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I've recently been using my blog to post a poem a day (freshly written in my down-time at Harrow.) And I've been using those poems to demonstrate different verse forms (and show off how versatile I am ) Anyway today I attempted a Villanelle. This is a tricky form and I'd love to hear your opinions on how well I've pulled it off. (Don't be afraid to tell me if it's crap.) Now I realise that this erudite crowd will all know exactly what a villanelle is already but just in case any strangers stop by, I'll reproduce the whole post below. It includes a description of villanelles AND my attempt. What do you think? This message has been edited. Last edited by: BobHale, "No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money." Samuel Johnson. | ||
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I do like constrained writing (link, of which such verse forms as villanelle and sestina might be included). I'll take a look-see, Bob, and get back to you. —Ceci n'est pas un seing. | |||
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No comments? Wow, I guess it must be perfect! "No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money." Samuel Johnson. | |||
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Sorry, Bob. I am out of town and don't have a lot of time. I don't feel like it, but I guess I am a stranger stopping by. I've not heard of Villanelles. I very much like it, Bob, though it looks muy dificil! There are no meter rules? In z's link about constrained writing I was surprised that double dactyls weren't there; they seem constrained to me. | |||
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I have stopped commenting on art forms (apart from limericks, of course!). Richard English | |||
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Bob, I'm neutral about it. While technically well crafted, it just does not have that certain spark that makes the leap across the chasm from plain old writing to poetry. It's not in bad company though, a lot of poetry strikes me that way. I'll try to compose a villanelle and post it here, so you can have a running kick at it ... There are no meter rules? No, there's just no set meter for the form. In [the] link about constrained writing I was surprised that double dactyls weren't there; they seem constrained to me. You should add them, K.This message has been edited. Last edited by: zmježd, —Ceci n'est pas un seing. | |||
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There's already a Wikipedia article about DDs so it shouldn't be too difficult. Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life. | |||
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I'll settle for technically well-crafted for now. They are not the easiest things in the world to write. "No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money." Samuel Johnson. | |||
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Well, I love DDs, and I think I'd like Villanelles. However, as with DDs only those who know how to write them really appreciate them. I've seen some blank looks with DDs that are absolutely delightful. I am going to try one as soon as I am not so blankety blank busy here at this conference. I also need to write my losing limerick for the WPSI. | |||
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As a result of Bob's posting of his first villanelle, I have been re-reading some books on prosody. The author of one, Philip Hobsbaum, makes this bald statement at the beginning of his second chapter of Metre, Rhythm and Verse Form: He then goes on to quote some examples, beginning with the Earl of Surrey, who first wrote in unrhymed iambic pentameter (in his translation of the Aeneid, in the 16th century): Followed by Milton from Paradise Lost: The difference between the rhythms of these two poems, written by two poets separated by a century or so, is great. Then he compares Shakespeare with Wordworth:
With a final comparison of Tennyson in his [Idylls of the King: to Robert Browning: If you take the time to scan these verses, you'll see that iambic pentameter is almost as variable as free verse. —Ceci n'est pas un seing. | |||
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What a fun thread. Hope all have not tired of it-- just returned from an "unplugged" vacation & read this. z, your selections are illuminating. Blank verse appears to be almost an alternate variation of the language-- something we English-speakers speechify, pronounce, tell tales in. Or do you think it's just that this is the format we're 'raised on' so it comes naturally? (nature vs nurture Bob, below is my one and only villanelle, written a couple of decades ago. My poetry guru at the time told us this format, like the dance/ music for which it was named, was designed to express a "driven" quality. I agree with z, it's tough to bring it to life, tho I tried via tongue in cheek. SAME OLD SONG (Villanelle) You like to say I explain and explain-- that is, if you choose to break your conversational pall-- my apologies an endless refrain. I’m sorry. Let me try to make myself plain: when you sit like a stone, eventually finding the wherewithal to say I ‘like to explain and explain’, I feel the need to clarify, to gain some kind of rejoinder, however small! My apologies. An endless refrain, you say, as though I were slowly driving you insane. Yet were I to stop, what would you say? Nothing is all you like to say. I explain and explain why I say what I say and you won’t even deign to enter the fray, you just call my apologies an endless refrain-- and when I finally ask for a germaine response-- suggest that perhaps you carry the ball... you like to say.. I ‘explain’. So, I explain; my apologies are endless. (Refrain) | |||
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Iambic pentameter is used in the Blues. I think it's more of a nurture, cultural thing. I've been looking over Beowulf, a long poem in Old English. No rhymes, but more alliteration to organize lines. No fixed meter, but two stresses per hemistich with a definite pause at the caesura. It's very different from what Chaucer and Shakespeare. —Ceci n'est pas un seing. | |||
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Could you elaborate? | |||
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Bob, I like your villanelle. Very sweet and smooth. It has a gentle aura. Now, write us a Chocolate! Wordmatic | |||
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WM, you've enlightened me! Heretofore I thought a villanelle was an evil girl. | ||
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I haven't written mine yet, but bethree's confuses me a bit. It's okay to take some liberties, like you did, with line one in the first stanza and line three in the second? I only ask because I know, from experience, it is not okay to play with any of the rules of a DD...because I have tried and gotten slapped on the hand! For example, this second line would not fly: "Catherine Spector is"...doesn't meet the standards. Now our daughter is dating a guy with the last name of "Anderson" so I say...go for it, Catherine! Z, those are great quotes and really provide a lot of evidence to support blank verse. | |||
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