Form Play: A Unicorn Villanelle

The Unicorn I Met
by Amy LV

Students - Today's poem is a villanelle, a special old form of poetry that is structured with 5 tercets (three line stanzas) followed by one quatrain (four line stanza). A villanelle repeats two lines over and over and also two rhymes over and over. Below, you can see where the repeating lines go and how the rhyme works. I have highlighted matching lines/rhymes.

Why did I write a villanelle today?  Well, why not?  I came home from teaching a workshop and this evening, I just thought to myself, "Self...write a villanelle!" So I did. My villanelle has 10 syllables per line, but this is not true of all villanelles.

Below you can see some of the villanelle organizational play in my notebook. This is a form that requires me to read and reread and reread again, listening to the repeating line, listening for what might happen next. There is a musical feeling to writing in this form, and I find it playful and joyful all at once.

Villanelle Notebook Play

by Amy LV

If you would like to read a couple of more villanelles I have shared in this space, you can do so here:

Vulture - April 26, 2012

I Understand - January 4, 2013

It's been too long, and you can bet that I will be writing more villanelles soon.

Laura is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup at Writing the World for Kids with a lovely poem inviting readers to sing our own songs. We invite everybody to join in each Friday as we share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship. Check out my left sidebar to learn where to find this poetry goodness each week of the year.

Please share a comment below if you wish.

If you are under 13 years old, please comment only with a parent 

or as part of a group with your teacher and class.

I Understand - a Villanelle

Chester

Photo by Honour V.

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Click on the arrow to hear me read this poem to you.

Students - I have set myself a Poetry New Year's Resolution!  I'll be writing a poem every day of this year, and I will share some of them here.  This will give me an opportunity to explore many different forms and deepen my skill as a writer.  Sometimes we all get into ruts, and I do that with sound.  I like and often write in certain meters, so experimenting with new ones will help me grow.

Do you have a New Year's Resolution for writing?  It's not too late!

Today's poem is a villanelle, a form you may remember from V is for Vulture of my Dictionary Hike last April.  This is quite a complicated form, 19 lines with 5 tercets and 1 quatrain.  You'll notice that there are two repeating lines, and they repeat in a very particular order.  There are only 2 ending rhymes, and those, too, are in special places.  You can see exactly how this whole form works at poets.org or at the Poetry and Prose Writers' Blog.  There are many other places to look as well, but these two helped me yesterday.

Villanelles do not have a particular meter, but I chose to write in imabic pentameter (daDUM daDUM daDUM daDUM daDUM).  Next time I'll try something different, but since I wrote a sonnet on Monday, I was in the groove of that meter!

Below you can see the beginning drafting work of today's villanelle.  I followed the advice I read and began with a theme - becoming different animals and understanding all creatures, a theme I return to often.  Then I wrote out the form to help me, like a skeleton.

When I awoke this morning, after this post had been up for 5 hours, I read today's offering at The Writer's Almanac, also about the connection of creatures.  Today's poem at The Writer's Almanac is "The Fish" by Billy Collins.

I took these process photos at a ski lodge while writing during my children's ski club afternoon.  You can see how I left blanks for needed lines and how I wrote dots and letters to help me know which lines and rhymes were needed where.

Notebook and Paper with Villanelle Draft

Photo by Amy LV

Computer Villanelle Draft

Photo by Amy LV

If you would like to read lots and lots of villanelles (I just might), here is a whole book about them.

Available through Amazon

Thank you to Matt Forrest Esenwine over at Radio, Rhythm, and Rhyme for hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup, the first of this new beautiful year.  Be sure to stop by and celebrate 2013 with poems!

Please share a comment below if you wish.

To find a poem by topic, click here. To find a poem by technique, click here.

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V is for VULTURE & Very Special Guest

V is for VULTURE

Photo by Amy LV

Well, we're back on track now after our little W/V mix-up.  And what a great word for today!  Today's word, the very last in the V section of my dictionary, led me to the Turkey Vulture Society, some good learning, and a greater appreciation of scavengers.

