The Villanelle

The villanelle, a poetic form, has its origins in France, and it entered into the English language sometime during the 1800s. It is generally considered to be one of the more restrictive poetic forms, and thus presents an ambitious challenge to the poet. Every villanelle consists of six stanzas: the first five are tercets (three lines) followed by a quatraine (four lines). Every line of the poem is written in pentameter (ten syllables), which poses some obvious constraints, but the real challenge lies in the repetition of lines. The first and third lines of the first stanza are repeated, in an alternating fashion, as the final lines of the subsequent stanzas. The final stanza—the quatraine—contains both the first and third line as the two concluding lines of the poem. In addition to conforming to these strictures, the poet must make the repetitions fit the content of the poem so that they reinforce, rather than detract from, the overall tone. The five poems that follow represent the challenges and possibilities of the form.