How to Write a Villanelle Poem

Guide Note The villanelle is a challenging but fun form of poetry with a haunting repetitive pattern. It was a favorite medium for poets like Sylvia Plath, Dylan Thomas and Elizabeth Bishop. If you need to write a poem for a classroom assignment, and you really want to wow your teacher, why not learn to master the villanelle?

Table of Contents

Tips for Writing a Villanelle

  1. Study previously written villanelles.
  2. Think about the structure.
  3. Look at the repetitive rhyme pattern carefully.
  4. Choose two lines that you want to repeat throughout the poem.
  5. Establish your two rhyming lines in stanza one.
  6. Alternate the lines you chose as the last line of each successive stanza.
  7. Proofread and workshop.
  8. Read for an audience.

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Introduction

Step 1: Structure

(Creative Commons photo by Michael Chen)
(Creative Commons photo by Michael Chen)
  • Before you begin writing, you will want to take some time studying various villanelles to see how they are written. Sylvia Plath, Dylan Thomas, Edmund Gosse, Oscar Wilde, Theodore Roethke and Elizabeth Bishop are just a few of the more famous poets who dabbled in the villanelle.
  • There are a few basic structural elements that you'll want to pay close attention to:
  1. Villanelles consist of nineteen lines.2
  2. They have six stanzas:3
    1. The first five stanzas contain three lines.
    2. Stanza six has four lines and ends in a rhymed couplet made up of lines one and three from the first stanza.1
  3. There are two rhymes throughout the entire villanelle.2
  4. They are usually written in tetrameter or pentameter.
    1. Tetrameter: a line containing four metrical feet (eight beats) like the iambic tetrameter: daDUM daDUM daDUM daDUM, that places the stress on every second beat.4
    2. Pentameter: a line containing five metrical feet (ten beats) like the popular iambic pentameter: daDUM daDUM daDUM daDUM daDUM, which places stress on every second beat.5

Step 2: The Rhyme

(Creative Commons photo by Fabio)
(Creative Commons photo by Fabio)
  • The unique thing about the villanelle is that it contains two rhyming lines that repeat cyclically throughout the poem as a refrain. The first and third line introduced in stanza one alternately repeat at the end of each successive stanza.1 The rhyme pattern is ABA all throughout the poem, except for the final stanza, which is ABAA and ends in a couplet.
  1. To get started, you might want to choose your pair of rhyming lines.6 For example, I will be referring to a villanelle entitled "The House on the Hill", by poet Edwin Arlington Robinson.7 The pair of repetitive rhyming lines are:
    • They are all gone away
    • There is nothing left to say.
  2. Both lines are established in stanza one and the B rhyme is sandwiched in between them.1 I have indicated the repeating lines with -1 and -2. All other lines A or B simply follow the rhyme without repetition elsewhere:
    • They are all gone away, (A-1)
    • The house is shut and still, (B)
    • There is nothing more to say. (A-2)7
  3. In stanza two, the pattern is ABA-1, with line one repeating at the end:3
    • Through broken walls and gray (A)
    • The winds blow bleak and shrill: (B)
    • They are all gone away. (A-1)7
  4. Stanza three rhymes line one with the A pattern, line two in the B pattern and repeats A-2 in line three.6
    • Nor is there one today (A)
    • To speak them good or ill: (B)
    • There is nothing more to say. (A-2)7
  5. Like stanza two, stanza four follows the ABA-1 pattern.3
    • Why is it then we stray (A)
    • Around the sunken sill? (B)
    • They are all gone away. (A-1)7
  6. Stanza five follows the pattern of stanza three, A-2 as the third line.8
    • And our poor fancy-play (A)
    • For them is wasted skill: (B)
    • There is nothing more to say. (A-2)7
  7. The sixth and final stanza is a quatrain that follows the rhyme pattern ABAA. The final two finish off the poem by repeating A-1 and A-2.8
    • There is ruin and decay (A)
    • In the House on the Hill. (B)
    • They are all gone away, (A-1)
    • There is nothing more to say. (A-2)7

Step 3: Meter

(Creative Commons photo by Pedro Simões)
(Creative Commons photo by Pedro Simões)
  • Many modern villanelles do not require a heavy focus on meter, but meter can be used to your advantage. The song-like quality of the villanelle can be enhanced with meter, and a careful maneuver can make an unspoken statement.
  • For example, the majority of villanelles are written in iambic tetrameter, meaning eight beats per line with the stress on every second beat, but "The House on the Hill" moves back and forth between six beats per line and seven beats per line.4
  • This falling short of the standard beat pattern reflects the speaker's repetitive message: "There is nothing more to say"7. Playing with meter is a neat trick to use if you want to give your readers something deeper to think about.

Conclusion

  • As with all poetry, you will want to carefully edit your poem. You may even want to consider getting feedback from a poetry workshop. Once you feel your villanelle is ready for the world, share it. There are a number of online poetry sharing communities, journals seeking new poetry to publish, or, if you're feeling really brave, stand up at an open-mic night and read your poem for an audience.

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References for How to Write a Villanelle Poem

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 University of Northern Iowa: Villanelle
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Poets.org: Poetic Form: Villanelle
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 University of Houston-Victoria: Celebrate Poetry Month: Write a Villanelle (April 1, 2008)
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Tetrameter: A Page Devoted To Four Footed-Verse
  5. ↑ Rutgers University: Pentameter
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Writing-World.com: Poetic Forms: Villanelle  WARNING: Ad-heavy
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 Rice University: "The House on the Hill"
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Arizona State University: Villanelle


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