Attempting this difficult French form of poetry can be challenging and fun. Here is the basis of the form.
Writing Your Own Villanelle
1Comprehend the form of this poetry. The villanelle has 19 lines, 5 stanzas of three lines and 1 stanza of four lines with two rhymes and two refrains. The 1st, then the 3rd lines alternate as the last lines of stanzas 2, 3, and 4, and then stanza 5 (the end) as a couplet. It is usually written in tetrameter (4 feet) or pentameter. The structure is provided with this example by Edward Arlington Robinson:
- line 1 - a - 1st refrain - Since Persia fell at Marathon
- line 2 - b - The yellow years have gathered fast
- line 3 - a - 2nd refrain - Long centuries have come and gone.
- line 4 - a - And yet (they say) the place will don
- line 5 - b - A phantom fury of the past,
- line 6 - a - 1st refrain - Since Persia fell at Marathon;
- line 7 - a - And as of old when Helicon
- line 8 - b - Trembled and swayed with rapture vast
- line 9 - a - 2nd refrain - Long centuries have come and gone.
- line 10 - a - The ancient plain, when nigh comes on,
- line 11 - b - Shakes to a ghostly battle blast,
- line 12 - a - 1st refrain - Since Persia fell at Marathon
- line 13 - a - But into soundless Acheron
- line 14 - b - The glory of Greek shame was cast:
- line 15 - a - 2nd refrain - Long centuries have come and gone,
- line 16 - a - The suns of hellas have all shone,
- line 17 - b - The first has fallen to the last;--
- line 18 - a - 1st refrain - Since Persia fell at Marathon,
- line 19 - a - 2nd refrain - Long centuries have come and gone.
2Pay special attention to the placement of the refrain and the rhyme pattern formed by the last word of each line.
3Choose the subject for your villanelle carefully. It is a difficult form that repeats two lines multiple times. Ask yourself if your subject is one that can be handled with these limitations.
4Once you've settled on an idea, work out the rhyme and compile two lists of words that rhyme.
5Write the first and second refrain as two lines that follow a complete thought. For instance, Dylan Thomas's two lines from his famous villanelle: "Do not go gentle into that goodnight/Rage, rage against the dying of a light."
6Take those lines and place them in the framework given above. This will be the basis for the villanelle and look, and 42% of the poem is already complete.
7Now comes the hard part. Fill in the eleven remaining lines to make a cohesive poem.
8Read the poem aloud to a large audience and bow.Ad
We could really use your help!
- Meter the lines so they maintain a rhythm and are of the same length. They are traditionally in tetrameter or pentameter in English but can work in free verse as well.
- Villanelles originated as a musical form and sound terrific read or sung aloud. They also sound better in French or Italian.
- Choose a small subject that fascinates you.
- Even the crustiest English professors and most brilliant of all literary minds struggle with the villanelle, so don't sweat it.
- Read Elizabeth Bishop's villanelle "One Art" and Dylan Thomas's "Do Not Go Gentle Into that Goodnight" for inspiration.
- Too large a topic can overburden the form. Simple is best.