On a poetic form

Of the villanelle I am not a fan
It's alien, it causes me nervousness
It's foreign, like garlic or Parmesan

Ressembling the tango or can-can
Its twists and turns are superfluous
Of the villanelle I am not a fan

Alternating rhyme is Italian
That's Ok. But, really, it's not for us
It's foreign, like garlic or Parmesan

Or other forms of verse that scan
Like them, it is merely meretricious
Of the villanelle I am not a fan

Perhaps because I am an Englishman
I don't like too much bother, or a fuss
It's foreign, like garlic or Parmesan

Five rhymed tercets, followed by a quatrain
Usually make me feel nauseous
It's foreign, like garlic or Parmesan
Of the villanelle I am not a fan


The villanelle has been described by one anthology as "exquisite torture, wrapped into 19 lines." It’s easy to see why poets became obsessed with the form: a villanelle combines repeating refrain lines, rhyme and cross-rhyme schemes that can boggle the mind but also produce beautiful works. The 19 lines break down to five tercets and a closing quatrain. The first three lines of the poem serve as the driving force, with the first and third lines serving as alternate refrains to close the other four tercets. The two refrains join to finish the poem as a couplet. The final line of each tercet also rhymes with the first line of the following stanza, forming a repetitive rhyme. Villanelles can employ from six to 11 syllables per line; most modern villanelles run from eight to 11 syllables per line, carrying three to five measured beats.