The Rhyme Scheme and Form of a Villanelle

[jill stockinger]

SINCE ONE OF YOU ASKED!  Please just IGNORE if you know this already. I KNOW some of you do. (Looking at you, Bob and Nedra!)  Jill

The Rhyme Scheme and Form of a Villanelle:

 

In a villanelle, all the “a” lines must RHYME with each other, whether they are A1, A2, or a.

All the “b” lines must rhyme with each other.

When a line has a letter and a number (like A1 and A2), that specific line must be used again, without change, in a specific order as demonstrated below.

 

I Pretend: A Villanelle    by Jill Stockinger

 

I wish I were more stone than man.     A1

How can I regret so much?                     b

In dreams, we ride in a happy caravan.A2

 

I do my best, all that I can.                      a

Was hope always a broken crutch?       b

I wish I were more stone than man.    A1

 

Her days ran faster than I ran.                a

I miss her words, her daily touch.          b

In dreams, we ride in a happy caravan.A2

 

Since she’s gone, and Death is no historian, a

Memories of her I tightly clutch.                    b

I wish I were more stone than man.            A1

 

I treasure the moment our love began.  a

Together, we never needed much.          b

In dreams, we ride in a happy caravan. A2

 

Despite the loss, I act the comedian,      a

Pretending smiles, laughter and such.    b

I wish I were more stone than man.       A1

In dreams, we ride in a happy caravan.  A2

 

And in a superior example—Dylan Thomas’s famous Villanelle:

 

Do not go gentle into that good night

Dylan Thomas - 1914-1953

 

 

Do not go gentle into that good night,                            A1
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;              b
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.                       A2

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,       a
Because their words had forked no lightning they       b
Do not go gentle into that good night.                            A1

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright            a
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,   b
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.                       A2

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,         a
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,               b
Do not go gentle into that good night.                             A1

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight    a
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,            b
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.                        A2

And you, my father, there on the sad height,                 a
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.     b
Do not go gentle into that good night.                             A1
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.                        A2

 

People have “loosened” the requirements a bit. Some poets now slightly Change the wording in lines A1 and A2, usually keeping MOST of the wording but not all.

I prefer the stricter format.  Jill