Information about the villanelle is abundant. Two good sources are The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics (1993) and The Making of a Poem: A Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms (2001). In the first, an article on the villanelle provides detailed information about the form's development and mentions the most prominent European and American poets to publish villanelles since the 16th century. In the latter, a brief history of the form as relates to the first known author to publish the common 19 line variety of the villanelle, a French poet called Jean Passerat, is explored. 14 villanelles are also reproduced as anthologized examples. A simple search on the internet will also yield information about the form and lead scores of examples.
Since there is ample information available about the villanelle’s history and origins, I will focus only on reiterating the form’s technical points.
1. The villanelle is comprised of at least three tercets and a closing quatrain.
2. The first and third lines of the opening tercet begin the refrains and the a rhyme used by the villanelle body and closing quatrain. The second line of the opening tercet begins the b rhyme used by the villanelle body and closing quatrain.
3. The villanelle body is comprised of tercets appearing in pairs. The a rhyme is used by the first line of each tercet and the b rhyme by the second line. The first and third lines from the opening tercet are refrained as the third lines of the first and second tercets of each pair, respectively.
4. There must be a minimum of one tercet pair for the body, but there may be as many tercet pairs in the body as you think you can get away with.
Referencing the two sources mentioned above, you will find that Jean Passerat is likely responsible for the rigid 19 line model of the villanelle (only two tercet pairs). However, many poets have considered the villanelle a stanzaic form of poetry, using it as a form that may be expanded or contracted so long as the rhyme and refrain of the body are not compromised.
5. The closing quatrain uses the a rhyme in its first line, the b rhyme in its second line and refrains the first and third lines from the opening tercet as its third and fourth lines, respectively.
6. Lines may be in any length or meter within reason.
7. Villanelles may be written on any subject.
The above technical points may seem overly detailed, but they are illustrated in this form for the sake of clarity. A very pleasant shorthand notation for the first five points above is A1bA2,abA1,abA2,…,abA1A2, where like letters indicate the rhyme scheme, and uppercase letters followed by a numeric notation indicate the refrains.
One of the main challenges with the villanelle is to find a way to make the refrains change meaning or contexts with each use in a way that keeps them from overwhelming the poem.
A note on rhyme: I often use alternative prosodic devices in place of end-line rhyme. Such devices include end-line consonance, assonance, and alliteration. I also often combine different prosodic devices. For instance, one set of lines might use end-line assonance while another set uses end-line consonance.
This is an involved explanation that defines the villanelle.
Included in the list
- 04) Villanelles: • next in list
- Improving your poetry: • next in list
- AP WRITERS ADVICE: • next in list
Add a comment
Comments
1 - 21 of 21
-
Fart!!!!!
i told you we tried looking at this......ok explain the last two lines of the quatrain...your notes are not making sense to us!... -
-
every single villanelle i have posted here has a link to this column.
-
-
Well, I learn something new every day, who say's that you can't teach an old dog new tricks?
Thankyou Erin you have broadend my outlook on different forms a hundred fold.Val. -
um...
I am going to attempt this and i need you to simplify this for me in an email or something...i just don't get all the a rhyme b rhyme crap so help me please..lol...
KAY -
Although this article is lovely and informative, I know that many users would take away a lot more from it if they were given an example. There are a great many fine examples in your collection, and I don't think it would be to egotistical to provide one for the purpose of education. Or, if you think it would be, then you could always find someone elses. Either way, in my opinion it would add a lot to this column.
-
-
A villanelle
Here's a link to one of my villanelles in case you want to look:
http://allpoetry.com/poem/1208885
I have a contest going now for 3,000 points in case you'd like to write something for it. A villanelle would be nice, but any form or style will work.
