How to Write a Villanelle Poem

An example and template follows these instructions.

The villanelle form: 19 lines in total, divided into 6 stanzas The first 5 stanzas have 3 lines each (tercets) and the final stanza has 4 lines No fixed line or meter (but you can choose to use one) Rhyme scheme: ABA ABA ABA ABA ABA ABAA

Although the villanelle has rules you need to follow, almost half the work gets done automatically as once you have your opening stanza, you can pop lines 1 and 3 into the template throughout the poem, leaving you only 11 more lines to write.

1.Choose what you want your villanelle to be about. 2.Create your first 3 lines. Lines 1 and 3 will be repeated throughout the poem (see example below) so it's important they can work in different ways. 3.Now repeat Lines 1 and 3 (marked as A1 and A3) in the correct spaces in your template. 4.You now have 11 more lines to write, following the rhyme scheme. Write these and add to your template. 5.Make any edits needed for your poem to flow and make sense grammatically. When you're happy, put it to one side so you can proof it with fresh eyes. 6.Do a final proof read of your poem, making any final tweaks. 7.Now, copy it out onto a clean piece of paper or type it up and think about sharing it with others to read. 8.Congratulations! You wrote a villanelle poem!

Examples of villanelles: "Do not go gentle into that good night" by Dylan Thomas, “Mad Girl’s Love Song” by Sylvia Plath, “If I Could Tell You” by W.H. Auden.

RubyRiddlestein.com i based this poem on dylan thomas's "Do not go gentle into that goodFollow that passion and choose now to write night" Aba rhyme scheme - lines 1 and 3 of A1 Follow that passion and choose now to write stanzas 1-5 rhyme B Ignore the critic and let yourself play and lines 1, 3 and 4 of A3 Go, go to the page, see those words take flight stanza 5 rhyme

A There’s no secret sauce to getting it right enjambment - the B The creatives who succeed, like you, they verb 'follow' A1 Follow that passion and choose now to write works with 'they' or could be an A There’s simply no need to stay up all night imperative as in B Others may say that’s the trick, but I say Line 1 A3 Go, go to the page, see those words take flight

A Your work is to create your own light B Forge your own path, see then shape your own way A1 Follow that passion and choose now to write Aba rhyme scheme - the middle lines of A The long road ahead is seldom all bright each stanza rhymes B The remedy to keep the doubts at bay: (in the final stanza Go, go to the page, see those words take flight A3 it's line 2)

A Muster your courage, trust your heart. In spite B Of the hurdles, stay the course, don’t you stray A1 Follow that passion and choose now to write A3 Go, go to the page, see those words take flight

aba rhyme scheme for first 5 stanzas, then abaa for final

RubyRiddlestein.com Villanelle Template

A1

B A3

A B

A1

A

B A3

A B A1

A

B

A3

A

B

A1

A3

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