Wednesday, 17 April 2013

#17 - A Spring Villanelle


"The highly structured villanelle is a nineteen-line poem with two repeating rhymes and two refrains. The form is made up of five tercets followed by a quatrain. The first and third lines of the opening tercet are repeated alternately in the last lines of the succeeding stanzas; then in the final stanza, the refrain serves as the poem's two concluding lines. Using' capitals for the refrains and lowercase letters for the rhymes, the form could be expressed as: A1 b A2 / a b A1 / a b A2 / a b A1 / a b A2 / a b A1 A2. "

The robins call out in cheerful refrain,
Hopeful of a new start, they welcome in spring,
The morning air is cool, promising rain.

 
Snow covered patches of sodden terrain,
Dotting the landscape, thaw in full swing,
The robins call out in cheerful refrain.
 
The sky is dreary, wears a white wash stain,
Brooding, unfriendly, what news will it bring?
The morning air is cool, promising rain.

 
The call of the geese as they form up their chain,
From their riverbed perch, the swans also take wing,
The robins call out in cheerful refrain.

 
To wash away winter, let green grow again,
With anticipation, my heart starts to sing,
The morning air is cool, promising rain.
 
The peal of the moose, signs that prove certain
Restored optimism, of seasons changing,
The robins call out in cheerful refrain,
The morning air is cool, promising rain.
 

- Laura Freeman -
April 17, 2013

3 comments:

Bev said...

I really love this poem. I do not understand the explanation of how you wrote it, that's okay. I will simply enjoy the poem and be in awe that you understood what you were doing. :)

I hope that made sense.

Unknown said...

I learned from Stephen Fry that one of the more famous villenelles is 'Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night'.

Unknown said...

I learned from Stephen Fry that one of the most famous villanelles is 'Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night'.