Here we go! Another discussion on the basics of poetic forms, this time Villanelles.
(Link for History of Villanelles)
A Villanelle is comprised of nineteen lines, 5 stanzas of three lines each with a final stanza of four lines, the rhyme scheme is aba
here’s where it gets tricky,
1st line of 1st stanza repeats as the last line in the 2nd and 4th stanzas
3rd line of the 1st stanza is repeated as the last line in the 3rd and 5th stanzas
The 1st and 3rd line of the 1st stanza become the 2nd to last and final line of the poem
(source: The Making of a Poem)
A basic outline of the first nine lines would look something like this,
1st line, rhyme scheme a
2nd line, rhyme scheme b
3rd line, rhyme scheme a
4th line, a
5th line, b
1st line (repeated), a
6th line, a
7th line, b
3rd line (repeated), a
…and so on.
I have been having fun with the Villanelle lately and trying to write a few of my own. I have one pretty much fleshed out but it is not near done enough to post yet. But here is an example villanelle.
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.
source: poets.org
Other sources/resources:
New Rhyming Dictionary and Poets Handbook
The Making of a Poem: A Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms
Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics
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-Alina