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Villanelle links
The villanelle is a formal poem of 19 lines with alternating repeated refrain lines & a strict rhyme scheme, which evolved from the pastoral songs of Renaissance troubadours & has become a favorite in modern English language poetry.
Villanelle
The villanelle defined, in our glossary of poetic forms. The essence of a villanelle is in its repeating lines, separated in their first appearance in the opening triplet, then weaving alternately through and coming together at the end in the closing couplet. You can read some of the best and most famous villanelles in English using the links below.
“If I could tell you” by W. H. Auden
“Time will say nothing but I told you so.
If I could tell you I would let you know.”
If I could tell you I would let you know.”
“One Art” by Elizabeth Bishop
“The art of losing isn’t hard to master;
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . disaster”
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . disaster”
“When I Saw You Last, Rose” by Austin Dobson
“When I saw you last, Rose,
How fast the time goes!”
How fast the time goes!”
“Wouldst Thou Not Be Content To Die” by Edmund Gosse
“Wouldst thou not be content to die
When golden Autumn hath passed by?”
When golden Autumn hath passed by?”
“Villanelle for an Anniversary” by Seamus Heaney
“A spirit moves, John Harvard walks the yard,
The books stand open and the gates unbarred.”
The books stand open and the gates unbarred.”
Stephen Daedalus’ “Villanelle of the Temptress” by James Joyce
“Are you not weary of ardent ways,
Tell no more of enchanted days.”
Tell no more of enchanted days.”
“Mad Girl’s Love Song” by Sylvia Plath
“I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)”
(I think I made you up inside my head.)”
“Villanelle of Change” by Edwin Arlington Robinson
“Since Persia fell at Marathon,
Long centuries have come and gone.”
Long centuries have come and gone.”
“The House on the Hill” by Edwin Arlington Robinson
“They are all gone away,
There is nothing more to say.”
There is nothing more to say.”
“The Waking” by Theodore Roethke
“I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I learn by going where I have to go.”
I learn by going where I have to go.”
“Two de Chiricos” by Mark Strand
1. “The Philosopher’s Content”
“This melancholy moment will remain,
And always the tower, the boat, the distant train.”
2. “The Disquieting Muses”
“Boredom sets in first, and then despair...
Something about the silence of the square.”
“This melancholy moment will remain,
And always the tower, the boat, the distant train.”
2. “The Disquieting Muses”
“Boredom sets in first, and then despair...
Something about the silence of the square.”
“Do not go gentle into that good night” by Dylan Thomas
“Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”
“Pan: a Double Villanelle,” by Oscar Wilde
“O goat-foot God of Arcady!
And what remains to us of thee?”
And what remains to us of thee?”
“Theocritus, A Villanelle,” by Oscar Wilde
“O Singer of Persephone!
Dost thou remember Sicily?”
Dost thou remember Sicily?”