A villanelle is a poetic form that has been extremely popular over the years. One of the most famous was written by Edward Arlington Robinson who lived from 1869 until 1935. He was the winner of the first Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1921. He wrote his villanelle, "The House on the Hill," in 1894. It entered the public domain in 1986.
It's my intention to use the same rhyming words that Robinson used in that poem to create a new villanelle. It will use the proper formating for a villanelle but will be a completely different poem. First, let's just present Robinson's poem for comparison purposes.
The House on the Hill
They are all gone away,
The House is shut and still,
There is nothing more to say.
Through broken walls and gray
The winds blow bleak and shrill:
They are all gone away.
Nor is there one to-day
To speak them good or ill:
There is nothing more to say.
Why is it then we stray
Around the sunken sill?
They are all gone away,
And our poor fancy-play
For them is wasted skill:
There is nothing more to say.
There is ruin and decay
In the House on the Hill:
They are all gone away,
There is nothing more to say.
You will note that Robinson uses the proper rhyming and refrain scheme. 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 villanelle does not limit itself to a formal syllabic format. Most writers today will use iambic pentameter but it is not necessary. Robinson's poem works with the use of six syllables in each line, except for the line using the rhyming word "say" which he gives seven syllables each time and the line with "decay" which also uses seven.
The popular modern villanelle "Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night" by Dylan Thomas uses iambic pentameter. In the work by Oscar Wilde called "Theocritus: A Villanelle" he uses iambic tetrameter.
We won't force ourselves to use Robinson's syllabic format. I prefer to use the more common iambic pentameter. Obviously, I don't expect to compete with a person who was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for poetry three times in his lifetime. But, here we go with my little attempt at a villanelle.
Our Home upon a Hill
My love for you will always find a way
Just open up your heart, be calm and still,
It doesn't matter what the world may say.
Above us, clouds may lower, dour and gray,
As grim naysayers cry out loud and shrill,
My love for you will always find a way.
We both will join our hands in joy to-day
Our hearts will meet and sing, for good or ill,
It doesn't matter what the world may say.
Your passion never wanders, does not stray,
Life's fragrance wafts its scent across our sill.
My love for you will always find a way.
No silly chatter brings out fancy-play
Displaying sybaritic lust or skill.
It doesn't matter what the world may say.
We both will banish fear and bland decay,
Create a sterling home upon a hill.
My love for you will always find a way,
It doesn't matter what the world may say.
Thank you for taking the time to read my effort to complete the Literary Inspiration Challenge.
