What is a Villanelle?

The villanelle is a highly structured nineteen-line poetic form that originated in Italy in the Renaissance period. It is a patterned, rhythmic form that demands careful attention to meter and rhyme scheme. The villanelle is characterized by its fixed rhyme scheme and repeated lines. The poem consists of five tercets followed by a quatrain, with the first and third lines of the opening tercet being repeated throughout the poem, alternating as the final line of each subsequent tercet and then forming the last two lines of the quatrain. The form's rhyme scheme is ABA, with the repeated lines appearing as Aa in the tercets and AA in the quatrain.

The villanelle's structure imposes a rigorous discipline on the poet, but it can also be liberating and inspiring. By creating a framework for the poem, the villanelle frees the poet to focus on the deeper meanings and themes of the work. Poets as varied as Dylan Thomas, Elizabeth Bishop, and Sylvia Plath have all found inspiration in the villanelle form.