Last semester in my creative writing class I learned how to write a lot of different types of poems. One of my favorite forms was the villanelle which incorporates rhyme and repetition to create an entrancing, rhythmic sound.
Here is the official villanelle form:
| 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. |
‘A1’ and ‘A2’ rhyme, and these lines are repeated throughout the entire program.
‘a’ lines are different each time they occur in the poem, but they must rhyme with ‘A1’ and ‘A2’
‘b’ lines are also different each time they occur in the poem. They do not rhyme with the rest of the lines, but must rhyme with the other ‘b’ lines.
To find out more in-depth information about the villanelle, visit the Poetry Form website.
Dylan Thomas’ “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” is an example of a famous villanelle:
Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Though wise men at their end know dark is right, Because their words had forked no lightning they Do not go gentle into that good night, Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight, And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way, Do not go gentle into that good night, Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light. And you, my father, there on the sad height, Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray. Do not go gentle into that good night, Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
The Creators' Conscience 