villanelle Definition
a nineteen-line poem with two rhymes throughout, consisting of five tercets and a quatrain, with the first and third lines of the opening tercet recurring alternately at the end of the other tercets and with both repeated at the close of the concluding quatrain.
Using villanelle: Examples
Take a moment to familiarize yourself with how "villanelle" can be used in various situations through the following examples!
Example
Dylan Thomas's poem 'Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night' is a villanelle.
Example
Elizabeth Bishop's 'One Art' is another famous example of a villanelle.
Origins of villanelle
from Italian 'villanella', meaning 'peasant song'
Summary: villanelle in Brief
A 'villanelle' [ˌvɪləˈnɛl] is a nineteen-line poem with a specific rhyme scheme. It consists of five tercets and a quatrain, with the first and third lines of the opening tercet recurring alternately at the end of the other tercets and with both repeated at the close of the concluding quatrain. Examples of villanelles include Dylan Thomas's 'Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night' and Elizabeth Bishop's 'One Art'.
