To Write A Villanelle

Introduction

The villanelle is now my preferred poetic form. My audience and friends tell me how good my villanelle's are but they seem to be scared of the form. While I have written many excellent villanelles none have been awarded a Vocal Top Story, though that may be because I am on Vocal's naughty shelf, they don't see me as a poet or writer.

So what I will show you is how I actually create a villanelle, and then hopefully you will be able to try it yourself without too much trepidation and maybe a villanelle will then get a Top Story but not until a real vocal poet writes one (that is a jest, I know I am an excellent poet)

So What Is A Villanelle?

Here is a definition

A villanelle is a nineteen-line poem which is used to emphasise a point by the use of repeated lines and a strict rhyme form.

It consists of five tercets (three-line verses with an ABA rhyme) followed by a quatrain (four lines with an ABAA rhyme).

Now this might scare you a little at first, and in fact, the definition that I have shared with you states:

"Villanelles are notoriously tricky to write because of their strict form and double refrain."

To be quite honest that makes composing one simple for me and I will tell you why.

First of all, choose your subject and remember each has the same number of syllables. My first ever villanelle had a ten-syllable line, and you can read it here.

The number of syllables is irrelevant as long as it is constant throughout the villanelle.

Now here is the clever bit, or cheat, that simplifies it for me. Although a villanelle contains nineteen lines, because of the repetitive nature of the form, when you write your first tercet, you have six more of your lines readily created from line one and line three of your first tercet, meaning you have only to write another ten lines to create your villanelle.

This is one my Sylvia Plath that influenced the one I gave you in my example.

This one by Dylan Thomas is a particular favourite of mine

The thing that you have to take care of, and this is the most difficult part for me, is that line one and line three of your opening tercet need to work as final lines in the next four tercets and as a pair to close the final quatrain.

So as you can see, once you start you are virtually halfway there. You do have to maintain the strict rhyme scheme but you do have the internet at your disposal if you are looking for a rhyming word or phrase for your next line.

A villanelle is not an epic and I do not think that it could fit into a song structure, but it is a wonderful form to deliver a message whether it is read or heard in a performance.

I have written a couple of long-form poems and they were far more difficult than a villanelle.

This is what a villanelle looks like

111111A

22222B

333333A

X

44444A

55555B

111111A

X

66666A

77777B

33333A

X

88888A

99999B

111111A

X

aaaaaA

bbbbbB

33333A

X

cccccA

dddddB

111111A

33333A

That is how a villanelle looks. You can see the repetition to emphasise the point of the words.

Here is a ten minute video of me writing a villanelle from scratch

Conclusion

I hope there is enough information for you to attempt a villanelle. It is just one of many poetry forms, but I believe it is something that every writer that I know could use.

Feel free to share yours in the comments if you feel so inclined.