there. Gotta keep that free verse thing going.
So what is a villanelle? It is a specific form poem. (Duh, I already figured that out.) It has a total of six stanzas, five of which have three lines and the final stanza having four for a total of 19 lines. The rhyme scheme rather unique because it only uses two rhyme phrases, lets call them A and B (rather than tweedledum and tweedledee since that tends to lengthen what I have to type). It also has repeating phrases, both with the same rhyme phrase, lets call them A1 and A2. What a bunch of gobblygook. Okay, here is basically what the poem looks like from a line/stanza/rhyme view.
A1
B
A2
A
B
A1
A
B
A2
A
B
A1
A
B
A2
A
B
A1
A2
Clear as mud? Goooood.
Okay, here is an example of one I wrote. Be aware, for some foolish reason, I have always used Iambic Pentameter to write my Villanelles. This is not required. Some of the sources I have read, however, do suggest adopting a rhythmic pattern. Others have said be as crazy as you want.
Victorian Amethyst
A thought of love lost made her want to cry.
She counts each stone and thinks of what he meant,
with memories of time gone by and by.
She listens close and hears her grandma sigh.
Her arms wrapped round her legs, her eyes intent.
A thought of love lost made her want to cry.
She spoke of love beneath a starry sky
Short times together and just what they’d meant
With memories of time gone by and by
She welcomed every message from her guy,
The English heirloom necklace that he’d sent.
A thought of love lost made her want to cry.
A final note, no need for her reply.
In cruel war, another life was spent,
with memories of time gone by and by.
The time must come for each of us to die.
Last goodbyes to her filled with love were sent.
A thought of love lost made her want to cry,
with memories of time gone by and by.
A more famous example of a Villanelle is one by Dylan Thomas:
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.
The key to the Villanelle is the selection of the repetitive phrases. They have to have the strength to stand apart as well as stand together. The really difficult part of writing a villanelle is to come up with phrasing that allows shades of meaning through the repetitive phrasing. For instance in my villanelle, there were two women, a grandmother and a granddaughter. Sometimes I was speaking from the grandmother’s frame of reference, other times I was speaking from the granddaughter’s.
You don’t have to be serious with these things either. Here is another one I wrote. Actually my first. Verrry tongue in cheek:
Drink the Villanelle, Hear the Blues
I never knew I had so much to lose.
That you would leave me all alone tonight.
I got that feeling Mama called “The Blues.”
I’d stepped out with the guys from work for brews.
I got that need to get a little tight.
I never knew I had so much to lose.
I know you hate it when I smell of booze.
You came along and tried to pick a fight.
I got that feeling Mama called “The Blues.”
You told me there was no excuse to use.
And that I really wasn’t very bright.
I never knew I had so much to lose.
You hit me hard enough to leave a bruise,
And told me I had best stay out of sight.
I got that feeling Mama called “The Blues.”
I couldn’t stand it when I heard the news,
Her Sis told me she left that very night.
I never knew I had so much to lose.
I got that feeling Mama called “The Blues.”
So give it a try, you got nothing to lose. Post it here and lets talk about it. If you want to talk to a poet emeritus about Villanelles, talk to Angeline. She writes ‘em too.
Ange, post a few Villes here…..please?
So you want to write a Villanelle.
Okay maybe not. Stop now while you still have some sanity left. I’ll warn you. The Villanelle has rhymes. OH SHIT. I just lost a bunch of poets there. Gotta keep that free verse thing going.
So what is a villanelle? It is a specific form poem. (Duh, I already figured that out.) It has a total of six stanzas, five of which have three lines and the final stanza having four for a total of 19 lines. The rhyme scheme rather unique because it only uses two rhyme phrases, lets call them A and B (rather than tweedledum and tweedledee since that tends to lengthen what I have to type). It also has repeating phrases, both with the same rhyme phrase, lets call them A1 and A2. What a bunch of gobblygook. Okay, here is basically what the poem looks like from a line/stanza/rhyme view.
A1
B
A2
A
B
A1
A
B
A2
A
B
A1
A
B
A2
A
B
A1
A2
Clear as mud? Goooood.
Okay, here is an example of one I wrote. Be aware, for some foolish reason, I have always used Iambic Pentameter to write my Villanelles. This is not required. Some of the sources I have read, however, do suggest adopting a rhythmic pattern. Others have said be as crazy as you want.
Victorian Amethyst
A thought of love lost made her want to cry.
She counts each stone and thinks of what he meant,
with memories of time gone by and by.
She listens close and hears her grandma sigh.
Her arms wrapped round her legs, her eyes intent.
A thought of love lost made her want to cry.
She spoke of love beneath a starry sky
Short times together and just what they’d meant
With memories of time gone by and by
She welcomed every message from her guy,
The English heirloom necklace that he’d sent.
A thought of love lost made her want to cry.
A final note, no need for her reply.
In cruel war, another life was spent,
with memories of time gone by and by.
The time must come for each of us to die.
Last goodbyes to her filled with love were sent.
A thought of love lost made her want to cry,
with memories of time gone by and by.
A more famous example of a Villanelle is one by Dylan Thomas:
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.
The key to the Villanelle is the selection of the repetitive phrases. They have to have the strength to stand apart as well as stand together. The really difficult part of writing a villanelle is to come up with phrasing that allows shades of meaning through the repetitive phrasing. For instance in my villanelle, there were two women, a grandmother and a granddaughter. Sometimes I was speaking from the grandmother’s frame of reference, other times I was speaking from the granddaughter’s.
You don’t have to be serious with these things either. Here is another one I wrote. Actually my first. Verrry tongue in cheek:
Drink the Villanelle, Hear the Blues
I never knew I had so much to lose.
That you would leave me all alone tonight.
I got that feeling Mama called “The Blues.”
I’d stepped out with the guys from work for brews.
I got that need to get a little tight.
I never knew I had so much to lose.
I know you hate it when I smell of booze.
You came along and tried to pick a fight.
I got that feeling Mama called “The Blues.”
You told me there was no excuse to use.
And that I really wasn’t very bright.
I never knew I had so much to lose.
You hit me hard enough to leave a bruise,
And told me I had best stay out of sight.
I got that feeling Mama called “The Blues.”
I couldn’t stand it when I heard the news,
Her Sis told me she left that very night.
I never knew I had so much to lose.
I got that feeling Mama called “The Blues.”
So give it a try, you got nothing to lose. Post it here and lets talk about it. If you want to talk to a poet emeritus about Villanelles, talk to Angeline. She writes ‘em too.
Ange, post a few Villes here…..please?
