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 & coming together at the end in the closing couplet. You can read some of the best & most famous villanelles in English using the links below, each accompanied by its central couplet.
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 & coming together at the end in the closing couplet. You can read some of the best & most famous villanelles in English using the links below, each accompanied by its central couplet.
“Villanelle” by W. H. Auden
“Time will say nothing but I told you so.
If I could tell you I would let you know.”
“Time will say nothing but I told you so.
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”
“The art of losing isn’t hard to master;
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . disaster”
“Villanelle for an Anniversary” by Seamus Heaney
“A spirit moves, John Harvard walks the yard,
The books stand open and the gates unbarred.”
“A spirit moves, John Harvard walks the yard,
The books stand open and the gates unbarred.”
“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 shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.
(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.”
“Since Persia fell at Marathon,
Long centuries have come and gone.”
“The Waking” by Theodore Roethke
“I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I learn by going where I have to go.”
“I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
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.”
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.”
“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.”
“Do not go gentle into that good night.
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?”
“O goat-foot God of Arcady!
And what remains to us of thee?”