Deliberating on the ‘Villanelle’
The French form of poetry offered in six stanzas known as a ‘villanelle’ is a real challenge when it comes to composing verse. Those who enjoy puzzles and coding will cope beautifully with the mental workout. The whole point of the villanelle is that it has a tight and defined structure whereby repetitions of whole lines are embedded in a poem made up of five tercets and a quatrain. This form would suit a narrative or informative type of poem. A student studying both Poetry and History might enjoy composing a historical narrative to help memorise the facts, so that a villanelle on Henry the Eighth, for example, would suit a double purpose if factual statements are going to be repeated. I have proposed an informative poem on the ‘Black Death’ for the purpose of instruction.
The villanelle contains 19 lines within a fixed form of 5 tercets and a quatrain.
It is circulatory in concept, in that the first and third lines of the first stanza will be met again by the reader in the last stanza, in lines 18 and 19. This is not the only repetition:
Line one is repeated in lines 6, 12 and 18.
Line three is repeated in lines 9, 15 and 19.
Thus, so far so good, the reader will have recognized a pattern. An aspiring poet might choose to plot out a map of how lines 1 and 3 are going to be repeated. The trick is to come up with two strong lines that will have an impact on the rest of the poem. They will also need to rhyme.
So perhaps one can start with working out the main topic or message in the poem, especially if it is informative. At this point, it might be useful to bullet point key points. For a historical narrative, this will require research, as one needs to put succinctly into poetic form what one will have understood in the broader picture. Take such a topic as the plague for example. One would have to decide which particular plague, era and location one is referring to, for the plague came in waves, has several names and might need to be defined.
So preliminary notes would summarize the findings of such info, even if most of it is not going to be used in the poem. If the plague itself is the protagonist, then different names for it might turn out to be useful where choices on defined syllables are being made. For example: ‘The plague’ contains two syllables, whilst ‘pestilence’ contains three syllables, as does ‘The Black Death’. Indeed ‘The bubonic plague’ contains five syllables. Referring to it as ‘The Great Mortality’ would allow for six syllables and so on.
So much consideration needs to go into the flavour of every part of the Villanelle. One must choose an apt adjective from a forest of synonyms. This holds true even for strong verbs calling for impact. In line 8, my poem called for a simile with a ‘banshee’. Will the banshee have ‘keened’ as in howled in a grieving way? Will ‘keened’ throw off the reader who might not be familiar with its meaning or will it enhance the image? Connotations are usually effective as they expand the reader’s experience.
What will your syllable count be like? Will 13 syllables do the trick as with my narrative below? The syllabic verse can be challenging and rather restrictive but equally intriguing.
Decisions, decisions…
This is the craft of the poet.
In any case, regarding the Villanelle, this was my end result after much deliberation:
Black Death
In the fourteenth century, the Black Death dealt a blow. A1
On Asian shores, it boarded trips bound for the Black Sea. b
Betraying trade routes, it spread through Europe in full flow. A2
The Plague killed the lowly, the cultured, those in the know – a
quarantined when affected, despite many a plea. b
In the fourteenth century, the Black Death dealt a blow. A1
Victims became impoverished; no work meant no dough. a
Despair everywhere shrieked through the air like a banshee. b
Betraying trade routes, it spread through Europe in full flow. A2
Holy pilgrimages would later flourish and grow. a
Pilgrims prayed on knees for God to spare their family. b
In the fourteenth century, the Black Death dealt a blow. A1
Good doers thought they’d go to Heaven; sinners below. a
Some saw the plague as God’s mercy, others held a punishment theory. b
Betraying trade routes, it spread through Europe in full flow. A2
Thousands of Londoners would pass away in sorrow a
as the backstabbing Bubonic Plague soared brutally. b
In the fourteenth century, the Black Death dealt a blow. A1
Betraying trade routes, it spread through Europe in full flow. A2
Angèle Ann Andrews © 2020
Why not have a go at composing your own Villanelle?
Angèle Ann Andrews
http://www.languagechoices.com
Further Reading:
‘Form’ in: ‘The Art of Writing Poetry’ Course: https://www.writersbureau.com/
https://comenr.com/35687-comment-ecrire-une-villanelle/
Chisholm A. 1992, 1997: The Craft of Writing Poetry, Allison & Busby
Peter Sansom 1997: Writing Poems, Bloodaxe
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