August 27: On Villanelles, or, No Villanelles

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.

2 thoughts on “August 27: On Villanelles, or, No Villanelles

    • 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!

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