Today's poem is a villanelle.  I once again turned to that great Paul Janeczko book, A KICK IN THE HEAD, to help me puzzle out form, and the villanelle is a tricky one. You'll see the 5 tercets followed by a quatrain as well as the rhyme scheme: aba, aba, aba, aba, aba, abaa.  You will notice that the first line of the poem repeats as the last line of stanzas 2 and 4 as well as the third line of stanza 6. You will also see that the third line repeats as the last line of stanzas 3 and 5 as well as the final line of the poem.  You may also notice that each line has 10 syllables.

If you are familiar with John Milton's poem On His Blindness, you will know the line - "They also serve who only stand and wait."  That line went through my head as I wrote about vultures.  There is something powerful in waiting, in patience.

When I told my daughter Hope that I was going to write a villanelle about vultures, she said, "Wouldn't it be neat to do a Dictionary Hike where each poem type had to begin with the letter of that day?"  Hmmm... Here we go: Acrostic, Ballad, Cinquain...

And now for our guest poster!

Georgia LV

Photo by Amy LV

Today I am most excited to welcome my eleven-year-old daughter, Georgia, to this space.  She is a frequent photographer of Poem Farm photos, and she has been taking her own Dictionary Hike this month, right through the letters of her name.  So far Georgia has written poems from:

G - GLIMPSE
E - ENTHRALL
O - ONCE

And today, she writes from REDWOOD.  Last night after I came home from a school meeting, Georgia met me at the door with her poem, and I asked right away if she would allow me to share the poem and her process.  I am so grateful that she agreed.  Below you can read Georgia's poem, see her draft, and read her thoughts.

Draft of R IS FOR REDWOOD

By Georgia LV

The first thing I did was to Google REDWOOD tree facts. I didn't know I would write about any particular tree. I found that the largest Redwood tree was 379 feet tall and that it had a name. I became enthralled (my second word) by this tree character and decided to find out all I could about him.

I jotted down any facts that I found interesting and then crossed them out if I changed my mind. I was also very intrigued by the name. What does it mean? Why was he called that?

I looked HYPERION up in the online dictionary and found it was a name for a titan (Greek giant). Then I looked at my facts and added a couple in.

I formed my poem around the facts and not the facts around the poem. This is the first factual poem I have ever done. It was a lot of fun. Try it sometime!

Thank you to Georgia for her openness in sharing her fourth poem of this month and her thinking process too.  Writing ABOUT our thinking helps us understand it even more.

Happy Poem in Your Pocket Day to all!  Today I have a poem in my pocket. The poem is Candles by Carl Dennis.  And since I will not see many people today, I will send in copies to my children's teachers.  Here it is for you!  What poem do you have (or would you like to have) in your pocket today?  Please share in the comments as we're all always looking for more beautiful poemfriends.

In case you are new to The Poem Farm, this month I am walking, letter-by-letter, through the dictionary, (closed-eyed) pointing to a letter each day, and writing from it. You can read poems A-W by checking the sidebar, and you visit Lisa Vihos and read her accompanying daily haiku at, Lisa's Poem of the Week. In today's comments, watch for Lisa's Haiku and also Christophe's haiku.  It is has been grand to poetryhike with new friends.

Do not miss this week's funny and informative post at Sharing Our Notebooks. Author and poet Suz Blackaby is sharing her notebooks as well as a clever writing exercise. Stop by to read her words and to enter the giveaway for her book, NEST, NOOK, & CRANNY.  The winner's name will be drawn TONIGHT!

Remember, tomorrow is Poetry Friday, the last of this year's National Poetry Month.

Please share a comment below if you wish.

To find a poem by topic, click here. To find a poem by technique, click here.

Like The Poem Farm on Facebook for more poems, articles, and poemquotes!