Villanelle: Due Wednesday, February 13th

Villanelle

The villanelle has no established meter, although most 19th-century villanelles have used trimeter or tetrameter and most 20th-century villanelles have used pentameter. The essence of the fixed modern form is its distinctive pattern of rhyme and repetition. The rhyme-and-refrain pattern of the villanelle can be schematized as A1bA2 abA1 abA2 abA1 abA2 abA1A2 where letters ("a" and "b") indicate the two rhyme sounds, upper case indicates a refrain ("A"), and superscript numerals (1 and 2) indicate Refrain 1 and Refrain 2.

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)

Mad Girl's Love Song

Refrain 1 (A1)                         I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead;

Line 2 (b)                                 I lift my lids and all is born again.

Refrain 2 (A2)                         (I think I made you up inside my head.)

Line 4 (a)                                 The stars go waltzing out in blue and red,

Line 5 (b)                                 And arbitrary blackness gallops in:

Refrain 1 (A1)                         I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.

Line 7 (a)                                 I dreamed that you bewitched me into bed

Line 8 (b)                                 And sung me moon-struck, kissed me quite insane.

Refrain 2 (A2)                         (I think I made you up inside my head.)

Line 10 (a)                               God topples from the sky, hell's fires fade:

Line 11 (b)                               Exit seraphim and Satan's men:

Refrain 1 (A1)                         I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.

Line 13 (a)                               I fancied you'd return the way you said,

Line 14 (b)                               But I grow old and I forget your name.

Refrain 2 (A2)                         (I think I made you up inside my head.)

Line 16 (a)                               I should have loved a thunderbird instead;

Line 17 (b)                               At least when spring comes they roar back again.

Refrain 1 (A1)                         I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.

Refrain 2 (A2)                         (I think I made you up inside my head.)




For your villanelle use 3 of the following 5 poetic devices. 

Litotes – a type of understatement, most commonly using an double negative. i.e. you are not a bad teacher.  That wasn’t too weak of an effort.  Not bad!

assonance- vowel sounds that rhyme

consonance- consonant sounds that rhyme

allusion- a reference to a well-known historical work/event

metonymy/synecdoche- substitutes a word or phrase that relates to a thing, for the thing itself/a part that is substituted for a whole.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_Girl%27s_Love_Song