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List: Paradelle

Paradelle

The Paradelle is a modern poetic form invented by Billy Collins
as a parody of the villanelle.
Billy Collins claimed that the paradelle was
a difficult, fixed form consisting of four six-line
stanzas with a repetitive pattern invented in
eleventh century France, and the press believed
the story and ran with it. Due to the extensive publicity,
the Paradelle has made its rounds
in the poetic community. Eventhough the form was
invented as a hoax, the Paradelle has taken
on a life of its own. It is still a difficult form,
nonetheless, to practice which can be fun and
rewarding eventhough the inventor may not have intended it to be.

The Paradell Structure

First Three Stanzas:

The first two lines as well as the third and fourth
lines of the first three stanzas must be the same
(repeat). Where it begins to get difficult and become
more of a poetic puzzle is when reaching
fifth and sixth lines. These lines must contain
all the words from the preceding four lines within
the stanza using them only once to form completely new lines.

Last Stanza:

For the most difficult piece of this poetic puzzle,
the final stanza of the paradelle does not repeat like
the preceding stanzas, rather the final six lines
must contain every word from the first three stanzas,
and only those words, again using them only once
to form completely new lines.

The Design is simple:

Stanza 1: 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 4
Stanza 2: 5, 5, 6, 6, 7, 8
Stanza 3: 9, 9, 10, 10, 11, 12
Stanza 4: 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18


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