It was suggested that my daily sonnet
Is insufficient challenge- I should spread
My wings and place a feather in my bonnet
By writing daily villanelles instead.
The form demands two oft-repeated rhymes
To end five three-line stanzas, two refrains,
Each of which is repeated several times
And finally finished off with a quatrain.
To write just five more lines in every day
Might seem a fairly trivial expansion,
But repetitious forms bring me dismay,
As well as fewer rhymes and unclear scansion.
While villanelles enjoy some notoriety,
I much prefer the fourteen-line variety.
“But repetitious forms bring me dismay,” Awwww, come on, give us a little bitty sestina. 😉
I’ve never tried a villanelle myself, but here’s a fun one:
http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/007996.html#143885
I would not write one – I’d get bored,
I could not write one like John Ford.
I will not write one big or small,
I do not like the form at all!
I do not have the skill, I promise,
I am SO not Dylan Thomas.
No might in heaven, earth, or hell
Can make me write a villanelle!