Wednesday, February 1 ~ Villanelles (cont.)

Reminders
  • Memorization Quiz on Block
  • In Class Essay on Block
  • J#20 & J#21 due on Friday for Bridgette's classes
 POETRY

If (Stanza 4)

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,   
    Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
    If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
    With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,   
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,   
    And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

EQ: What is a villanelle?
French verse form

consists of five three-line stanzas and a final quatrain

the first and third lines of the first stanza repeat alternately in the following stanzas

these two refrain (repeat) lines form the final couplet in the quatrain


Some Key Ideas to Consider with a Villanelle:

Any poem featuring a repetition or refrain has special qualities: 
 How does each instance of the refrain add meaning to the poem?  Perhaps it doesn't, but a great poem builds meaning.  Refrains aren't simply included for the sake of form.  Decide what the refrain means each time you see it.
Does the refrain change at all?  Even by one word?  That is important; consider how the change nuances previously building meaning. 
Check out this fine example:


Whispering Woods ~ Villanelle


1 She peers into the forest fog
   seeking another fairy face.
   Fay hears bullfrogs in the bog.
4 There’s whispers of strange dialogue
   slipping softly through cloistered space.
   She peers into the forest fog.
7 An owl calls from his cedar log
   and unsettles her sense of place.
   Fay hears bullfrogs in the bog.
10 Far off, there’s the bay of a dog
   whose master is on a coon chase.
   She peers into the forest fog.
13 She wonders if the swamp polliwog
   knows it has a change to embrace.
   Fay hears bullfrogs in the bog.
16 There’s a quiet riot to catalogue
   and she craves a calmer pace.
   She peers into the forest fog
   Fay hears bullfrogs in the bog.
So, what makes this a villanelle?
In Class Today
 Work on J#20 & J#21. Remember what you don't finish will be homework.

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