The first and third lines of the first stanza are repeated alternately in the following stanzas.
One of the most famous villanelles was written by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. Look at the format. and pay attention to the repeated lines:
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 grieve 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.
It's a very clever poem, written about the passing of the poet's father. You might feel inspired to write a villanelle yourself. It's certainly a challenge if you've never tried before, but have a go ... and you may surprise yourself. Ultimately, you will have learnt a new poetry skill and you never know where it may lead you!
Please feel free to post your villanelle poems in the comments box below and I will comment on them.
Thanks for the great post Steve! Learning different forms and incorporating them into a repertoire as a poet only broadens the creative playing field! I’ve found villanelles work great with trying to put a specific point across, incorporating the repetitions of lines as the focal point of the piece. They are fun to write and even more fun to read when they come out just right!
ReplyDeleteI've published quite a few Villanelles on the Invisible Poets page that I've recently written, so here, I will share one of the earliest ones I wrote. It was a sort of leaving present for a young student we had working with us in the office for a while. What you need to know is that I'm always losing stuff, and then falsely accusing others of using it. Secondly, that students weren't allowed to use external email in our company, so she asked me if she could borrow mine. Which was fine, until I got a message with the header that said "Hello there you sexy beast!!" which I kind of realised probably wasn't for me! At a colleague's suggestion, I called it:
ReplyDeleteVillain? Elle!
Who has nicked my nice white company pen,
the one they gave me as a gift for free?
I'll bet Samantha's using it again.
Sometimes I panic like a silly hen
and ask the others to explain to me
who has nicked my nice white company pen.
Why's my email all love letters from men
and messages I'm not supposed to see?
(I'll bet Samantha's using it again).
But when I have an overwhelming yen
to write her odes, I can't for it is she
who has nicked my nice white company pen.
When can I have it back? O when? O when?
I'm puzzled, but I think I have the key -
I'll bet Samantha's using it again!
But when she's left us and gone home, what then?
For when I lose it, I won't have this plea:
"Who has nicked my nice white company pen?
I'll bet Samantha's using it again".
Great work. The refrains really work well in this piece.
DeleteCan I share an observation on "Do not go gentle"? (One of my favourite poems as well).
ReplyDeleteThe last verse, he asks his father to "curse" which would be a blessing to him (with his fierce tears).
I was struck with the similarity of the words often used in Roman Catholic confession. "Bless me father, for I have sinned". I get the sense that Dylan Thomas is angry at his father dying - he knows that it's perhaps wrong to feel that anger, but that if his father also raged against death, that this would give him absolution. It's as if it's a secular prayer to his dying father.
Thanks for your insightful comment Iain. It does indeed sound like a 'secular prayer'. This is one of the poems I read early in my life and which helped set me on a course of poetry writing.
Delete