Villanelle Poem
How to write a Villanelle Poem.
Although the Villanelle Poem was developed in the 17th century, this 19 line, formal poetry form became popular in the 20th century. One of the more famous poems that shows an example of this poetry form is Dylan Thomas’ poem ‘Do not go gentle into that good night.’
The villanelle poem allows poets to dwell on obsession and for a poet who feels everything deeply, the structure of a villanelle poem gives a poet the licence they need to express themselves by writing lyrically and obsessively.
So what defines 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.
Historically the villanelle poem allowed poets to write about their topics obsessively but more recently this type of form allows the writer to put unlike ideas together in conversation together.
An example of a modern villanelle that uses the refrains to create different meanings of words and therefore the repeated lines make the poem multifaceted would be ‘One Art’ by Elizabeth Bishop:
One Art 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.
Each iteration of each refrain brings something new to the poem although using the same or similar words. Contemporary poets have altered the structure of the villanelle poem which tends to happen regardless of which poetry form is being written.
The structure of the original villanelle looks like this:
A1
B
A2
A
B
A1
A
B
A2
A
B
A1
A
B
A2
A
B
A1
A2
Here's the perfect example in a copy of ‘Do not go gentle into that good night’ by Dylan Thomas that I copied from the Poetry Foundation
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.
As you can see in the above example 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.
Simply put, a villanelle poem is of French origin with 19 lines that are broken up into 5 tercets (3 line stanzas) and 1 quatrain (4 line stanza). The first and third lines of the first tercet are repeated alternately at the end of each subsequent stanza. The final stanza includes both repeated lines.
History of the Villanelle.
Villanelles began with no fixed form and were a French take on the pastoral poems which were poems written meant to glorify country living as opposed to city life. At the time they were more or less musical ballads with themes such as farming and shepherding.
The villanelle poems induction into formal poetry is credited to Jean Passerat and his “Villanelle (J’ay perdu ma Tourterelle). The villanelles eventually evolved to be more popular in English than any other language partly thanks to Oscar Wilde.
Regardless of the simple and humble beginnings, the villanelle poem became prominent in the 20th century and although contemporary poets make their villanelles appear easily written, they're often considered one of the more difficult forms of poetry write.
Some examples of villanelle poems that can be useful when writing in this form are:
Sylvia Plath - ‘Mad Girl's Love Song’
Edward Arlington Robinson - ‘The Home on the Hill’
Geoffrey Chaucer - ‘Merciless Beauty’
W.H. Auden - ‘If I Could Tell You’
I hope the form, history, and examples of this poetry form inspire you to write your own unique villanelle after chosing your topic of obsessesion. I haven't tried to write a villanelle poem yet but I plan on doing so soon and anyone interested can check out my attempt on my blog, Donetta Writes. Thank you for your time and feel free to point me in the direction of your favorite or your own villanelle poems.
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