VillanellesVillanelles

Not just for stuffy old men

HistoryHistory• Started as ballad, songs• Translated “villanelle” means “country song”• Known as a French form of poetry but most

villanelles are written in English.

The FormThe Form• It is a rhyme-and-refrain pattern consisting of

5 tercets and one quatrain at the end.• The rhyme throughout the 5 tercets is ABA

and the quatrain at the end is ABAA.• There is a refrain of A1 and A2 throughout the

poem. – A1 and A2 represent a word that is repeated at

the end of certain lines

A Closer LookA Closer LookRefrain 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)

An Example!An Example!• The jargon of poetry can be confusing so let’s

look at an example from Sylvia Plath

Mad Girl’s Love Song by Sylvia PlathI shut my eyes and all the world drops dead; I lift my lids and all is born again. (I think I made you up inside my head.) The stars go waltzing out in blue and red, And arbitrary blackness gallops in: I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead. I dreamed that you bewitched me into bed And sung me moon-struck, kissed me quite insane. (I think I made you up inside my head.) God topples from the sky, hell's fires fade: Exit seraphim and Satan's men: I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead. I fancied you'd return the way you said, But I grow old and I forget your name. (I think I made you up inside my head.) I should have loved a thunderbird instead; At least when spring comes they roar back again. I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead. (I think I made you up inside my head.)

Your turn!Your turn!• Take your copy of Mad Girl’s Love Song and,

using the rhyme and refrain pattern, diagram the poem with the people at your table.

• Be ready to discuss and defend your answers.• You have 5 minutes.

Test your knowledgeTest your knowledge• Read the poem with the people at your table• Determine whether the poem is or is not a

villanelle• Use what you know about the definition of a

villanelle to support your answer• You will have 5 minutes

You be the Author!You be the Author!• Using a lap top from the cart write a villanelle.• I am not concerned with your abilities as a

writer, I am only looking for you to follow the guidelines of the Villanelle (rhyme and refrain)