In the last article on poetic form, we looked at the Ottava Rima<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This week we head into a fun form that gives the poets a chance to experiment and play with words. To showcase the works created from these series, our writing member community will have the opportunity of being featured here and on our substack site<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To submit your prose from last week\u2019s cinquain introduction or this article, make sure to join our writing adventure<\/a> to submit your poem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Villanelle poem was originally called a villanella<\/em> and villancico<\/em>. They were Italian and Spanish dance songs during the Renaissance era. It wasn’t until the late 19th century when French poet Th\u00e9odore de Banville defined the Villanelle as we see it today. Even though these poems didn’t take hold in French circles, they gained popularity with English-speaking poets such as Elizabeth Bishop<\/a>, Dylan Thomas<\/a>, W. H. Auden<\/a>, Oscar Wilde<\/a>, Seamus Heaney<\/a>, and Sylvia Plath<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite its challenging structure, the Villanelle poem allows poets to experiment. By working with language and repetition, they play with rhyming patterns and syllable count. It creates unique powerful variations on the poetic form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Villanelle is made up of 19 lines, with five tercets (three-line stanzas) and a final quatrain (four-line stanza).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Its rhyming scheme consists of:<\/p>\n\n\n\n a(1)ba(2) Where the first and the third lines in the first stanza are repeated in alternating order throughout the poem, they then appear together in the last couplet, the last two lines).<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the most famous examples of a villanelle is Dylan Thomas’s “Do not go gentle into that good night.” This poem was written in 1947, and it is a powerful meditation on aging, death, and the human will to survive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n by Dylan Thomas<\/p>\n\n\n\n Do not go gentle into that good night, (1a)<\/strong> Though wise men at their end know dark is right, (a) Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright (a) Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight, (a) Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight (a) And you, my father, there on the sad height, (a) Written in 1987 They are all gone away, (1a)<\/strong> Through broken walls and gray (a) Nor is there one to-day (a) Why is it then we stray (a) And our poor fancy-play (a) There is ruin and decay (a) If you\u2019re up to it, I challenge you to write one and submit your poetic creation. If you accept, use the phrase \u201cVillanelle Poem\u201d for the name of the series in the form<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Leave a comment, as I enjoy hearing from each of you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Happy Writing!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Challenge yourself to new heights of poetic expression with the Villanelle. Discover the transformative power of this intricate form that has inspired the likes of Elizabeth Bishop, Dylan Thomas, and Sylvia Plath. Embrace the constraints and let your creativity soar as you weave a masterpiece of language and emotion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":970,"featured_media":15334,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2084],"tags":[2234,2261,2088,2265],"ppma_author":[1996],"author_meta":{"display_name":"Written Tales","author_link":"https:\/\/www.writtentales.com\/author\/writtentales\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F12d42bb2-6f59-4d41-bef4-1c145a74e8c6_2240x1260.jpeg","coauthors":[{"link":"https:\/\/www.writtentales.com\/author\/writtentales\/","display_name":"Written Tales"}],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["Writers Corner<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Writers Corner<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["Creative Writing<\/a>","Poetic Structure<\/a>","Villanelle Poem<\/a>","Writing Challenges<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Creative Writing<\/span>","Poetic Structure<\/span>","Villanelle Poem<\/span>","Writing Challenges<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 1 year ago","modified":"Updated 11 months ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on April 27, 2023","modified":"Updated on June 1, 2023"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on April 27, 2023 11:46 pm","modified":"Updated on June 1, 2023 12:42 am"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","authors":[{"term_id":1996,"user_id":970,"is_guest":0,"slug":"writtentales","display_name":"Written Tales","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/638ae9e92ee7c02e85538dee19485124?s=96&d=mm&r=r","twitter":"","tumblr":"","facebook":"","youtube":"","first_name":"Written","last_name":"Tales","user_url":"https:\/\/www.writtentales.com","instagram":"","books":"","description":"Helping readers and writers connect."}],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F12d42bb2-6f59-4d41-bef4-1c145a74e8c6_2240x1260.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"Meet the Villanelle Poem","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.writtentales.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13511"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.writtentales.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.writtentales.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.writtentales.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/970"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.writtentales.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13511"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.writtentales.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13511\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.writtentales.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.writtentales.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.writtentales.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.writtentales.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13511"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.writtentales.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=13511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The Poetic Form<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Structure of a Villanelle<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
aba
aba
aba
aba
aba(1)a(2)<\/p>\n\n\n\nExample of a Villanelle<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\n
Old age should burn and rave at close of day; (b)
Rage, rage against the dying of the light. (2a)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because their words had forked no lightning they (b)
Do not go gentle into that good night<\/strong>. (1a)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay, (b)
Rage, rage against the dying of the light<\/strong>. (2a)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way, (b)
Do not go gentle into that good night<\/strong>. (1a)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay, (b)
Rage, rage against the dying of the light<\/strong>. (2a)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray. (b)
Do not go gentle into that good night. (1a)
Rage, rage against the dying of the light. (2a)<\/strong><\/p>\nThe Poems of Dylan Thomas<\/a><\/em><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\nThe House on the Hill<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
By Edwin Arlington Robinson<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
The House is shut and still, (b)
There is nothing more to say. (2a)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
The winds blow bleak and shrill: (b)
They are all gone away<\/strong>. (1a)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To speak them good or ill: (b)
There is nothing more to say<\/strong>. (2a)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Around the sunken sill? (b)
They are all gone away<\/strong>, (1a)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For them is wasted skill: (b)
There is nothing more to say<\/strong>. (2a)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the House on the Hill: (b)
They are all gone away, (1a)
There is nothing more to say. (2a)<\/strong><\/p>\nFrom the Selected Poems<\/a> of Edwin Arlington Robinson<\/em><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n