Welcome to Villanelle Hell
In Which the Poet Laments His Struggles with the Form
I just wanted a simple villanelle
Thomas and Plath made it look so easy -
no mad descent into iambic hell.
*****
The refrains look simple, I couldn't tell
how hard the ABA rhyming would be.
I just wanted a simple villanelle.
*****
Tethered to tercets, I scratch in my cell
My disordered verses, long to break free
no mad descent into iambic hell.
*****
Lost and confused, I fell under your spell
Does line nine repeat line one? Or line three???
I just wanted a simple villanelle.
********
Rhyme-schemin' demon no edit can quell!
Damn your iambs, HAIKUS ONLY for me!
I JUST WANTED A SIMPLE VILLANELLE!
NO MAD DESCENT INTO IAMBIC HELL!
***************************************************
To be clear: I love villanelles now. I wrote one for the Villanelle of Regret Challenge. It was very challenging and much harder than I thought it would be, but it was a labor of love. I thought I'd write about the challenging aspect of the form with this poem. Below is my entry into the Villanelle of Regret Challenge that inspired this poem.
About the Creator
John R. Godwin
Sifting daily through the clutter of my mind trying to create something beautiful.
Keep reading
More stories from John R. Godwin and writers in Poets and other communities.
A Letter to the Firestarter
Dear Firestarter, We can all see you, we've been watching you since you began. In case you didn't know we were here before you and we will be here after. We witnessed your rise, your setbacks, your guilt and your lies. We witnessed you start the fire.
By Donny Foley3 days ago in Poets
Time to change your life.
Is it even possible for you to change your life? A lot of people, more than there should be, are unhappy with their lives. But what are they doing about it? Usually nothing. People talk about how shitty their lives are and want change, but are they not taking the actions to change?
By Jen Phillipsa day ago in Humans
Comments (9)
Well, this one definitely resonates with me. I did not enter this challenge because I felt precisely as described herein. "Rhyme-schemin' demon no edit can quell!" Yes, that was my thought. I am highly surprised this one did not warrant a Top Story or challenge placement from Vocal. It's quite deserving in my book.
I was thinking about writing one about regretting to even try writing one haha! I didn't, but this was so fun to read. I can totally relate. I gave up on it and went to bed with the conclusion that "no wonder some poets went mad".
I love this, John. I chuckled and laughed throughout it. It was relatable. I just wrote my first villanelle a few weeks ago and I had trouble just understanding/absorbing the form at first. I found this through the VSS. I'm Bill. It's a pleasure to meet you. I've subscribed to you. ⚡💙 Bill⚡
You captured the frustration and the humor of the form so well. Absolutely relatable.
This is hilarious. I love it! I haven’t been brave enough to attempt a villanelle yet, and this confirms why 😂
It grew on me recently. I think there are some meaningful tough ones to carve out, and every once in a while there's a strong spoken word one too.
I've come to appreciate them more, with practice...but boy do I hear you - it most certainly can be a time-consuming and indeed frustrating mode to hammer into shape. Marvelous work! :)
💖💖💖
I love writing Villanelle's. It is probably one of my favorite forms of writing.