Jim Dunlap
-
-
Ok, I've come back to this after a while and think I understand what they are now. I will try to write one
To anyone who reads this comment: wikipedia has a very useful article on villanelles- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villanelle
-
Well...thank you for taking the time to write this. It was very helpful. I will attempt to create a villanelle. I think I understand the basics now. Thank you,
Toltec warrior -
MA: i'd say you understand "alternative prosodic devices" well enough based on your thought. you've demonstrated that you're capable of grasping some of these concepts, so i'm going to venture to tell you to look up "tercet" and "quatrain" so the added effort behind looking them up will help the information sink in better. you can use www.onelook.com/ to look them up.
-
Before we start, I am stupid. Bear that in mind when dealing with me. I try to understand stuff, so that I can at least have tried, but I usually fail or forget.
Right. Erm, some questions- what are tercets, quatrains and alternative prosodic devices? At a guess, the last one sounds like something to do with devices that don't rhyme...
Tell me to go away and look them up if you want... but I like to at least try to find out what they are
Will come back to this (hopefully) armed with new knowledge, and maybe try writing one. Thanks for explaining! -
Wow, you seem to me like a poetry wizard! I am amazed by the information on this page. I wish I could meet you in person for a handshake and coffee. Amazing is not the word, brilliant maybe is so close to what I am trying to say. I never knew of villanelle until I stepped onto this page. Have you written any villanelle so I could take a look?
-
Hi erin..could you please tell me how to create links on your author page?! Im about to give up on it. Do you have a lot of knowledge that has to do writing essays and novels. I want to know the difference is between them.
(I did an hour essay a week ago without a rough draft or web and today the teacher read mine out loadc because it was the best out of the whole school yes!)
-Holly O'Donnell -
This is a comprehensive and coherent description of the villanelle form. Thanks for putting it all together in one place. It was new to me that the villanelle is not a set length, that is valuable information in case I find one which is different.
In the work of yours which I have read, the rhymes were not "perfect", so I really appreciate your end note on how you go about rhyming your lines.
-
by all means. we writers like nothing more than to have our crazy ideas disseminated all over the place.
-
Oh yeah....
I may be teaching a class on AP for triolets and villanelles could I use your article here???? -
This explains it a little bit, but not enough to make me extremely impressed with your villanelle you featured, #7. The fact that you have to have a column to explin you works doesn't make me thing I want to read any more works by you. If you call it a villanelle then follow the rules set forth in textbooks. Sorry it's my opinion, I'm just a story writer who likes to read poetry, so what do I know?
-
Thanx for educating us yet again... this is brilliant...
mina -
Nice job
There was good information on this however I am still a novice at some "poet words" I need to take a class on Poetry 101. I have no clue what a "tercet" is or a "quatrain" is makes note to self look them up in the dictionary Other then that you give very detailed GOOD information! Thanks for commenting on my poem! -
Hmm..good to know all this. I quite enjoy the villanelle, I like the way I write them, well-for the most part. Good information on here. Glad I read it.
~*Destiny*~ -
There is information in this column I haven't encountered before: I didn't know a villanelle could vary from the 5-tercets-plus-a-quatrain structure, for example, or that other devices than perfect rhyme could be used at the end of lines. (This explains what I've seen in some of yours.)
Also, I have understood that the villanelle is syllabic, and that each line should have the same number of syllables, whether or not the traditional 10-syllables-per-line rule is followed. Meter isn't necessary, as evidenced by the oft-cited example by Dylan Thomas, "Do not go gentle...."
This column is very clearly written (I particularly like the way you've worded #2.) It does assume the reader has developed some vocabulary that I think many readers on this site may not understand. (their problem, I suppose)
I would like to see a more graphic representation of the form, in a column, for the sake of clarity. It would also be useful to the reader to supply an example or two, or links to examples.
I like the power of the repeating lines, when used well, in the villanelle. At the risk of sounding like I'm promoting myself, I'd love for you to check out my one serious attempt, called "Touch the Stone." Critique invited, of course.
Much respect. -
Oh - this makes a lot of sense. A lovely art form. I will definately have to try it out sometime. Great column, I'll definately bookmark it for later use!
~Elsie
Adding your comment:
1 - 21 of 21
