Villanelle Poem

This is a wonderful 19 line poem that has repetition in it and includes rhyme. First things first, a little poetry 101. What is a stanza? Well, a stanza is a group of lines that stand out or apart and often spaced from other stanzas. There are 3 line stanzas named a tercet and 4 line stanzas which are named a quatrain. A villanelle has 5 tercets and ends with a quatrain. Now, you really have to get your creativity in gear and your clever rhyming words out for this poetry prompt! The rhyme order for a villanelle is:

Stanza 1: ABA

Stanza 2: ABA

Stanza 3: ABA

Stanza 4: ABA

Stanza 5: ABA

Stanza 6: ABAA

The entire first line (stanza 1 and a line A) is also the second and fourth stanzas last line. Read that one more time  The ending of the villanelle has the quatrain and includes this line as a couplet too.

Next, the last line of stanza 1 (also an A rhyming word) is repeated, the entire sentence, in the third, fifth and sixth stanza (again the last part-the quatrain- as a couplet). 19 lines may seem like a lot, but now you will see here that a lot of the work is already done once you have those two lines.

Some people prefer to follow iambic pentameter in this form because it has a nice flow, but you DON’T have to do that. It takes a seasoned poet to get this down where the poem repeats in a way that seems natural and pleasant. So, don’t worry if it seems a little “Frankenstein” in the beginning. Take a pause and try again if this is the goal you are trying to achieve with your villanelle.

Rhymes for Beginners

 End rhymes-this is when the last word in a poem rhymes  Internal rhymes-two words in one line rhyme in a poem  Slant rhymes-also called near rhymes are when a vowel OR a consonant share a sound  Rich rhyme-words that sound the same but are different in meaning such as orange the color and fruit are pronounced and spelled exactly the same  Eye rhyme-words that look alike but are pronounced different such as the word “cough” is said with an “off” while the word “tough” is said like “tuff” NOT “toff”

Steps for a Villanelle Poem Step 1: Choose a topic or message that you want to portray in your poem. There could be a cause that is near and dear to your heart. So, repetition may be a wonderful way to get the ideas and passion you have across to the reader. Step 2: Choose two words to rhyme with and create a word pool for each of them. This can be quite helpful as you are organizing each of your 19 lines. Step 3: Create your first stanza and then copy the lines as needed. Step 4: Fill in the blanks. Step 5: Read through to ensure clarity.

A well-known example of a Villanelle Poem is by Dylan Thomas and the name of the poem is called Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night. The blue arrows point to the first refrain that is repeated three times with the third being displayed in the quatrain as a couplet. The red arrow points to the second refrain and is also repeated three times. As you will notice, the “B” lines all rhyme… day, they, bay, way, gay and pray. All “A” lines (not repeated) still follow the sequence… right, bright, flight, sight, and height.

Here is an example following the steps mentioned above: Step 1: The focus will surround consumption, finances, and women. Step 2: Word Bank One-less, mess, stress, bless, chess, confess, dress, business, kindness, darkness, goodness, obsess. Work Bank Two-joy, destroy, deploy, toy, boy, employ, coy Step 3: I followed Dylan Thomas poem as a template, so my refrains read… “Do not consume hastily into that business” and “Conscious, conscious of true happiness” Step 4: A: Do not consume hastily into that business B: Gadgets and clothes birth fleeting joy A: Conscious, conscious of true happiness

A: Though wise women at their core know a budget can bless B: Sales are a seducing decoy A: Do not consume hastily into that business

A: Savvy women, repair that dress B: Their youthful spending continued would destroy A: Conscious, conscious of true happiness

A: Wildly present women who do not obsess B: And learn shopping windows will always be dazzlingly coy A: Do not consume hastily into that business

A: Prudent women reach success who play finances like chess B: Greedy eyes could fixate like hunger and deploy A: Conscious, conscious of true happiness

A: And you, consumer, all your riches in a sad mess of stress B: Invest, save, money now for a financial buoy A: Do not consume hastily into that business A: Conscious, conscious of true happiness

Step 5: I had a tricky time with rhyming for the word joy and had to rearrange sentences a few times so the theme still played out nicely. Good luck on your Villanelle Poem!