ALL ABOUT POETRY
Villanelles, also known as villanesques, have always fascinated us, and we’re pretty sure they always will. But what exactly is a villanelle? What qualifies a poem as a villanelle? And is it easy to write one? In this post, we’ll answer these questions and explore one of poetry’s most intriguing fixed verse forms.
Understanding the Term ‘Villanelle’
The English word villanelle is derived from the Italian villanella, meaning a rustic song or dance. In turn, villanella comes from villano, meaning a peasant. Originally, villanelles were imitations of peasant songs and did not follow any fixed poetic structure. Although the form was first developed by French poets and balladeers, most villanelles written today are in English. A villanelle is one of the best-known examples of fixed-verse poetry, the opposite of free verse.
Nineteen Lines, No Fixed Meter
Now that we know where the word villanelle comes from, let’s look at its defining characteristics. A villanelle is a short poem consisting of 19 lines. While these lines are generally concise, there is no prescribed length for each one. Likewise, there are no rules governing the number of syllables per line.
Although modern villanelles do not require a fixed meter, many nineteenth-century examples were written in trimeter. That said, tetrameter and pentameter have also been used successfully.
ALSO READ | Bygone
Form and Refrains
As we’ve seen, a villanelle consists of 19 lines arranged into six stanzas. The first five stanzas are tercets (three lines each), while the final stanza is a quatrain (four lines).
The hallmark of a villanelle is its use of repetition. The first line of the opening tercet is repeated as the final line of the second and fourth tercets and as the penultimate line of the concluding quatrain. Likewise, the third line of the opening tercet reappears as the final line of the third and fifth tercets before concluding the poem as the final line of the quatrain. Minor variations are acceptable, but the repeated lines should remain recognisably the same.
In other words, every villanelle contains two refrains. It may sound like a lot of rules—and it is—but these very constraints are what give the form its distinctive musicality and emotional power.
ALSO READ | What Happens When Animals Seize Power?
Rhyme Scheme
Writing a villanelle is no easy feat. In addition to its strict pattern of repeated lines, it follows a tightly controlled rhyme scheme. Only two rhyme sounds are used throughout the poem. Each tercet follows the ABA rhyme scheme, while the concluding quatrain follows ABAA.
The rhyme-and-refrain pattern may be represented as follows:
A¹bA² / abA¹ / abA² / abA¹ / abA² / abA¹A²
Here, A and B represent the rhyme sounds, while A¹ and A² denote the two refrains. Both refrains rhyme with the A sound.
Summary
A villanelle is a carefully structured poem that:
- does not necessarily follow a fixed meter
- consists of 19 lines
- contains two refrains and two rhyme sounds
- follows the ABA rhyme scheme throughout, ending with ABAA in the quatrain
- comprises five tercets followed by one quatrain
Must-Read Villanelles
If you’d like to explore the form further, here are a few classic villanelles:
- One Art by Elizabeth Bishop
- Mad Girl’s Love Song by Sylvia Plath
- The House on the Hill by Edwin Arlington Robinson
ALSO READ | Ten Idioms Used in Daily Conversations