I dare you: Write a villanelle!
VillanelleThe villanelle is a nineteen-line poem consisting of 5 stanzas of three lines (tercets), followed by one stanza of four lines (a quatrain). It has two refrains: The first line and the third line of the first stanza, which are repeated alternately in the last lines of the following stanzas. The last stanza ends with both lines of the refrain being repeated.
There's also rhyme, but no set meter.
The pattern is as follows:
Refrain 1 (A1)
Line 2 (b)
Refrain 2 (A2)
Line 4 (a)
Line 5 (b)
Refrain 1 (A1)
Line 7 (a)
Line 8 (b)
Refrain 2 (A2)
Line 10 (a)
Line 11 (b)
Refrain 1 (A1)
Line 13 (a)
Line 14 (b)
Refrain 2 (A2)
Line 16 (a)
Line 17 (b)
Refrain 1 (A1)
Refrain 2 (A2)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villanelle#form
https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/text/villanelle-poetic-form
If this sounds difficult, yes it is. At least moderately so. I think I binned at least twenty horrid villanelles before I wrote my first acceptable one.
BUT: Do not despair!In my winning villanelle (which you may find in this thread http://mywriterscircle.com/index.php?topic=63211.0) , I
broke bended the rules a little and I will allow you to do the same. You may forget about the rhyme. And a slight alteration to the refrain is also acceptable.
In short:Write a Villanelle "Free Style"
- 5 tercets, followed by one quatrain
- repeat the first line in the last lines of the second and fourth tercet
- repeat the third line in the last lines of the third and fifth tercet
- repeat the first line in the third line of the quatrain
- repeat the third line in the last line of the quatrain
- no need to rhyme
Because of the difficulty of the challenge and the upcoming holidays, I'm giving you a generous two weeks to write your villanelle.
Deadline: January 6 at noon, Central European Time (GMT+1)Send your entries to me by PM before that time, and you're in.
