How to Write a Villanelle

The Villanelle form emerged into the English language sometime during the 19^th century. Originally a French form, it was quickly adopted by English poets. The villanelle contains 19 lines and relies on two refrains throughout the poem.

The body of the poem consists of five tercets and a quatrain. A tercet is a stanza of three lines and a quatrain is a stanza of four lines.

The most well know villanelle is "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night" by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. Elizabeth Bishop also wrote the famous "One Art," another classic example of the villanelle form. This form can also be seen today in poems as evidenced by Matthew Masucci's "Villanelle for the Ages."

The first tercet sets up the two refrains used throughout the poem. The two refrains alternate as the last lines of the final for tercets before reappearing again as the final couplet of the poem in the quatrain.

The poem's form is as follows:

Refrain 1 (A)

Tercet 1, line 2 (B)

Refrain 2 (A)

Tercet 2, line 1 (A)

Tercet 2, line 2 (B)

Refrain 1

Tercet 3, line 1 (A)

Tercet 3, line 2 (B)

Refrain 2

Tercet 4, line 1 (A)

Tercet 4, line 2 (B)

Refrain 1

Tercet 5, line 1 (A)

Tercet 5, line 2 (B)

Refrain 2

Quatrain, line 1 (A)

Quatrain, line 2 (B)

Quatrain, Refrain 1

Quatrain, Refrain 2

This strict form requires no particular meter, although pentameter is commonly used. The difficulty of this form is keeping the rhyme scheme from becoming stale. Since the rhyme and repetition throughout this form gives its unique sense of rhythm, it is very important to maintain a feeling of freshness.

The refrains should either work together to form a whole idea or be mutually exclusive and work completely on their own. Each refrain will stand as its own line, but will come together as two lines at the very end of the poem.

In addition, since the poem only has two major rhyme endings, one must be creative when coming up with a rhyme scheme. Avoid simplistic rhymes, common rhymes, and words that end in -ing.

In the end, the villanelle is a hard form to master, but with some hard work and dedication (and plenty of rewriting), it is an impressive form for a subject. Feel free to play with the form and make it your own.