Essays on how to write specific forms:
Haibun. Haiku. Hay(na)ku. Rengay. Tanka. Tan-renga. Concrete. Fib. Ghazal. Lai. Pantoum. Prose poem. Rondeau. Rubáiyát. Sestina. Skaldic verse. Sonnet. Terza rima. Triolet. Tritina. Villanelle. | ||
Las formas de la poesía en Español: El Poema Concreto. | ||
J. Zimmerman (poems). J. Zimmerman (haiku). J. Zimmerman (tanka). | ||
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The Villanelle Verse Form
by Ariadne Unst
History. Form. Your Composition. References. Example.
Do you have a feeling or idea that haunts you? Then the Villanelle may be the form you need.
[If you need a similar and shorter form, check out the Triolet.]
Villanelle is a French word, derived from the original word in Italian, villanella. Villanella is believed derived from the Latin villano (farmhand), which is in turn derived from the Latin villa (farm).
Historically, the Italian villanella was a rustic dance, or the music for such a dance. Sometimes it was a rustic Italian part song (round song) that was popular in the sixteenth century.
In a traditional Villanelle:
A1 b A2 - Lines in first tercet. a b A1 - Lines in second tercet. a b A2 - Lines in third tercet. a b A1 - Lines in fourth tercet. a b A2 - Lines in fifth tercet. a b A1 A2 - Lines in final quatrain. |
The repetition in a Villanelle made this form popular with audiences. The repetition allowed the listener to catch the poem more clearly at first hearing or first reading.
A writer of a Villanelle can use the repetition to delve more deeply into her material. Each stanza can revise, amplify, and show more facets of what the poet feels.
Here are some steps to take in creating your Villanelle:
Just because you start with the intention of writing a Villanelle, you do not have to keep your poem in that form if it does not work for you. Your attempt to write a formal poem may help you find words that you would not have found otherwise. And you may decide that you choose to end up with a poem in a different form, perhaps even a prose poem.
The Making of a Poem: A Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms,
Edited by Mark Strand and Eavan Boland
CRETE - 1941 AND 1971
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